Blooming now (2009-11-19)

The orchid in the photo is Cattleya trianae 'alba JEM'.  I'm not too certain about the varietal name, but the flower is not actually an alba form.  I would guess it to be a very light coerulea (blue) form that fades to white.  I tried to find a reference to it on the internet, but no luck.  This orchid has been growing outdoors happily and seems to tolerate our winters.  The plant is specimen size, so I hope to see a much larger bloom the next time it blooms.

Fully open: Laelia anceps alba 'Bull's'

I wanted to post a more fully open picture of Laelia anceps alba 'Bull's'.  It is actually somewhat larger than when it first opened (photo in a previous post).  The flower is much more flat now.

Other orchids blooming now (2009-11-14)

I have other orchids that are blooming now, but I didn't post photos of them because the flowers were inferior due to various reasons (plant condition, weather, and pests).  Hopefully, these will bloom better next year so that I can take some decent photos.  The list below are those that are flowering:

Sophronitis coccinea var aurea (blooming for 3 weeks)
Slc Charming Jewel 'Little Gem' (blooming for 3 weeks)
Cymbidium erythrostylum (blooming for 4 weeks)

Blooming now (2009-11-13)

Happy Friday the 13th.  It's late autumn and many of my Laelias and Cattleyas are getting ready to flower.  In fact, several of my Laelia anceps are blooming now and the well known Christmas Cattleya, C. percivaliana, is already blooming a month early.

This is another plant of Laelia anceps 'Irwin's' that I have.  I don't know why, but the flowers on this particular division is larger and rounder than the flowers from my other plant, which I posted a picture last week.  You can compare the two photos to see the differences.  I'm not sure if they are in fact the same clones.  I will have to put a note on their labels to see how they bloom next year.

This is a photo of Laelia anceps alba 'Bull's'.  This orchid is pure white with just the touch of yellow in the throat of the lip.  With a varietal name like 'Bull's', I expected the flowers to be fuller and larger.  As you can see, the flowers are just beginning to open, so the blooms may get a littler larger as they open completely.

Here is another Laelia hybrid called Laelia Lookalike, which is a cross between L. anceps and L. gouldiana.  The color of this orchid is a rich magenta and it bloomed with five flowers on a wiry stem.  If you look at this orchid casually, you might think that it was a L. gouldiana.

This is the Christmas Cattleya or Cattleya percivaliana 'Summit' FCC/AOS, and I have seen it bloom much later in the season.  I was surprised to see it flowering now.  There is only this single flower on this growth and there is another bud getting ready to bloom on another growth on the other side of this plant.  Usually, there will be more than one flower per spike, but not this year.

Blooming now (2009-11-12)

Vanda orchids are generally known for growing in warm conditions.  There are Vanda species, like V. coerulea and V. tessellata, that can be grown in cooler conditions.  But I don't normally think that Vanda hybrids can tolerate cool conditions.  Well, the orchid in the picture is Vanda Robert's Delight, which I have had for several years.  I admit that it is not in the best growing condition, but it does bloom for me off and on as it has now.  I believe that my extra care for these orchids this summer may be paying off.  I have some plans for this winter so that these more tender orchids are better protected during our coldest days.

Upcoming events

I know it's still only November, but I'm already looking forward to the upcoming orchid shows and sales.  Here are some of the events that I know of now with some details associated with the events.  I will update the list as more information becomes available.

28-29 November 2009
Santa Barbara Orchid Society Show and Sale
2599 Puesta Del Sol Road
Santa Barbara, CA
email: randumland@cox.net or 805-962-6004

5-6 December 2009
Casa De Las Orquideas Annual Open House
Cymbidiums for the New Millenium
170 Nardo Avenue
Solano Beach, CA

12-14 February 2010
Oceans of Orchids Show and Sale
Westminster Mall
Orange County, CA

26-28 February 2010
Pacific Orchid Exposition
Fort Mason Center’s Festival Pavilion
San Francisco, CA

12-14 March 2010
Santa Barbara International Orchid Show
Earl Warren Showgrounds
Highway 101 and Las Positas Road
Santa Barbara, CA

26-28 March 2010
San Diego Orchid Show
(details unavailable)

23-25 April 2010
Orchids at The Flower Fields
5704 Paseo Del Norte
Calabasas, CA

My haul

I drove to Santa Barbara today for the Santa Barbara open house sales at the Orchid Estate and Cal-Orchids.  The drive was quite pleasant and the weather was perfect.  There were quite a few orchids in bloom at both places, especially Laelia anceps and some Cattleya labiata orchids.  I went thinking that I would pick up a couple Laelia anceps varieties, but ended up getting entirely different orchids.  Here are photos of my haul.

I've been wanting to get this hybrid for a little while, and I was pleasantly surprised that there was one for sale at the Orchid Estate.  This is Sophrolaelia Orpetii, which is a cross between Laelia pumila and Sophronitis coccinea.  As you can see, the flower is a little bit battered, but you can get an idea of what it will be like if grown well.

This is another Laelia pumila that I now own.  This particular variety has very light petals with a rich magenta lip.  This is another cool growing orchid which I have had success in growing in my backyard.  The flowers on this orchid are pretty beaten, but I can deal with this until next year.

I don't have very many Oncidium orchids, but this one caught my eye.  Unfortunately this one did not have a name tag.  Cal-Orchids gave a great deal for this one.

 

This is Masdevallia Highland Fling 'Orange Burst' HCC/AOS.  The grower at Cal-Orchid said that this is more warm growing than other Masdevallia orchids.  Hopefully, it will do fine left outdoors.

This is an Odontoglossum hybrid which didn't have a name.  I often forget to verify that an orchid has a proper tag with the name on it.  Oh well, this is quite attractive, even without a name.

Blooming now (2009-11-06)

Laelia anceps is quite tolerant of a wide range of conditions from cold to hot temperatures.  Also, this is an orchid that blooms pretty reliably each year.  This particular variety, 'Irwin's', grows vigorously and seems to branch freely with each new growth sending up a flower spike.  This plant had four spikes with twelve flowers in total.

 

This hybrid is Sophrolaeliocattleya (SLC) Ateshperest 'Flaming Delight' AM/AOS, which bloomed about a week ago.  I didn't even know that this was about to flower.  The flowers could be better formed than this (since I have seen it bloom better), but at least it bloomed.  Hopefully it will flower better next time after I repot it.

Blooming now (2009-11-02)

This orchid is Laeliocattleya Molly Tyler 'Black River'.  I first saw this orchid a few years ago at the Southland Orchid Show and wanted one for some time before I finally found one for sale.  There are at least three cultivars of this hybrid that are commonly grown.  This one is 'Black River', which was awarded AM/AOS (Award of Merit by the American Orchid Society).  The other two cultivars both received FCC/AOS (First Class Certificate) with one named 'Rivermont' and the other without a varietal name (simply FCC/AOS).  The flowers are similar but I think there are some differences in the shape of the tepals, and the colors may be slightly different.  I think I've had this plant for almost two years, so I will definitely take credit for its blooming.  It bloomed with five flowers on a very strong stem.  This orchid over-wintered outdoors last year, but the leaves are not looking as well as I would like.  My challenge this year will be to grow it so the leaves look better.

Blooming now (2009-10-31)

Happy Halloween. This orchid, Cattleya Arctic Star 'Snow Queen', bloomed almost a week ago, but I'm just now blogging about it. This orchid is flowering strongly and there are five flowers on the single spike. There were a total of six buds, but one of them blasted off before fully forming. The flowers opened slightly flushed with pink, which has faded now that it's been open for a week. This is another good Cattleya-type orchid for outdoor growing.

Blooming now (2009-10-20)

I know I'm posting this a week later than the date in the title, but I wanted to log the flowering of this orchid for the date that it bloomed. The orchid in the photo is Brassocattleya Pastoral 'Innocence'. The flowers are white with a tiny touch of lavender on the lip and a yellow throat. This is another orchid that I had for several years, but this is the first time it is flowering (I think). There are two leads on this plant and it bloomed with a total of three flowers. It had a pleasant fragrance, but not too strong. Unfortunately, the flowers seem to last only about two weeks as they are starting to show signs of fading already.

My haul

So, I just wanted give you an idea of my shopping at the orchid shows that I went to in the last couple weeks. As much as I wanted, I resisted buying some of the orchids that I lost couple years ago due to the cold winter. I tried to stay with cool-growing orchids, but I may have veered off a little with some of the purchases. The photo above is of Dendrobium cuthbertsonii, which is a very dwarf growing cold growing orchid. They have leaves that are less than an inch in length with a bumpy texture. The flowers are about an inch across (bigger than the plant) and last about two months in perfect condition.

Here is a list of orchids that I acquired:

Dendrobium cuthbertsonii
Laelia anceps var Williamsianum
Laelia rubescens alba
Vanda coerulea
SLC Circle of Life (remake of the original hybrid)
Amesiella monticola

Wish me luck on these new plants.

Blooming now (200910-18)

This is Zygopetalum Kiwi Geyser. These orchids can be grown right next to Cymbidiums and bloom around this time of the year just before Cymbidiums start blooming. Zygopetalum orchids usually have very strong fragrances.

This is another Zygopetalum hybrid that is blooming now. The tag on this orchid indicates it is a hybrid cross between Z. Arthur Elle and Z. Kiwi Geyser. The lip on this flower is almost solid purple. This also has a very strong fragrance.

I won't take credit for flowing this beautiful multigeneric hybrid (Cochlioda, Miltonia, and Odontoglossum), called Vuylstekeara Fall In Love 'Lovely Lady'. I bought this two weeks ago at the Southbay orchid show. There is no fragrance, but it definitely makes up for it with branching spikes of long lasting large flowers.

Blooming now (2009-10-11)

The orchid in the above picture is Laeliocattleya Chyong Guu Swan 'Ruby Lip' (I don't name them). I bought this last year at the Orange County fall orchid show. These flowers have a very sweet and spicy fragrance. I was pleasantly surprised that this orchid did well during the winter last year. I'm hoping that it will do well again this year.


This is a hybrid cross between Laelia purpurata and Cattleya lueddemanniana called Lc. Duvalliana, which I bought at Cal-Orchids last year. Interestingly, the flowers are larger now than when I first acquired it. This orchid also has a fragrance, though not too strong. With the L. purpurata as one of its parents, it seems to tolerate the cool winters, although C. lueddemanniana also seems to tolerate some cold weather as well.

This is Calanthe sylvatica, a blue flowering terrestrial orchid. I don't think I figured out exactly how to grow this orchid that well since it is still very small compared to the larger specimen that I saw at the orchid show today. This has been flowering for about three weeks now as the flowers open successively.

Time for some posts ...

I've been quite busy over the last couple weeks and didn't really have the time to write some new posts. I have new orchids in bloom and also new orchids that I acquired at the couple orchid shows that I recently attended. The two shows were the fall orchid show sponsored by the Southbay Orchid Society and the Southland Orchid Show at the Huntington Library. Here are some photos from the two shows.

These are some mounted orchids (Laelias, Schomburgkia, and other orchids) that were on exhit at the Southbay orchid show. Unfortunately, this is not the best photo that I could have taken.









This is an exhibit from one of the growers at the Southland Orchid Show.

Updates to upcoming events

I updated the list of orchid events coming up soon. Hopefully, you will make it to one of these events. I wanted to share this photo of Paphiopedilum rothschildianum, a slipper species from Mt Kinabalu in Malaysia. I took this photo during the 2005 Southland Orchid Show at Huntington Library.

October 10-11, 2009
South Bay Orchid Society Fall Show & Sale
South Coast Botanic Garden
26300 Crenshaw Blvd.
Palos Verdes Penninsula, CA 90274

October 17-19, 2009
Harvest Moon Orchid Festival (Southland Orchid Show)
Huntington Botanical Gardens
11511 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 90274

October 24-25, 2009
San Diego County Orchid Society
Fall Show in the Park
Room 101 Casa Del Prado in Balboa Park
San Diego, CA

November 7-8, 2009
Santa Barbara Orchid Estate Annual Fall Open House
1250 Orchid Drive
Santa Barbara, CA 93111

November 7-8, 2009
Cal-Orchid Open House
1251 Orchid Drive
Santa Barbara, CA 93111

My haul

I realized almost too late that this past weekend was the Fascination of Orchids show and sales held at the South Coast Plaza Village. Unfortunately, I only had a very short time to stop by to browse the vendor tables. I wish I had time to see the orchids on display in the show. Hopefully, I will have an opportunity at the next event. Anyhow, I was able to pick up couple of orchids that I really liked, though they were a bit pricey. The orchids that I got were two plants of Laelia pumila, which are cool growing dwarf species that grow between five to seven inches. The flowers are generally large for the size of the plant and there are usually one to two flowers per spike. One of the orchids has very large flowers for this species, spanning over four inches across. The other orchid has smaller flowers (about three inches across), but the habit seems to be that it blooms with two flowers, hopefully consistently. The photos below show the orchids, with the first one being the large-flowered plant and the second one being the one that blooms with two flowers.

Blooming now (2009-09-25)

This is Miltonia spectabilis var. Moreliana or a hybrid of one. I lost the tag on this plant so I'm not positive about its identity. However, the growth habit seems typical of the species. I recently potted this plant into perlite (I know, it had a flower bud), but it seems to be doing pretty well. The flower did seem to suffer and didn't quite open as full as it should have.


This species is Laelia perrinii. I just bloomed within the last few days. Unfortunately, this plant usually blooms with either one or two flowers per each new growth even though descriptions indicate more flowers. There are two new growths on this plant each with a single flower. The shape of this flower is distinctly different from other Cattleya-type orchids.


I bought this orchid as Ascocentrum miniatum. However, the plant size seems too large in comparison to plant descriptions that I have read for this species. According to descriptions, this is supposed to be a miniature orchid. Still, I'm happy to see it blooming.


This poorly flowered orchid is Cattleya aclandiae x leopoldii. This plant is in need of repotting and it may have flowered better with better care. There were more flower buds, but most of them fell off. The photo below shows the same orchid three years ago when it flowered robustly.

Blooming now (2009-09-18)

Here is another "blue-flowered" Cattleya that I have. This hybrid is Cattleya Granier's Charm 'Heavenly Blue' AM/AOS, the result of the cross between Cattleya Minerva and species Cattleya warscewiczii. I have not yet flowered this plant as well as I would like to, but I'll keep trying. Last year, there were two flowers compared to this year with three flowers. I believe there can be as many as five or six flowers per spike, so I'll keep trying. For the size of the plant, the flowers are quite large, which measures over four inches. It's possible that the plant can get taller. I have been growing this plant outdoors exposed to the cold, but knowing that there is C. warscewiczii in the breeding, I'll try to keep it little more protected. Hopefully, temperature tolerance from C. loddigesii (grand-parent) has been passed down to this hybrid.

Blooming now (2009-09-12)

I have several plants of this hybrid, Laeliocattleya Wrigleyi. This is the typical form with purple flowers (I posted the flower from my other one on August 28th). In my previous post from September 5, there is a photo of the "blue" form, which actually is more lavender than blue. This hybrid resembles the Laelia anceps parent more in both flower shape and growing habit than the Cattleya bowringiana parent. What it did receive from C. bowringiana is the floriferousness (is this a word?) with each spike throwing off five to six flowers. Also, the pseudobulbs seem to grow closer to each other like C. bowringiana than L. anceps, which tends to have a slightly more rambling habit. This hybrid does well in our climate.

Blooming now (2009-09-09)

Here is another plant of Cattleya Clark Herman 'Chicago' which was growing in the back yard. This one flowered a little better than the other one that was growing on the side of the house. Normally, there are four flowers per spike and each flower can measure almost six inches across.


This is Stanhopea wardii 'Twin Falls' which was awarded CCM by AOS. I didn't realize that I had two plants of this orchid until now. This orchid is a prolific bloomer.


This is Cattleya Minerva coerulea, which is the "blue" form of the hybrid cross between Cattleya bowringiana and Cattleya loddigesii. This is a very nice looking orchid and blooms reliably, with up to six flowers per stem.

Blooming now (2009-09-05)

This is a hybrid of Dendrobium bracteosum x laevifolium. The flowers on this last over a month. My only complaint is that the pink color is not that bright.


This is Cattleya Clark Herman 'Chicago'. This flower isn't in the best shape, but at least it's blooming. I have another one of these that is getting ready to bloom in another part of the yard.


This is Laeliocattleya Novissima. This is another hybrid with Laelia anceps, with the other parent being Cattleya gaskelliana. This is a robust hybrid and blooms on each new growth. These flowers are very susceptible to slugs and other insects.


This is Laeliocattleya Wrigleyi 'Blue Lagoon'. It just opened this week and there are five flowers on it. This hybrid is a cross between Laelia anceps and Cattleya bowringiana and grows really well in our climate. This is another very reliable bloomer.


This is a Miltonia hybrid for which I don't have the exact name. If anyone knows the name of this particular clone, please let me know. I'm growing this is a basket and it is doing quite well. I've had this for two years and it's bloomed extravagently each year.


This is Laeliocattleya Elegans sanguinea, which is another prolific bloomer. The flowers last relatively long (about three weeks).


This is Dendrobium amabile, which already bloomed earlier this year (spring time). Apperently, this species can bloom in the fall again. The only down side to this orchid is that the flowers do not last longer than a week.

Blooming now (2009-08-28)

This is Stanhopea nigroviolacea. This species is very similar to Stanhopea tigrina, which I wonder if they are not the same species. But since my tigrina blooms a little earlier in the year, there are some differences. The two species have almost identical fragrances. The smell is very strong and can perfume the whole area intensely. It smells sweet like candy and fruit with a warm vanilla undertone. It may be too cloying for some people. This orchid opened yesterday and probably will finish in a few days, especially since it is so warm now.


This is Paphiopedilum St. Swithin, a cross between P. rothschildianum and P. philippinense. Unfortunately, this has been blooming for a few weeks now so the flowers are a bit past their prime. I should have grabbed a photo sooner. I had this orchid indoors over the winter last year and moved it outdoors in the spring. I haven't decided what to do yet for this winter, but I am inclined to leave it outdoors with some protection.


This is Miltassia Dark Star 'Darth Vader'. This is another orchid that blooms reliably. There are probably a few dozen flowers getting ready to flower, but this is the first to bloom. Each flower spike can have up to three or four flowers and the plant can have a dozen spikes. This orchid does very well in the coastal climate and tolerates the winter cold very well.


This is Laelia crispa. I've had this orchid for a few years and this is the first time it is blooming for me. Normally, this species blooms with about four flowers on a upright stem in late summer. This orchid has been growing outdoors all this time, so I can safely recommend this orchid for temperature as low as 40 degrees.


This is Laeliocattleya Wrigleyi, a cross between Laelia anceps and Cattleya bowringiana. This is another reliable bloomer that blooms about his time of the year. I think I may have seen this bloom more than once per year. Again, this orchid can tolerate the winter low temperatures, owing to the Laelia anceps heritage.