Bloom Event - Phalaenopsis Sogo Yenlin 'Coffee'

Here we go again, yet another Phalaenopsis. You know how it is, you wait ages for a bus, then three come along at once. I warn you now, we're not done with the Phalaenopsis yet though I think, perhaps, we might give them a rest for this week, after this one.

Here we have a bit of an oddity in the world of orchids. A variegated one. I have to come clean right away and say that as a rule I dislike variegated plants with a passion, except for those that are naturally variegated. Phalaenopsis Sogo Yenlin 'Coffee' is not to offensive on the eye, though as the variegation is not too pronounced.

This is a miniature hybrid, of the type that I don't usually grow. I had four plants initially, but I have sold the other three. I kept one, though. Sogo Orchids is quite famous for orchid breeding in Taiwan, and I believe they supply quite a lot of the continental orchid nursieries with their starter plants. They now have a nursery in Denmark which supplies Europe with miniature Phalaenopsis, under the brand 'Little Lady'. Whether this is where my plant came from, I cannot say, as I bought it from a German nursery, though this is not one of the 'Little Lady' hybrids.

As you can see, the variegation is fairly subtle with just a pale cream border to the leaves. Possibly where plants are grown under less light, the green part of the leaf might be darker and provide greater contrast to the variegation. The flowers are not particularly special, though a nice colour, and nicely in proportion to the size of the plant. Being a miniature they are not easy to get a close up photo of.

I should point out that I have no idea what the breeding of these is. There are some truly wonderful miniature Phalaenopsis out there that have just been bred from small species, and I'll be posting photos of one or two of these at a later date as they produce blooms.