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.
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.
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.
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.
