Bloom Event - Coelogyne celebensis and Dendrochilum latifolium

Here I go again with my Coelogyne obsession. I got this plant from Schwerter Orchids in Germany earlier in the year, and it is now blessing me with flowers. I think I recall that when I got the plant there were three new growths coming up. All three of them produced a flower spike, but the first spike got damaged (grower clumsiness) it turns out they are very delicate when they are first emerging. The second spike is now in flower and there is another behind that. The plant seems very robust, though it does not grow quickly.

The flower is superficially reminiscent of C. speciosa with a distinctly insect like appearance. However, the spike is more erect and the flower doesn't nod so much so its easier to see into it. There is a delicate and quite pleasant fragrance. Flowers are produced sequentially and appear fairly long lasting so flowering period should be long.

The thin petals are well reflexed and point backward. The whole flower is much greener than the photos suggest and I find the colour combination and lip detail very pleasing indeed.

As you can see, the plant is very much like a smaller sized C. speciosa. Its sort of daintier. You may also notice if you clicked the link to read the post from February when this arrived that it has been repotted since then. Notice also that there are lots of new roots already in the new pot. Even if there isn't much top growth I like to see the roots doing something, hence I'm pleased with this plant. It Hopefully it will continue to throw multiple growths and will become a nice dense clump with plenty of flowers in future.

Also in flower is Dendrochilum latifolium. To my eye at least, it is superficially similar to D. magnum  but taller and slimmer. The leaves are longer but narrower and the flower spikes a bit taller.

The flowers are a nice shade of yellow and carry a pleasing and slightly spicy fragrance.  I only got one flower spike off four new growths, but as it is the first blooming for me I guess I should excercise patience and wait for it to settle in properly.

Notice the flowers arranged in two ranks in a loose spiral round the stem, and also the very prominent floral bracts. A very elegant species indeed. Flowers last a fair amount of time (maybe three weeks) and remain in good condition until they fade (you know how some flowers look tatty long before they fall from the plant).