Cattleya Percivaliana 'Summit' FCC/AOS

Surprise bloom on November 2, 2014

Native of Venezuela. Also nicknamed "Christmas Orchid." Cinnamon-y fragrance. Apparently in the 1940's, this orchid hit the shelves at Christmas time along with poinsettias.                   

Photos Courtesy of Andre Gratto.

Acquired from Deep Cut Orchid Society 2014 Auction from Anne & Dave Safarewitz. 

2nd specimen also acquired from Deep Cut Orchid Society 2014 Auction from Larry Desiano. No blooms to date from this one.

Dendrobium Victoria-Reginae

Native of the highlands of the Philippines. Seedling size... Waiting patiently for it to grow up and blossom....

Acquired from Lucky Girl Orchids by way of EBay.

Dendrobium aggregatum

Just received this guy today from Kawamoto Orchids. He's specimen size. Hopefully, he'll wake up with a bloom soon!

Dendrobium Spectabile x sib. (Group: Latouria)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JEN!!!

Water: drench media in AM- allow to dry throughout the day until rest period (see below)
Humidity: > or = 50%
Fertilizer: 20-20-20; reduce fertilizer in Oct.
Temp:  mid 80sº F during the day, 10- to 20º F drop at night
Light: 5-8,000 fc; summer 10-11,000 fc; AKA “Cattleya light”;
Air:  enjoys good air circulation- I have mine in this holey orchid pot. 
Rest: cooler and drier with reduced fertilizer starting in October
Flowering:  Blooms midwinter-early spring; Flowers at 4-5 yrs old and when it has 4-7 canes. Spikes emerge from black spots on the side of the canes.
Repotting: springtime after flowering; sphagnum moss or medium fir bark; since it grows so large, may need supportive staking
Propogate:  divide canes

Originally from Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. We named ours "Alien". When the sunshine woke me up one morning, the light floated in paired with a floral scent equivalent to sweet sunshine. My Spectabile had finally bloomed ! This blessing arrived after over a month of watching a weird green alien spike emerge and creep out of black dot in the cane. These blooms hung around for over a month. When they finally dried, they became pretty dried specimens as well. Abundant nectar bejeweled the flower stalks. Go ahead - swipe a taste for floral flavored nectar.

Acquired 4/17/2014 from Kawamoto Orchids, Honolulu, HI

Other credited sources:

http://orchidsamore.com/tutorials/dendrobiun%20spectabile.htm

http://bursa-lukisan.blogspot.com/2009/12/dendrobium-spectabile.html

Fun with IPhone Macro Lens

Maxillaria tenuifolia

PSEUDOBULBS AVAILABLE FOR SWAP- Message me below!

Water: every week
Humidity: high

Fertilizer:  every 1-2wks; 1/2 strength balanced fertilizer. 

Temp: > 50 º F (10º C)

Light: 5000 fc, bright windowsill, needs more to flower

Rest period: Oct/Nov/Dec-May.

Flowering: March-April, 7-10 days/longer if kept cool; single inflorescence off of pseudobulb

Repotting: osmunda, fir bark/mixes, coconut husk fiber or chunks, sphagnum mixed w/pumice+perlite; mounted on fern bark, basket; young roots are beige with a yellow tip and more mature roots are brown. Healthy roots turn green when watered. Avoid damage to protect bloom cycle.

Propogate:  Repotting clumps of pseudobulbs- best if there is new growth before removal

Last night, I dreamt of a shallow water ocean stroll bathed by a tropical sunset. Andre held one of my hands while I sipped a coconut-y pina colada with the other. I woke up refreshed!  I credit the scents of Maxillaria Tenuifloria aka the coconut orchid for this dream vacation tucked within my dreams. Maxilla = jaw in Latin and describes the jawbony structure of the petal. We just brought this guy home from the SEPOS International Festival this past weekend in Philadelphia. His homies kept wafting into our olfactory bulbs throughout the entire show. Now we keep him on bathroom duty above our toilet! As an aside- the SEPOS International Festival is a must see for any orchid enthusiast!

Do you have pearls of wisdom on this orchid? Share them in the comments below!

Discovered near Veracruz, Mexico 

 Mexico to Costa Rica at low elevations and up to 1500m (4921ft)

Tree photo courtesy of https://www.aos.org/

This orchid from http://www.waldor.com/ in Linwood, NJ (4/2014).

Other credited sources:
https://suite.io/abigail-jarvis/5cv52sb
http://orchidsamore.com/tutorials/Maxillaria%20tenuifloria.htm

Gastrochilus Retrocallus

Water: Mounted: Drench entire specimen whenever moss is dry. Potted: every 2-3 days

Humidity: High

Fertilizer: 20-20-20

Temperature: day: 70-80°F ; night: 10-15°F cooler

Light: mid-level light

Air: Mounted specimen allows easy airflow.

Flowering: Reportedly fragrant. I have not caught any scents from my specimen yet.

Repotting: Mounted is best; Pot: medium fir bark or sphagnum moss

This orchid has been undergoing an identity crisis. According to the February 2014 Genera Orchidacearum, this is now a Retrocalla. You might know it as Haraella retrocalla or Haraella odorata.

This native of Taiwan (my genetic motherland!) is another old faithful of a flower with constant eruptions of another bud behind every bloom. Mounted on a stick with moss affixed with fishing line.  I acquired my original stick mounted beauty at the 2013 GNYOS Orchid Auction (see pictures below). I since gifted that specimen to cousin Ben who owns a bright green thumb. However, he is an orchid neophyte. The ease of care and high yield rewards of this specimen made it a perfect starter orchid for him. Despite the joy of sharing, I felt a huge void in my collection and would not rest until I acquired another specimen from Andy's Orchids of Encinatas, CA at the Philadelphia Orchid Show in April 2014. 

Lives at elevations of 1000-2200m. 

Other References: https://www.aos.org/Default.aspx?id=397

Prosthechea cochleata

Patiently waiting for this guy to bloom for me. Acquired April 2014 St Pete’s Orchid Farm, St Petersburg, Florida.

Ludisia discolor (alba form)

Have bloom pics, but the flowers are super tiny and out of focus.  The real beauty of the plant are the leaves. Will need to use the macro lens to snap some closeups of the veined lacy patterns. Orchid from 2013 GNYOS Semi-Annual Auction.

Bifrenaria Harrisoniae

The label that came with the plant was says "Div 6-13 (From Geoffrey Beene)". According to this Forbes article, THE fashion designer Geoffrey Beene was an avid orchid collector with 2,000+ plants in 3 greenhouses in Long Island as well as a separate collection in Hawaii. This plant almost certainly came from his collection!  My orchid is part of the Kevin Bacon, or in this case Geoffrey Beene, six degrees of separation phenomenon. Beene passed away in 2004. I wonder what became a part of the other 1,999 orchids that I don't have. 

Native to the mountains of Brazil. HUGE gorgeous leaves and frequent growths, but has yet to bloom for me. To be fair, I have yet to repot this ridiculously huge and overgrown specimen since acquiring it from the 2013 GNYOS Semi-Annual Auction.

Dendrobium sanguinolentum

Water: Mounted: every day to every other day; potted 1-2 x/wk; I've found that whenever I neglect watering for a few days, buds start to appear.

Humidity: 50-70% humidity

Fertilizer: 20-20-20

Temp: 75-85F

Light: 60% to 80% shade (2,000 to 3,500 FC); Leaves should be a light green, not yellowish (too much light) or dark green (too little light). They should be somewhat stiff, not long and floppy (more light needed). A reddish edge to the leaves indicates the light is on the upper boundary of a proper level of light.  Direct sunlight may cause the plant to burn and not enough light will slow growth and stop flowering.

Repotting: Frequent keiki's. Trialed a repot on 4/2014 in regular fir bark media. Appears happy at the moment. Also shared a specimen with the newlyweds Karl and Ainslie Knaur in 8/2013. 

This is another specimen obtained from the 2013 GNYOS Annual Orchid Auction. Also frequently blooming all year round. The bloom picture to the left was from July 15.  This was the most vigorous and plentiful multi-bloom event yet. The flowers last just a few days. It rebloomed again August 22. There were two buds. Sadly, if you neglect to water it immediately when the buds form, you can lose them. I lost one- resulting in one lone bloom.