Bloom Event - Coelogyne ovalis 'Burnham' and Coelogyne triplicatula

One of the things I love about growing Coelogyne species and hybrids is that there are one or two in flower at all times of the year, and many plants will bloom more than one a year, as well as many being sequential bloomers. The two I'm showing today are quite closely related and are part of the coelogyne fimbriata complex. Some authorities want to lump all species such as C. ovalis, C. fuliginosa and C. triplicatuala in with C. fimbriata to make a species complex. For myself, I would prefer to keep the species separate as there are big enough differences between them to merit this. Both of the plants I'm discussing today are significantly bigger than C. fimbriata (my plant at least), both in terms of flower size and the overall size of the plant.

Above is Coelogyne triplicatula. Apparently the name triplicatula refers to the three keels on the lip, although this is pretty unhelpful since many Coelogyne have three keels on the lip. The lip is darker than it appears on the photo and gives a nice contrast to the rest of the flower. I know the colouring is fairly dowdy, as is the case with many Coelogyne, but the shape and patterning of the lip more than make up for this in my opinion. The flower is smaller than many of the Coelogyne I grow, but is still a decent enough size. Flowers are produced sequentially so the flowering period is extended, much like C. speciosa.

I got this from a friend a few months ago in an exchange and it has done pretty well. It is usually grown in cool conditions but seems to grow and flower OK in my warm growroom. As you may be able to see, it put out three growths but sadly two have damped off and only one has produced a flower spike. In time this will become a sprawling species, and I'm hoping it will produce multiple leads and fill out a bit.

Above is Coelogyne ovalis 'burnham'. The flower is a very pleasing shape, size and colour, hence the varietal name. Leaves are broader than triplicatula, but otherwise the plants are broadly similar. This plant came from Burnham Nurseries. Not sure what I was thinking when I got it as it is also, according to them, a cool grower though once again, it does fine under my warm conditions.

This one only produced two new shoots, but both have gone on to produce flower buds. Unfortunately, this plant sits at the front of the bench and I must have leaned on the flower spike at some point while watering as the tip of the spike has blasted. Luckily, there is a second spike on the way from the other growth. This species has a reputation for being very vigorous and I'm hoping it will fill out nicely and produce lots of new growths in future to make a nice bushy plant.

Speaking of the above plant exchange, I decided to tackle one of the other plants I got today, Stanhopea nigroviolacea. It crossed my mind when I got it that I'd eventually have to do something, and it was on my list much earlier than this. However, it produced a massive amount of new roots almost as soon as I got it and then put out a load of new shoots and I didn't want to disturb it when it seemed so happy. Of course, rather than behaving itself and growing at the top of the basket, some of the new growths decided it would be a good idea to grow out of the side.

We grow Stanhopea in open baskets like this because the flower spikes are pendent, by which I mean the flower spikes penetrate the growing medium and exit the bottom of the basket. Naturally if they are grown in plastic pots they can't get through. Obviously I wasn't going to get the plant out of the basket and manage to keep both of them in one piece which is a shame, as I like to re-use materials where I can. In the end I cut the basket apart to release the root ball. I had to leave some fragments of it in places but it won't cause any harm. I have put the plant, carefully angled, in a twelve inch basket filled with a mix of sphagnum moss and medium bark. I have used a coir liner so that the flower spikes can penetrate (hopeful, I know!)

Looks quite at home already, doesn't it? I realize the basket is quite big, but this plant seems to grow very quickly when it has a mind to, so I imagine it won't be long before even this basket is full. It put out five large new growths this year, as well as two small ones from the back of the plant, and the new growths are just starting to produce roots, so it should establish nice and fast. It essentially hasn't been disturbed at all as the existing roots looked healthy so I didn't remove any of the old potting medium. Seemed no sense in arresting its growth now.