New Plants - Trip to Burnham Nurseries

As promised, I have a little collection of new plants to show you all. Not in a gloaty way, you understand. No. Not I. I got quite a good deal on these plants because I took some spare plants (leftovers from the time when I erroneously thought I could eke a tiny living out of growing and selling orchids) down to give them. A few Eulophia, couple of Cattleya, a few Dendrochilum, a few Epicyclia. I was deliberately conservative when I got there and started picking stuff up because I wasn't sure whether I would be doing an exchange or just paying for what I picked up. As it happened, they offered me a good deal so I called back later and picked up a few more plants. Yay.

Bulbophyllum  Valley Isle Queen (Jersey x echinolabium). Nice large plant with a flower spike and two more shoots of some description; its a little too early to tell quite what they are. Have to say I'm rather expecting the flower spike to blast as that seems to be what Bulbopyllum do when they are moved, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that its hybrid vigour will prevent this. It is meant to have large deep red flowers with long petals. As it is 3/4 B. echinolabium, I'm rather expecting it to be "fragrant" and not in a good way. Time will tell, I suppose. Actually, I prefer a bad scent to no scent at all.

Bulbophyllum falcatum. A small species with interestingly shaped flower spikes but tiny flowers. We shall see soon, hopefully, as it has a flower spike coming. Looks to be a sprawling species so another one that'll be fun to keep under control. Another one for a pond pot I think so I can at least tie it to the sides when it climbs over.

Bulbophyllum lobbii. This is probably the best known species in the genus, and is quite rightly considered the beauty. This looks like a nice plant with two lead growths so hopefully it will grow quickly and bloom for me. You can see because this is in a transparent pot that Bulbophyllum tend to be rather shallow rooted and with long rhizomes so it might be that I will grow this in a shallow clay pan (such as might be used for bulbs) but I haven't decided yet.

Dendrochilum uncatum. As any regular reader of mine will know, I am rather partial to Dendrochilum and I like to pick up a couple of new species every time I visit. I guess there isn't much specific to say about this species as yet. It will produce pendent sprays of small cream flowers and should be fragrant. It is showing three new growths so with luck and a following wind I will see blooms before too long. Not that there is a lot of information out there about Dendrochilum species, but I assume it will prove as easy to grow as the others I have.

Dendrochilum propinquum. I know, another one. This one should produce spiral sprays of straw coloured flowers again with a scent. Interestingly, this one has perlite mixed in its growing medium. I'm not sure if that means it likes a bit more moisture or not, but I keep my Dendrochilum pretty damp anyway. No sign of new growth yet, but as we know, Dendrochilum wake up when they feel like it and not before so its just a waiting game. I'm looking forward to seeing this bloom. I think it was this species I saw in bloom in their mother house at Christmas.

Brassia caudata x lanceana. This is a bit of a punt since I have no real idea what it'll look like in bloom, though Brassia don't tend to vary a vast amount. There is a vast amount of root over the side of the pot and I suspect there won't be much root inside the pot. Not because of bad care, but because all the newest growth is well over the side of the pot. There are two lead growths, and I could divide it in two, but I think I will pot it into a basket as I'm getting more success with Brassia by putting them into pond pots or baskets and hanging them. This one does seem to be finer rooted than the others I have; more like a Miltonia, so we'll see how it does.

Ornithidium coccineum. This is one of those that used to be part of the Maxillaria genus (Maxillaria coccinea) but been split away from it. Sadly I didn't take the photo in time to catch the flowers which are a vibrant red colour and quite numerous although rather small. It says on the label that this is a cool grower but I read elsewhere that it will grow warm too so hopefully it will do as well for me as my other Maxillaria family orchids. Looks to be a nice little clumper with lots of new growths.

Coelogyne speciosa 'Burnham'. This used to be known as Coelogyne speciosa var. salmonicolor but for various reasons is know known as 'Burnham'. There is an entirely separate species that carries the name salmonicolor so it would make sense to avoid confusion and strip it from this variety of Coelogyne speciosa. At any rate, this is a completely different flower from the C. speciosa I have so I'm glad to have found it. It was labelled as C. speciosa so I assume it has just got jumbled in with the regular speciosa. I have had to repot it straight away as we had some serious hitch-hikers in the pot (ferns; potted separately) and most of the roots were above the growing medium. I'm sure it will settle in fine, though.

Coelogyne bird in flight (usitana x lawrenceana). I'm pleased to have found one of these and not at a silly price. This looks to be a nice little plant with fresh growth coming. It looks to be a good couple of years away from blooming (especially given the size of its parents; trust me, I grow both of them). I have been told several times that this is a slow grower so I guess I'll have to be patient. Seedlings are very variable in their flowers so I'm doubly interested to see what I get. The plant actually reminds me more of C. lawrenceana vegetatively with its two leaved pseudobulbs and slightly narrow leaves (C. usitana has quite broad leaves). I hope it doesn't go wrinkly as lawrenceana and its hybryds have a habit of doing.

And finally Coelogyne Lyme Bay (speciosa x usitana). I've wanted one of these for ages. This is a division of an adult plant so it should bloom on its next new growth. I had been hoping for a seedling of this cross for a good while (I know the nursery has seedlings in production), so I'm pleased to have acquired an adult plant. It is a bit bedraggled with brown leaf tips and black marks on the leaves. It's nothing to worry about, I'm told this is what's known as a 'dirty grower'; some orchids are like that. Brassias nearly always look a mess, for example, but it doesn't seem to interfere with their blooming.