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 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

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

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.

Brassavola nodosa 'Soiree' AM/AOS

Mounted on a gorgeous piece of wood. So many concurrent blooms that lasted for over a month. Initially NOT aromatic... But about 3 years in my home, it started putting out a warm floral cinnamon haunt at night.

This is another specimen obtained from the 2013 GNYOS Annual Orchid Auction. 

Coelogyne amber (speciosa x ovalis)

Fuzzy lip!

Update August 25, 2014: "Amber" brags with eternally dovetailing blooms since April. Each bloom is slightly different. This one glowed a pale green.  Note the dramatic back sweep of the thinner petals ------------------->

Mounted on corkboard. Incredibly hardy. Frequently blooms.


Orchid from 2013 GNYOS Semi-Annual Auction.

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

 

What a bud looks like...

Miltassia Charles M. Fitch (Brassia verrucosa x Miltonia spectabilis)

Last updated September 18, 2014.

Affectionately called by Andre and me as "The Charles".  The Charles opened over 3 hours early this morning, documented in the first five pictures in this post. At one point, he looked like he had his arms up and hands clasped in a victory air handshake. He opened five minutes after that shot into a joyful jumping jack.

A subtly sweetly fragrant boy, The Charles exists in a constant bloom since I got him at the GNYOS 2013 Annual Orchid Auction. Right now, he is sporting two spikes! He dangles around as a gorgeous cork mounted chandelier of a specimen. You can see his distinctive orb gracing the shower curtain rod on the left in this old picture of my bathroom greenhouse (below). This picture was taken when my orchid collection was a just under half of the size it is now. My addiction to fussing over emerging roots, bulbs, leaves and flowers blossomed right along with my green friends.

Vanda Kapoho (Vanda Lamellata x Vanda Tricolor)

Last Updated September 20, 2014
Hybrid originally registered in 1945.  I acquired my specimen at the GNYOS Orchid Auction August 2013. Our nicknamed "Duckie Vanda" has bloomed four times since! She also doubled in height over the past year. The picture above taken in 2014 July captures the most prolific bloom yet! Incredibly fragrant and fills the entire room with floral sweetness every morning. 

The fun with macrolens pictures below are from the September 17, 2014 bloom. 

These three petals are the same position

from each of the three flowers. It's amazing

how individual each flower is. Also reminds

me of a banana peel, zebra stripes, and

thumbprints - all at the same time.

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.