Bloom Event - Prosthechea fragrans

I've had this plant for around four years now, maybe even a bit longer. It flowers regularly every year and is never any trouble. It always amazes me that the garden centres are full of so-called 'easy' orchids (Miltoniopsis I'm looking at you.....and don't start me on hard-caned Dendrobium)  that I can't even keep alive, never mind re-flower. Now, I have my theories on this but I still think the garden centres should be selling plants that have a chance of survival which means they should have staff that actually have some knowledge of the plants they are selling. Instead of this, my experience (and trust me; I have plenty) is that horticultural knowledge and experience is actively discouraged in favour of their spurious training courses that don't teach you anything except how to suck eggs. To put it another way, they want to you to buy a plant that is doomed to die so that when it does, you'll go back and buy another.

Anyway, that's enough ranting for today. Back to the subject in hand. Prosthechea fragrans isn't one that I come across often on my travels. It is a fairly diminutive plant  that stays nice and small and doesn't take up too much room. The leaves are borne in pairs on top of the pseudobulbs and flowers appear when growth has matured (indeed on my plant this is often after new growth has started from the base). There are never many flowers per spike, usually four or five,  although once the plant has grown more there will be multiple growths maturing and so multiple flower spikes.

The flowers are fairly typical for Prosthechea species.....ostensibly upside-down with the uppermost lip looking somewhat like a cockle shell. I guess they are about an inch across, maybe a bit smaller. This species is, as the name implies, quite fragrant. Sadly, I don't like the scent at all, though I imagine there are plenty who would. Still, I have said it before and I will say it again: I would rather a scent I don't like than no scent at all. Flowers last about three weeks in good condition.

As is common with many orchids in the Cattleya alliance, this species produces roots that like to wander across the surface of the growing medium rather than into it. It doesn't matter whether I grow the plant in a pond pot or a regular pot; that's just what they do. You can see that the pseudobulbs are still increasing in size year on year, so I know this plant still hasn't reached its full size yet. Also not the new growth which is already taller than the flowering growth, and the old flower spike that I haven't removed (slaps wrist).

I have an offset of this plant available that has been growing steadily in its own pot for a couple of years. I think the new growth it has now should probably flower. If you are in the UK and you want it, please do contact me for prices.