As it turned out, I ended up visiting the National Botanical Garden of Wales on possibly the wettest day in the history of the entire universe with torrential rain and high winds. As a result the gardens were very quiet and I was able to have a good luck round and I have to say I was impressed. Plants were sensibly grouped together, and were very well labelled. A particular highlight to me was the large clump of Atropa belladonna (deadly nightshade) planted right next to the path. Not only had I never met this plant in person before, but it was with a certain macabre humour I noticed it was covered in berries delicately displayed at toddler height.
The orchids were displayed in a tent near the tea room (naturally) and there were several society displays there. Although it was quiet for an Orchid show, there were far more people in there than there were outside, presumably due to the weather. I have to say that I wasn't entirely sure it was much safer inside given how much the tent was creaking and groaning in the ever increasing wind but it was at least a pleasant shelter from the rain. No sooner had I stepped through the door than I was greeted by Dr Kevin Davies (the organiser), Trey Sanders of Orchid Botanics and Arthur Bell of Burnham Nurseries. It always amazes me that I go to these places and people seem to know who I am. Either its because I'm (significantly) younger than the vast majority of visitors to these events so I stand out or because I'm interested in more than just the blousy Phalaenopsis. Either way, it is nice to be welcomed. Also there were Francis of Phalaenopsis and More with a good selection of plants for sale (I came away with only one) as well as Orchid Alchemy and Ray Creek. There were one or two sellers there I didn't recognise, too.
I really owe Francis of Phalaenopsis and More an apology because I had had a long conversation with him and bought a plant off him but I had left the gardens before I realised who he was. Terribly rude of me.
There wasn't much scope for taking lots of photos there, but here are a couple of shots from inside the tent. See if you spot anyone you know!
Burnham Nurseries had by far the largest stand there with a nice selection of orchids as always. Can you spot Arthur having a good old chinwag at the back ?
A few of the other stands in this one, all with good displays of orchids on them and very chatty and informative people on hand.
Now on to the most important part.... "What did you buy?" I hear you ask. I actually only came away with three plants which shows a remarkable amount of self restraint on my part. I spent quite some time at the Phalaenopsis and More stand both browsing the very nice selection of plants and chatting with Francis about our collections and how we grow our orchids. It turns out that he is also an indoor grower so it was good to compare notes. He had several plants of a nice cultivar of Asconopsis (now properly Vandaenopsis) Irene Dobkin called "York" (HCC/AOS). You may remember that I am already growing Vandaenopsis Irene Dobkin because I got a plant from Schwerter back in March. I have to say that the plant has done practically nothing since I got it. The plants at the show had good root systems with active root tips so I couldn't help but bring one home. I spent ages deciding which one I wanted, and most of them were in flower. I didn't pick one in bloom though, or even in spike. I chose instead the one with two plants in the pot and a keiki at the bottom.
If you check back to the original post I made when I got this plant, you will see that the two plants look completely different. The new plant has much stiffer, thicker leaves and is overall much lighter green. It is probably more what I'd expect from a cross between Vanda and Phalaenopsis. If this has more vigour than my original plant I will be very pleased. Now. If only life were so simple. The plants in flower on the bench all showed a pink flower. I expect this cross to produce flowers of an orange or salmon colour, and a quick google search bears this out. This being a named cultivar of the cross, I would expect them all to be the same. This has got be to wondering whether the plant is mis-named. Of course, it is also possible that this is a remake of the original cross and we would expect it to be different. I will eventually get round to contacting Phalaenopsis and More to find out where the plants came from and whether the name is correct or not. At any rate, these intergeneric crosses interest me so I couldn't help but pick one up. I shall eventually separate the two plants out (it will need doing fairly soon anyway because the growing media looks to need changing) and grow them on separately. Hopefully the keiki at the base will prove to be a good sign too, as a clumpy plant will produce more flowers than a single stem.
The second plant that I have 're-homed' is Angraecum sesquipedale var. angustifolia from Orchid Alchemy. Usually they don't do many adult plants as they grow from seed. I mostly got this because I couldn't believe the price for a flowering size plant (it has a flower spike emerging), as I am already growing Angraecum sesquipedale; although my original plant has yet to produce a flower spike. Having done some research when I got home, there are differences between the two, mostly the size of the plant. A. sesquipedale var. angustifolia is an overall smaller plant with narrower leaves and having compared the two side by side, that definitely seems to be the case. Of course, different growers have different growing conditions and different growing conditions produce different plants but I think the differences will bear out over time. My original plant has quite broad leaves, and they are getting broader and longer (I have just repotted my plant. Given the species' reputation for resenting disturbance, what do we think the effect will be?). The new plant has overall smaller dimensions with narrower shorter leaves and has clearly already reached flowering size. I can't deny I'm excited to see the flowers. Infuriatingly, the plant needs its growing medium changing which I'm loath to do given the plant's reputation for being a 'bit of a diva'. Its not so much that the plant is likely to die if I change its potting medium as that it stops flowering. I suppose there is a bit of a vicious circle going on here because if a grower is scared to change the potting medium then it ends up breaking down more than it should and the plant suffers more in the long run. Grasp the nettle, I say. Once it is done blooming, I shall re-pot it and to hell with the consequences. Here it is, anyway.
The third plant I picked up was Coelogyne dayana from Burnham Nurseries. I am already growing a small plant of this species that I got from Schwerter earlier in the year. As you will know, I am rather impatient and firmly believe life is too short to spend waiting for seedlings to flower (that is why we have orchid nurseries to grow the plants for us). Coelogyne pulverula (I'm pretty sure dayana is the old name now and we should all be calling it pulverula) takes a long time to reach flowering size and although my plant is a hefty thing, it is still a year or more from blooming so I'll still have to be fairly patient. The seedling is a minimum of four years away, and it isn't growing very fast as yet, so it could well be longer. The new plant was a reasonable price so I thought I'd better take it home. It was very dry when I picked it up, knowing as I do how much water Coelogyne species seem to like so I gave it a good soak in water when I got it home. You will also notice on the photo below that the plant needs re-potting. I have already done this and it looks much more comfortable in its new home. There are several new pseudobulbs maturing on it so it should have quite a few growing points.
I know. This photo is below even my usually fairly poor standard, but you get the general idea. I will say that Coelogyne pulverula is a nice tidy plant that doesn't sprawl everywhere and likes to stay in a nice neat clump. It does, however, get monstrously large as it reaches flowering size so I'd better make room!
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