Bloom Event - Bifrenaria aureo-fulva and Bulbophyllum falcatum

In case anyone was wondering, I am still here. It's 'that time of year', and there are a lot of demands on my time, my allotment(s) being the largest one. As it happens, this coincides with a comparative dry spell, orchid wise, so it works quite well. There are quite a lot of things in the pipeline, plenty of orchids coming into spike, and one or two updates to plants already featured.

For today though, I thought I'd highlight a couple of species orchids that have bloomed for me but that I haven't had the time to write a post for. They are both a little uninspiring for the casual orchid grower (if such a thing exists), but still both quite beautiful to me.

The first of these is Bifrenaria aureo-fulva. Apparently, this one can't decide which genus it lives in and bounces between Bifrenaria and Stenocoryne. The poor thing must be confused. I have always known it as Bifrenaria however, and that is how I shall always refer to it. When talking about Bifrenaria to someone who has a passing interest in orchid growing beyond the usual Phalaenopsis, the species B. harrisoniae is the usual one that gets talked about because of its long lasting, showy and very fragrant (chemical to my nose, but what do I know?) blooms. Unfortunately, this species is also a pig to grow and I long ago gave up on it. Bifrenaria aureo-fulva, however, seems a different story. I got the plant in an exchange with a friend back in February. I won't lie, I took the plant with some trepidation after my experience with the beautiful but ghastly B. harrisoniae. I needn't have worried though, as it almost immediately put out a new growth and a flower spike.

Not what you'd expect from a Bifrenaria, is it? Yes, the flowers are pretty much fully open. I read that they are reputedly fragrant, but I can't say I noticed and it is my habit to have a good sniff at any open flowers, a habit I often regret with stinkier species. The above is the best photo I could manage (another reason I have hesitated before including it here), as the flowers are held on what I consider to be an unreasonably long flower spike either for the size of the plant or the size of the flowers so they are forever waving about in the slightest waft of air. You get the general idea, though. In many other plants, flowers of this sort of colour and shape indicate bird pollination (as does a lack of scent; birds can't smell very well). I would be very interested to know whether this species is bird pollinated, but I don't know for sure and Google doesn't seem overly forthcoming with information on this species.

The plant is compact, and growing happily in a 9cm pot with still room to spare. I rather like the angular shape of the very solid pseudobulbs and they have an interesting rough texture, too.

It was very difficult to get the whole plant, including flowers, on one shot without showing you all the rather unattractive underside of my cupboards in the growroom. The growth to the left is the newest. All in all, this seems a good little grower, though I won't say it is truly settled in until it has been with me for 12 months. Apparently, this species needs a dry winter rest to flower well, so we'll see how we get on.

The second species I have to show you in this post is another of my fairly recent acquisitions, from my Mayday visit to Burnham Nurseries, Bulbophyllum falcatum. You will remember me saying at the time that the plant had a flower spike emerging, so I can't take any credit at all for the flowers. I suppose you'd say this one possesses what you might call 'botanical interest'.

The blooms are tiny and held either side of a flower spike that is flattened into the shape of a propeller blade (hence the name falcatum). I will admit now that this isn't the species I thought I was buying, but that doesn't matter. The species I had in mind when I picked this up was, I think, Bulbophyllum purpureorachis which has a much bigger upright, flattened and twisted flower spike that puts me in mind of one of those pointless dangling wind ornaments that twists in the breeze. Nevertheless, I was pleased to see this flower, and it is quite pretty though you have to get very close, or really magnify them to see the flowers well. Sadly for my readers, it is way beyond my photographic skill (or the budget required to get a camera capable of decent macro shots) to get a decent shot of something that small. So you'll have to take my word for it at present. Many photos of this plant show a green flower spike rather than the attractive reddish purple we have here. I think it sets of the yellow flowers much better than a green one would have. I couldn't detect a scent, but it would have to be pretty powerful on a flower that small for me to pick it up.

The plant hasn't really done anything since I got it except for put out those flowers. It appears to be bifoliate which is different to the other Bulbophyllum I have. I read that it is a hot grower so it should do well for me, providing I can keep it well watered. Once it puts out new growth and roots, I will stop worrying about it.

Bloom Event - Bulbophyllum Valley Isle Queen

Me and this orchid are still in our courtship phase - we haven't really got to know each other properly yet. I only got it a few weeks ago and it is really still settling in. It is a bit of a monster plant compared to many Bulbophyllum species and hybrids, and now that it is in flower I see that holds true for the blooms too. I have been watching this bud growing.....and growing.......and growing for a couple of weeks now, wondering when it was going to finally open. I had read that it would be a big flower and that wasn't wrong.

Bulbophyllum Valley Isle Queen is a hybrid between Bulbophyllum Jersey (itself a hybrid of B. lobbii and B. echinolabium) and Bulbophyllum echinolabium. This is a hybrid from the Eric Young Foundation on Jersey, and it has a lot going for it. I have read conflicting reports on whether this hybrid is scented with some saying it will 'scent' the entire room (meaning stink to high heaven) and others saying there is no scent at all. The flower was only open this morning, so it is a bit early to comment on scent but there isn't anything as yet. I suppose I should hope it stays that way although I can't deny I'm a little disappointed.

The flower itself is intricately marked on the petals and has the characteristic rocking lip of Bulbophyllums. I don't know how long the flower will last yet as I'm not familiar with Bulbophyllums, really. There are so many of them that I can't expect them all to perform the same.

You can see the detail in the flower a little better in this photo. It is quite thick textured so I'm hoping it'll last for a week or so. Notice that there are more buds developing from the spike. This hybrid is a sequential bloomer so hopefully the flowering period will be quite long. There are more spikes coming, too. Three more, at last count. 

Once the plant has put out new growth and matured that, I'll feel more confident about growing this one. There's no reason it shouldn't do fine, of course, I'm probably just a bit paranoid about it because I'm not so familiar with the genus. Clearly once new growth commences it'll need a bigger pot. Or at least a wider one. Bulbophyllum tend to be rather shallow rooted so there's little point in putting them in a pot with any depth to it.

Bloom Event - Bulbophyllum wendlandianum

I've never really grown Bulbophyllum. My first experience of them wasn't good because I bought one before I could give it the conditions it wanted. At least now I can keep them alive. Through most of my orchid growing career I have been a chronic underwaterer and while this might be fine for some orchids, it certainly does not suit Bulbophyllum which really don't like to dry out and suffer if they do. This is compounded by the fact that Bulbophyllum are generally small sprawly plants with very shallow root systems that dry out very quickly indeed. I have learned my lesson though, and I am doing better with them now I water more often.

The particular species I am featuring here I got from eBay over a year ago. This is actually the second time it has bloomed for me so I must be doing something right. My first photo is a bit of a close up because the flowers are so very unusual.

I really like the tassels on the upper sepal and petals. They flutter in the slightest breeze, as does the rocking lip which I'm told is something of a distinguishing feature for many Bulbophyllum. Now there is a bit of a problem with these flowers along with quite a lot of Bulbophyllum species: The smell. One might be kind and describe this as 'fragrant' but 'odorous' might be a better word. The flowers are trying to attract those unspeakable creatures that consume the rotting flesh and excrement of the world, and I'd say they do a pretty good job of it given the smell. As luck would have it you do have to get close and have a good sniff - at least it doesn't fill the room.

Although this is a slightly odd camera angle, the flowers are large for the size of the plant. The plant is small yet with only one lead growth but it hasn't been any trouble at all, apart from its slightly sprawling habit. It is actually planted in a small basket that some orchid or other originally came in (long dead), but I have put the whole thing into a clay pot (scrounged from a garden centre) to hold on to a bit of moisture and humidity. I've no doubt that it'll root onto the clay and it'll end up being stuck in there forever, but I don't really mind that. More Bulbophyllum will turn up in my next 'new plants' post, so I must be somewhat encouraged.