Bloom Event - Coelogyne speciosa

I am very attached to this species, and I have two colour forms of it (and counting, with any luck). It is one of the largest flowers in the genus and an easy grower to boot. The pseudobulbs are nicely clustered on the rhizome and it seems willing to produce multiple new shoots, so a specimen plant is produced relatively quickly. This species has been used extensively in hybridising, and some very nice hybrids indeed have been produced, several of which are featured elsewhere on this blog.

Notice that the flowers face downwards. This is because in the plant's native habitat there is heavy rainfall and the flower points downwards to prevent the pollinia being washed onto the stigma. In other words, it stops self-pollination. Quite a nifty trick. Sadly, this droopy flowered habit does pass on to the hybrids, although not quite so strongly. I grow this plant warm, as do most growers, but it will tolerate cooler temperatures quite well, probably because it grows at a range of elevations in nature. My plant has quite short flower stems, with blooms held just above the newly developing foliage, but some forms of the species have much longer flower stems which hang below the basket. My form works well for pot culture.

At the moment I have three growing points, two of which are flowering at the moment. The third is a few weeks behind these two and will hopefully bloom in due course. Large plants of this species can become perpetually blooming with new spikes starting to open blooms before old spikes have finished. Flowers are produced in sequence, with the new one opening as the old one drops. Individual flowers last for about 2 or three weeks, and they carry a (thankfully) faint fragrance. I am still in two minds whether to do a couple of crafty back-cuts to encourage more growth points or whether to leave it as it is (aside from the inevitable re-pot once its finished flowering) and allow it to grow. This species seems more willing to 'break double' (produce more than one shoot per growth) than many orchids are, so it might form an impressive clump on its own without any help from me.

If anyone has a green flowered form of this species they'd be willing to part with a division of, contact me immediately! flower colour ranges from tan (as above) to green; most of the variation is in the lip, which may have very light tan markings, right through to almost black (a good form to cross with C. usitana = C. lyme bay), or even orange. 

Along with many other coelogyne, this species seems to like a lot of water, hence it needs frequent re-potting. Once it has done flowering, it will have to be done again as it has reached the edges of the pond pot on both sides. Maybe a basket is in order this time.