New Plants - More Coelogyne

I know. I'm obsessed with Coelogyne. A friend of mine has managed to rescue some nice coelogyne species and hybrids and was kind enough to let me have a few plants to add to my collection. He warned me they weren't in the best of conditions when he got them, but that they should recover themselves given time. The first of these is Coelogyne burfordiense. This is a hybrid between C. pandurata and C. asperata so as you can imagine it is a large plant. My plant is basically a collection of potted backbulbs which are now showing signs of growth.

As well as one decent sized shoot heading off to the side, there are two smaller shoots emerging from other bulbs which have definitely appeared since I got the plant. There are signs of rot on a couple of the bulbs which I will keep a very close eye on. I will have to de-pot this to see what is going on under the surface as there are a lot of fungus gnats buzzing around this plant, and that is not usually a good sign.

I was also given two Coelogyne speciosa. I know what you're thinking - I have two plants of this species already, one the regular colour form and the other 'Burnham' (used to be known as var. salmonicolor). The new additions are a dark form and an as yet unknown one. I'll find out when it flowers.

Both of these are showing promising signs of growth now. One has a new shoot emerging, the other a nice crop of new roots, so they should be back to full health before too long. I can't wait to see flowers, especially on the mystery plant!

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.

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 - Bratonia Shelob 'Tolkien' (1)

For most of my life I've been a big fan of J.R.R. Tolkien's epic fantasy "The Lord Of The Rings", and I spent quite a long time looking for this particular hybrid at a price I was willing to pay. I kept looking on the dreaded eBay but they were selling for £40 plus in some cases, and not even for a flowering size plant. Needless to say, I'm not one of those people with either (a) the amount of patience needed to get it to flowering size, or (b) more money than sense. However, I did eventually manage to get hold of one in an exchange (still from an eBay contact, but not through eBay). I was told that it is actually Bratonia (Miltassia, back then, in fact) Shelob 'Tolkien'. Now, I have done a good deal of Googling and I can't find any other cultivars of Bratonia Shelob around so it might be that Shelob 'Tolkien' is the only one that is around.

The taxonomists have, needless to say, been messing around with the names and this plant was always known as Miltassia, which is an intergeneric hybrid between Miltonia and Brassia. The sharper eyed among my readers will notice that the word Miltassia is simply a shortened version of Miltonia and Brassia shunted into one word. The new name, Bratonia, is......the other half of Miltonia and Brassia shunted together and shortened. Confused? You should be. I'm not sure what the reasoning is here, other than to confuse innocent enthusiasts. One theory I have has to do with who the mother and father of the hybrid are. What I mean to say is that if the mother plant (the pod parent) is Brassia, then that should be the first credit in the generic name, with the plant that provided the pollen bringing up the rear, as it very much were. I'm not sure what happens if someone decides to cross them the other way (or even if that would work), but would it be called Bratonia, or Miltassia? One for the hive mind, I think.

I can't quite make up my mind about this flower. If you Google for pictures, you will mostly find much stronger colours than I see in my plant. Although I think it is pretty in its own way, I find the colours rather....well, dowdy. It could be that there are better clones out there than this, and I suppose the lighting must make a difference too. I might also be being a bit impatient and the colour will deepen as the flowers mature, but somehow I doubt it as I remember thinking the same the last time it bloomed.

My regular readers will have probably noticed that I don't grow very many Oncidium alliance plants, even though I love them. This is because I can't give them the lower temperatures they need, especially in winter at night (I'm only meaning they mostly need a night minimum during winter of around 10C, not a deep freeze). However, I do grow both Miltonia and Brassia as they both seem to enjoy higher temperatures. These intergenerics seem quite happy to be kept warm, too. I got good flowering out of my Beallara Eurostar (or whatever name it goes by these days) before I gave it away in an exchange, and the same is true for Bratonia Shelob. Each pseudobulb blooms at its appointed time with no intervention from me whatsoever. I'll even go so far as to say that the flower count is improving too, though 7 or 8 seems the limit for me (I assume the lower flower counts usually found on Miltonia is the reason for this).

You will notice from the quite bizarre angles I'm having to hold the camera at in these photos that Bratonia Shelob isn't the world's best flower arranger. While the flower may have a very Brassia like shape, the arrangement of flowers on the spike has none of the elegance of the Brassia. This is a great shame, because it would be a quite stunning hybrid if it only arranged its flowers a little better (thanks, Miltonia!)

As Bratonia hybrids go, this one is nice and compact with the flowers held above the foliage so at least the plant looks vaguely tidy. I think I have even detected a light fragrance, though there are so many other much more scented orchids in bloom, I could have been mistaken.

Not long after I got hold of this plant in an exchange, I found another one in a local garden centre. Unlabelled, except as 'Orchid, Mix', it was quite a large plant which I have now divided into two, both of which are now in spike. I shall look forward to comparing them to this one, though I doubt if they'll be significantly different. When they bloom, I'll post again so I have a record of each blooming.

Bloom Event - Dendrobium anosmum

Wow. Just WOW! What a beautiful flower. This is only a baby plant and it will get a LOT bigger in the future, but my word what a lovely flower. They are rather larger than I expected but that might only be because they are on such a small plant. I got this species in a Dendrobium trade and to this day I believe I got the better end of the bargain. Hopefully the chap I traded with will read this and know how pleased I am with this plant (and the other two he sent me, but they aren't flowering yet).

I don't usually go for what I call wishy-washy pastel colours, but the dark splodges on the lip really  make the flowers stand out. The delicately fimbriated edge to the lip is lovely and the closer I look the more lovely it is. The plant unexpectedly produced two flower spikes from its newest cane (it has three) with two buds on each so there are flour flowers in total.

'Anosmum' means 'without scent'. I can't fathom why it got called that. When I walked into the growroom this morning I knew something new had opened, and I knew it wasn't the scent of Dendrochilum glumaceum (post on that coming soon). For four flowers to have filled the growroom with scent is quite something. Descriptions of the scent include 'raspberry sherbert' which isn't far off the truth. Actually to my nose the scent is exactly the same as you get on some hybrids of Dendrobium nobile (which I no longer grow) but is a lot stronger so you can tell what it is. A bigger plant in full bloom must be quite overpowering up close and I really look forward to smelling it.

There is a new growth emerging, too, so I know the plant is all set to grow away nicely. It will need a dry winter rest for it to bloom well so I'll have to remember to give it that, though I don't believe I need to chill it so that means it can stay in the growroom. As it grows the canes will get quite long so it will probably have to be hung (makes it easier to give it that dry rest). So far, it seems very undemanding. I also have two young plants of the white form of this species (var. dearei) which are also growing away nicely but which don't seem inclined to bloom just yet.

New Plants - Trip to Burnham Nurseries

As promised, I have a little collection of new plants to show you all. Not in a gloaty way, you understand. No. Not I. I got quite a good deal on these plants because I took some spare plants (leftovers from the time when I erroneously thought I could eke a tiny living out of growing and selling orchids) down to give them. A few Eulophia, couple of Cattleya, a few Dendrochilum, a few Epicyclia. I was deliberately conservative when I got there and started picking stuff up because I wasn't sure whether I would be doing an exchange or just paying for what I picked up. As it happened, they offered me a good deal so I called back later and picked up a few more plants. Yay.

Bulbophyllum  Valley Isle Queen (Jersey x echinolabium). Nice large plant with a flower spike and two more shoots of some description; its a little too early to tell quite what they are. Have to say I'm rather expecting the flower spike to blast as that seems to be what Bulbopyllum do when they are moved, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that its hybrid vigour will prevent this. It is meant to have large deep red flowers with long petals. As it is 3/4 B. echinolabium, I'm rather expecting it to be "fragrant" and not in a good way. Time will tell, I suppose. Actually, I prefer a bad scent to no scent at all.

Bulbophyllum falcatum. A small species with interestingly shaped flower spikes but tiny flowers. We shall see soon, hopefully, as it has a flower spike coming. Looks to be a sprawling species so another one that'll be fun to keep under control. Another one for a pond pot I think so I can at least tie it to the sides when it climbs over.

Bulbophyllum lobbii. This is probably the best known species in the genus, and is quite rightly considered the beauty. This looks like a nice plant with two lead growths so hopefully it will grow quickly and bloom for me. You can see because this is in a transparent pot that Bulbophyllum tend to be rather shallow rooted and with long rhizomes so it might be that I will grow this in a shallow clay pan (such as might be used for bulbs) but I haven't decided yet.

Dendrochilum uncatum. As any regular reader of mine will know, I am rather partial to Dendrochilum and I like to pick up a couple of new species every time I visit. I guess there isn't much specific to say about this species as yet. It will produce pendent sprays of small cream flowers and should be fragrant. It is showing three new growths so with luck and a following wind I will see blooms before too long. Not that there is a lot of information out there about Dendrochilum species, but I assume it will prove as easy to grow as the others I have.

Dendrochilum propinquum. I know, another one. This one should produce spiral sprays of straw coloured flowers again with a scent. Interestingly, this one has perlite mixed in its growing medium. I'm not sure if that means it likes a bit more moisture or not, but I keep my Dendrochilum pretty damp anyway. No sign of new growth yet, but as we know, Dendrochilum wake up when they feel like it and not before so its just a waiting game. I'm looking forward to seeing this bloom. I think it was this species I saw in bloom in their mother house at Christmas.

Brassia caudata x lanceana. This is a bit of a punt since I have no real idea what it'll look like in bloom, though Brassia don't tend to vary a vast amount. There is a vast amount of root over the side of the pot and I suspect there won't be much root inside the pot. Not because of bad care, but because all the newest growth is well over the side of the pot. There are two lead growths, and I could divide it in two, but I think I will pot it into a basket as I'm getting more success with Brassia by putting them into pond pots or baskets and hanging them. This one does seem to be finer rooted than the others I have; more like a Miltonia, so we'll see how it does.

Ornithidium coccineum. This is one of those that used to be part of the Maxillaria genus (Maxillaria coccinea) but been split away from it. Sadly I didn't take the photo in time to catch the flowers which are a vibrant red colour and quite numerous although rather small. It says on the label that this is a cool grower but I read elsewhere that it will grow warm too so hopefully it will do as well for me as my other Maxillaria family orchids. Looks to be a nice little clumper with lots of new growths.

Coelogyne speciosa 'Burnham'. This used to be known as Coelogyne speciosa var. salmonicolor but for various reasons is know known as 'Burnham'. There is an entirely separate species that carries the name salmonicolor so it would make sense to avoid confusion and strip it from this variety of Coelogyne speciosa. At any rate, this is a completely different flower from the C. speciosa I have so I'm glad to have found it. It was labelled as C. speciosa so I assume it has just got jumbled in with the regular speciosa. I have had to repot it straight away as we had some serious hitch-hikers in the pot (ferns; potted separately) and most of the roots were above the growing medium. I'm sure it will settle in fine, though.

Coelogyne bird in flight (usitana x lawrenceana). I'm pleased to have found one of these and not at a silly price. This looks to be a nice little plant with fresh growth coming. It looks to be a good couple of years away from blooming (especially given the size of its parents; trust me, I grow both of them). I have been told several times that this is a slow grower so I guess I'll have to be patient. Seedlings are very variable in their flowers so I'm doubly interested to see what I get. The plant actually reminds me more of C. lawrenceana vegetatively with its two leaved pseudobulbs and slightly narrow leaves (C. usitana has quite broad leaves). I hope it doesn't go wrinkly as lawrenceana and its hybryds have a habit of doing.

And finally Coelogyne Lyme Bay (speciosa x usitana). I've wanted one of these for ages. This is a division of an adult plant so it should bloom on its next new growth. I had been hoping for a seedling of this cross for a good while (I know the nursery has seedlings in production), so I'm pleased to have acquired an adult plant. It is a bit bedraggled with brown leaf tips and black marks on the leaves. It's nothing to worry about, I'm told this is what's known as a 'dirty grower'; some orchids are like that. Brassias nearly always look a mess, for example, but it doesn't seem to interfere with their blooming.

Bloom Event - Eulophia guineensis x (guineensis x euglossa)

What a mouthful. I know all these Latin names can seem like a bit of a pain to try and get one's tongue around, but it does avoid a whole lot of the confusion one encounters while using common names. That said, I'd like to add another layer of complexity now; and of course, we have the taxonomists to blame yet again for name changes. The original label for this reads Eulophia quartiniana x (quartiniana x euglossa). Having done some research, it seems that E. quartiniana is just a synonym for Eulophia guineensis so this isn't quite such an outlandish hybrid as I thought it was. I already have two Eulophia guineensis in my collection. They are from two separate sources and one came labelled as Eulophia quartiniana x guineensis so I'll be interested to see whether they are the same when they bloom (watch this space; both plants are in spike).

Unusually in my orchid collection, Eulophia are terrestrial orchids (no, I don't mean the rest are extra-terrestrial though I think there is probably a market for Martian orchids, and some of these dyed ones certainly look like they are from another planet), meaning they grow in the ground like a 'normal' plant does. They hail from Africa and the Middle East (at least the parents of this hybrid) grow in the seasonally very dry areas. There aren't many orchids from these areas in cultivation, which is a shame because they seem easy growers.

The flower looks rather like Eulophia guineensis which is no surprise as it is 3/4 guineensis. The E. euglossa in it seems to have made the pseudobulbs spindle shaped rather than short and squat like the straight guineensis and also lengthen the flower spike as well as increasing the flower count. There are at least 15 flowers on the spike, and they are opening gradually. I am hoping they will hold long enough for the entire spike to be in bloom at the same time. The flowers are smaller than the straight guineensis and the lip is a slightly different shape, but that characteristic 'crown' of the remaining petals and sepals remains, and that is one of the things I love about Eulophia guineensis and its hybrids. 

The side view shows the nectar spur at the back of the lip. My dedicated readers will remember that I keep complaining that modern hybrids of many genera are being bred to be too flat and 2-dimensional. I love to see nectar spurs and oddly shaped petals and sepals. Its what gives orchids their personality and mystiquie. So if you're a breeder and you're reading this....stop it. There, I've said it.

Now, having said that these plants are easy to grow, I should add a few caveats. Firstly, the blooming can be somewhat irregular. While the flower spikes always seem to emerge from new growth while it is still quite young (think Zygopetalum), the plants don't seem inclined to bloom every year. Out of the five plants I still have (not counting sprouting backbulbs I've yet to pot up), only one of them has put out a flower spike. I have had these plants for just over a year now, from (shock) a German nursery, and the plants were just showing new growth and flower spikes when I got them. Most of the flower spikes aborted almost immediately (I can't say I blame them after such a long journey), and only one managed to produce buds. Imagine my consternation when the buds grew to opening size and then dropped off one by one. I didn't see one flower last year. I'm glad to see a blooming plant this year. 

The second caveat is that these plants must be kept absolutely dry during the winter. Just like Catasetums, they have very pronounced  growing and resting seasons. Leaves will naturally yellow and fall during autumn, and the plants will be absolutely dormant during winter. Keeping them warm or cool doesn't seem to make any difference. I kept them warm. Don't worry if they shrivel slightly, they are very robust. I don't water until new growth starts to emerge in late winter.

The third caveat is that the soft foliage they produce makes the plants a target for red spider mite. This doesn't seem to weaken the plants too much, but it is better to try to keep them pest free if possible (I refer new readers to my post regarding Iwanagaara apple blossom in which I talk about my pest control methods).

As you can see, the plants bloom while new growth is quite young. I have this plant potted in my standard houseplant mix, as it is a terrestrial. I'm tempted to say that the reason for the sporadic blooming of Eulophia is due to the plants being disturbed as I repotted, but I simply don't think this is true. I have repotted both of my Eulophia guineensis in the last year and both of those have put out spikes. As you can see, the plants need quite large pots to accommodate both the pseudobulbs and the robust root system. The roots are very thick and white (and very brittle so beware when potting) which quite belies their need for a terrestrial mix. In fact, it doesn't seem to matter very much what they are grown in provided it is well drained.

I have several spare plants of this cross which I would be happy to part with for money/plants. If you're in the UK and fancy one, make me an offer I can't refuse!

New Plants - Dendrobium trade

I love plant trades. I get new plants for the price of a stamp. My reader may remember me mentioning in passing that I had a spare plant of Dendrobium ise 'yayoi' up for trade. No longer. A nice chap from 'Down South' contacted me to say he was interested, and offered me a few species in return so I have ended up with the pink form of Dendrobium anosmum (to go with the white form (var. dearei) I got in another trade), Dendrobium pierardii (I used to grow this species a couple of years ago, but for logic which must have made sense at the time, I sold them all and didn't keep one), and Dendrobium aphyllum which I have wanted for some time. I read somewhere that D. pierardii and D. aphyllum are synonymous. The plants don't look the same to me, so I guess I'll find out eventually. Here are some pictures of my lovely new plants.

Dendrobium aphyllum 'Laos'. I can't find any reference to that cultivar on my (half hearted) google searches, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. A nice healthy plant. Interestingly, 'aphyllum' means 'without leaves'....a bit of a misnomer as it clearly does have leaves. I assume it is a reference to the plant blooming in early spring while it is still (theoretically) leafless. How that is different to several other species of Dendrobium that do the same I have no idea, but the world of plant names is filled with such silliness. This is a warm grower that needs a dry winter rest to induce blooming, so hopefully it should do just fine for me provided I remember to keep it dry when it isn't growing.

Dendrobium anosmum. As I mentioned above, I already have a couple of keikis of the white form which are growing away nicely (already - I only got them in mid February). This is the straight pink form and I'm looking forward to seeing it bloom. It looks like I won't have to wait long as the nodes on the leafed cane are swelling. There is also the starts of a new cane at the base. Interestingly, after our discussion about the last species, 'anosmum' means 'without scent' in mystical plant language. Another misnomer since D. anosmum is very well scented apparently of raspberry sherbert - I very much look forward to sampling it for myself.

Dendrobium pierardii. As I mentioned above, I have grown this species before  but sold all my plants, so I'm pleased to get hold of it again without having to part with money. I know this will bloom on quite young plants but I think it will be next year before I see blooms on this one. There appears to be some purple spotting on the leaves which I distinctly remember one of my customers complaining about (any excuse). I had assumed at the time that it was part of the habit of the species as all the plants were the same but didn't have any pests, and this is what I told my customer. Not only that but the leaves are at least semi deciduous so its pointless to worry about it too much.

I have re-potted all three of them into my own bark chips. They had been potted in a coir based mix, but I have never been able to get on with it. There are a lot of growers out there who swear by it and won't use anything else, but I'm not one of them. Still, the new plants will root out fine once they start this years growth. In fact, the D. anosmum var. dearei keikis I got back in February are producing roots already. One is in growth, too although the roots were growing even before that.... no messing!