New Plants - Order from Schwerter

I really like this nursery. They have a great range of plants and seem to know how to grow them. I can't say the same for the couriers, but that's not for this blog. The plants took over a week to get here, but arrived on Tuesday this week in remarkably good condition. Schwerter really know about packing. Each plant has tissue holding the growing medium in the pot, then more tissue protecting any flower spikes (there usually are some), then a plant sleeve over the top of that. The plants are stood in a plant tray that fits the box perfectly, and are taped to it. The boxes are nice and tall (and custom branded), and are carefully lined with bubble wrap. There is a heat pack taped to the bubble wrap in such a way that it doesn't touch any of the plants (I have received plants with a heat pack before where the heat pack has burned the leaves which kind of defeats the object of it, really). Canes of exactly the height of the box are inserted into the pots to hold another upside down plant tray that forms a strong lid for the box, before it is carefully sealed. Seriously, these guys are experts. Also, they dispatch (at least to to the UK) on a Monday so the plants have the best chance of arriving that week. They really seem to care. But enough of my swooning over Germans, on to the plants.

Firstly, Coelogyne pulvera. I read that this is a synonym for C. dayana. At any rate, I must admit I thought I was getting a bigger plant than I actually unwrapped. Then I looked at the invoice and realised that I must have ordered a smaller plant than I thought I had because I didn't pay a lot for it.

I reckon this plant is at least four years away from blooming. An investment, then. The plant itself is nice and healthy. It is (was) potted in sphagnum moss, with a very nice robust root system with rather attractive pink growing tips (I notice this stuff). There is a maturing growth and another new growth, so we should have two leads almost straight away. Coelogyne pulverula is reputed to have the longest flower spikes of the genus; hence the need for the plant to get to quite a large size before it has the strength to bloom. I'm very excited to see it bloom, but it will be a few years yet. I have now repotted the plant and put it into medium bark chips so it can grow away at its leisure.

Next, another Coelogyne baby, C. rumphii. I have a hybrid of this species, C. Rebecca Howe, which I really like so I'll be pleased to see it bloom. It is a while away from blooming, but probably not as far away as C. pulverula. There is a nice new growth on it, just unfurling its leaves.

I have repotted this one, too, and discovered a nice robust roots system so I expect it'll grow away nicely with no problems. I'll be interested to smell the scent on this one, since the hybrid I have has an odd smell. I think I described it as sweet and chocolatey when I wrote the post about it, but in the days afterward it took on a distinctly odd chemical smell to it.

Next up we have Coelogyne asperata x rochussenii. This is quite a large plant with three lead growths. I expect it is flowering size, but it is always hard to tell when you are dealing with new (ish) hybrids. I have both its parents, and Coelogyne rochussenii has bloomed in the past and the hybrid is bigger. Coelogyne asperata is still a bit of an unknown for me as the original plant I had died on me, and the replacement I have arrived in poor condition. I am told it is blooming size, but it is much smaller than the original plant I had. It is also smaller than the hybrid. I can also say that the new plant hasn't bloomed yet.

It's a lovely lush looking plant, isn't it? Now, this is doubly interesting because Coelogyne rochussenii needs a dry rest to induce blooming. Coelogyne asperata doesn't like to dry out. So do I try to get it to bloom by giving it a dry rest, or do I let it do its thing? Hopefully I won't have to wait too long to find out. At least it doesn't have the untidy habit of C. rochussenii so it shouldn't climb over the edge of its pot.

Next up, a new genus on me. Renanthera (imschootiana x monachica) x monachica. I've never grown Renanthera before, at least as far as I can remember. I do have one Renanthera hybrid, Renanthopsis Mildred Jameson, but I haven't had it long enough to learn its habits, and its an intergeneric so it probably wouldn't help anyway.

At any rate, its a nice healthy plant that I haven't needed to repot, but I would say it only just approacing blooming size. It has very thick, rigid leaves. I guess it is adapted to high light and quite dry conditions. Renanthera are known for getting very tall, so I would say this one has a way to go before it reaches its full potential. I deliberately went for a hybrid rather than any of the species because I figured it might have a bit more vigour.

Next up is Encyclia tampensis alba. I have a liking for Encyclia and their hybrids and varieties. Encyclia tampensis is a widespread species, tolerant of a range of conditions so it should settle in nicely for me. It is on the small side, but I do think it is probably blooming size. Indeed, two of its pseudobulbs have the beginnings of flower spikes coming up, so we might get lucky sooner rather than later.

It was potted in sphagnum moss, so naturally that had to go. When I removed the pot, I found a very robust root system indeed (the most robust I have discovered on any of the Encyclia species I have acquired recently), and the moss too ages to remove. It is now potted in medium bark in a pond pot, and I expect it will romp away (like the other Encyclia I have acquired recently).

Next, Encyclia thienii. This is a small plant, but it isn't that big a species to start with. Once again, I've repotted it into medium bark chips in a pond pot. It has very thick roots, much thicker than my other Encyclia species. I will be interested to see how it does.

Next up is Phalaenopsis heiroglyphica. I actually ordered Phalaenopsis mannii 'black' x micholitzii, but they contacted me to say they'd sold out of the hybrid so I asked for Phal. heiroglyphica. Its a nice plant, looks like it will be one of the bigger Phalaenopsis, but I don't mind that at all. The flowers will have nice markings on them that look like writing (hence the name).

Another lovely healthy plant.

Next up is a species I've been looking for at a reasonable price for some time, Phalaenopsis tetraspis. This species has white flowers with some red markings, or occasionally on more select clones, a red petal. I expect I'll get the red markings, since they were selling the red petalled clone at a higher price. I'm not expecting it to be a huge species, so I think it'll flower fairly soon (I think I can see the start of a flower spike, in fact).

I have a hybrid of this species that a friend gave me a few years ago, and it has the same flat habit as the species. No blooms on it yet, hence I haven't done a blog post on that plant, but there are two short flower spikes and the last one produced a bud that sadly blasted. Hopefully, it'll get there soon. I think my friend thought it was just unwilling to bloom, but I think, given how much the plant has grown since I got it, that it was just way too small to bloom. It is still smaller than the P. tetraspis pictured above, but I don't think there's far to go now.

Finally (is that a sigh of relief I hear being heaved?) we have the only plant in flower, Phalaenopsis mannii 'dark' x speciosa. Now there seems to be some confusion out there about P. speciosa and P. tetraspis. Some people say that Phalaenopsis speciosa should be labelled as P. tetraspsis var. speciosa, others label it as P. speciosa. I don't know (or much care) which is right, but I do like these primary hybrids.

I think the flower and flower spike resembles the P. mannii parent (I shall know for certain before long because My P. mannii is in bud now), but the plant itself seems to take after the other parent. P. mannii grows into quite an ungainly plant because the leaves are rather long floppy and strappy. They are also speckled with purple. This hybrid looks much more like the P. speciosa vegetatively with quite short broad leaves, making it much tidier and easier to accommodate on the bench. No scent that I can detect but it is early days, and only one of the parents is particularly fragrant.

A nice plant with two flower spikes. Notice that not a single petal has suffered any damage in transit. That's what I mean by expert packing.