OOAB Blooms Spring #2

Here's the continuation of the previous post.

Every so often you succumb to YAP (Yet Another Phalaenopsis) syndrome. These plants are everywhere, flaunting their orchid-ness in your face from shops around the world at oh-so-reasonable prices... Sometimes you just have to give in. The plant below was bought from Sherwood Garden Centre where the EPOS annual orchid show was being held; somehow, we didn't succumb to any of the plants for sale at the show (many of them were not in flower, and I don't know enough about orchids yet to jump up and down at just the name on a label, outside of things that happen to be on my wishlist!). Many of the others were large, and we're trying not to have to cover couches with plants to find them a home... However, we were faced with some delightful mini-phalaenopsis at the check-out, and we decided we had to have this one (which is still in bloom months later). How can you not find enough space for a mini-phal?

Phalaenopsis NOID mini.

NOID mini-Phal. I like the colours, particularly the off-white/yellowy picotee at the edge of the flower.

I've decided that certain groups of orchids are just great. Living in Africa, it kind of makes sense to have a fair number of Angraecoid orchids, and I cunningly bought a fairly epic tome on this group to feed that idea (perhaps not surprisingly, it's called Angraecoid Orchids: species from the African Region!). Here is another, Aerangis modesta. The leaves are a little shrivelled; previously, the aerial roots hung way down from the plant, but I've now persuaded them to wrap around the stick mount; adding a little sphagnum helps keep them a bit damper. I took this to an EPOS meeting, and Leon (owner of Caro-Lin Orchids) remarked that I should probably laugh off work to come home during the day to mist it... I think my solution is more fiscally sustainable! The plant has a jasmine scent, but much much more subtle than fastuosa; rather than filling up the room, you need to get quite close in and have a sniff.

Aerangis modesta close up
I didn't notice that crazy little structure in the middle of the flower until I took this picture.

Aerangis modesta

Aerangis modesta - long spurs on the flowers.

Aerangis modesta - whole plant

 We were quite pleased with our Dendrobium nobile, but apparently with only 7 large flowers it was a pretty poor show compared to the potential of these plants! Dendrobiums, it turns out, are a group of plants that mostly enjoy being tortured. In the wild, many (including nobile) go through a distinct dry season before they flower; if you don't replicate that (for instance, by being cavalier enough to water the poor thing), they tend to keiki more than flower. Ours did both! Apparently, you can also confuse them by making sure you don't fertilise - any nitrogen at all during the "rest period" seems to turn flowers off and keikis on!

Dendrobium nobile, close up of lip.
Fantastic colour!

Dendrobium nobile - note the whitish roots behind the flowers
Those are now attached to keikis, which I imagine I'll have to detach and pot up at some stage!
I like the delicate pinky/purple on the edges of the flowers and that deep purple throat.

Masdevallia Tangerine Dragon
Just before it opened

This is the second of our Masdevallias which decided to give us a flower; unfortunately, I never got around to taking a picture of the bloom once it opened, but it remained as a tubular flower with a fairly narrowly opened end. The M. mendozae in its ancestry clearly dominates over the M. veitchiana!  

Tolumnia pulchellum
Apologies for the rather dark photo...

This plant managed to put out a spectacularly long spike from a relatively small plant. I'm quite pleased with it, and can see why many people find Tolumnias very pleasing. In nature, they're twig epiphytes in the caribbean, so they enjoy breezes, light showers and quick drying off. I guess this loooong spike helps it stand out from the tree/bush it lives on! Note to self: remember light coloured flowers fool your light meter.

Dendrobium unicum
This plant has very unusual flowers, and I can't wait for this plant to get bigger and bigger!

Dendrobium loddigesii

This is a fabulous little plant - it had about 20 something flowers on it. I really like the colour combination and the frilly edge to the lip. Very sad I never got around to using my "proper" camera on it.

One of the nice things about belonging to an orchid society is you get the chance to interact with lots of other orchid growers, many of whom are generous with not only advice, camaraderie and encouragement to squeeze in just one more plant, but also help out in that regard by thrusting plant material at you. You can almost picture it as Orchids Anonymous.
"Hi, my name is James and it's been over 3 weeks since I last bought an orchid"
"Shame! Here, have this one!"
Eventually, I'm sure I'll be able to repay the kindness other growers have shown me, but it's a while off yet!

The following plant was kindly given to me by fellow EPOS member Sean, who said that Senior Management needed a gift (she's currently in Poland for 6 months).

Epc. Kyoguchi 'M Sauno' sub var SVO x L Seagulls Tangerine 'SVO' HCC
I imagine crossing the Epc with the L would make this an Epilaeliocattleya (Eplc.)!

Close up of the lip

I think SVO = Sunset Valley Orchids. They've recently bred an orchid that has essentially black flowers. For $100, you can have one...

This picture was taken just before the flowers finally scenesced, so it was originally better, with fuller flowers. It's a nice orange colour, and I like the contrasting colour on the lip too. The fairly understated flower overall also appeals.

After the EPOS annual function, where as well as a delicious braaied (barbequed) lunch, we also went on a walk down a forested valley looking at indigenous orchids (mainly Polystachya, all resolutely far away from my camera lens), Sean invited me back to his house, where we spent a pleasant afternoon wandering through his shade house and garden admiring the various plants he had. As well as the plant above, he also gave me a NOID Masdevallia which was practically bursting its pot, so I later divided it into 3, a Prosthechea prismatocarpa and a chunk of his Nepenthes pitcher plant, which I'm trying to persuade to root! EPOS gives each "family" that attends the function one plant in a lucky draw - ours turned out to be a Cattleya aquinii 'Francisco Miranda' x Cattleya loddigesii 'Aranda B' AM/AOS, which was not in flower - something to look forward to!

I ended up effectively swapping one of the NOID Masdevallia divisions for a Brassocattleya Morning Glory (B. nodosa x C. purpurata) a few weeks later with another member Margaret, after I trekked through to Port Elizabeth for some orchid supplies on a wet and rainy Sunday. It turns out that the society's "Cottage Shop" is on the plot where Caro-Lin Orchids greenhouses/shadehouses are, and I got a tour around the greenhouses and shadehouses from Christo. I saw even more examples of that orange Epilaeliocattleya cross, and each of them was quite different. There were lots of tempting things wafting around, and an entire mini-greenhouse filled with Masdevallias. And literally tens of thousands of Cymbidiums. Absolutely staggering numbers of plants, and I imagine I'll have to go back there with Intent at some stage in the future!

New Plants: Plantae

At the EPOS meeting on Thursday, we picked up four more plants from Plantae - a number which I felt was very reserved, but at which OOAB's Senior Management rolled her eyes and said something about "Two orchids. We said two*". Always hard to restrain yourself when presented with 1) a big, long list of great plants 2) a personal courier service by one of the owners of the nursery and 3) a 10% discount! As usual, the plants were well packed in paper/polyester wool sheeting; I don't have any pictures of that as it was quite late when we got home from Port Elizabeth; I wanted to get them out of the packaging and onto the shelving ASAP.

So, without further ado, onto the exciting part. New plants :)

First up, to go with the theme of "blue orchids", I spent a fair few minutes trying to Google pictures of various Cattleya Alliance plants which the team at Plantae had helpfully highlighted as being "blue" in their price list. You might be interested to read my post about blue orchids (and mustard). Here is our shiny new mounted Laelia sincorana f. coerulea:

Laelia sincorana f. coerulea

According to IOSPE, L. sincorana comes from a dry region of Brazil and needs a "very dry" rest period in the winter. Other sources suggest the roots need to dry "very quickly" after watering, so I imagine it'll like being near my Tolumnia. Best I remember that watering regimen in the coming months, particularly with all that moss around the roots!

Next, we have Maxillaria tenuifolia:

Maxillaria tenuifolia

As many orchid-growers will know, the flowers of this species usually have a rather interesting aroma of coconut - some people have compared it to suntan lotion, piña colada or coconut cream pie! I am trying to collect various fragrant orchids, as I find this aspect of them to be quite intriguing. To this end, I recently acquired a copy of Steven Frowine's Fragrant Orchids, which at some stage I'll get around to reading properly and reviewing. Again, this orchid apparently enjoys a somewhat dry winter "rest period". I find the delicate foliage on this one quite graceful and attractive. Apparently, many people find it prefers being mounted instead of in a pot; ours is currently in a pot with what looks like coconut husk chips. I might consider mounting it one day... It seems to prefer fairly high light levels (stick it with your Catts or Cymbidium), but will tolerate lower light levels. According to IOSPE, it seems to grow all over the place at a variety of altitudes, so I suspect it's probably quite adaptable and forgiving.

Mediocalcar decoratum is a pretty tiny, miniature mat-forming plant:

Mediocalcar decoratum

I suspect if I get growing this one right, along with my pleurothallids, it might be time to "risk" something like Dendrobium cuthbertsonii, which comes from a similar part of the world to this species and seems to prefer similar cultural requirements. This plant is apparently equally happy either mounted or in a pot, but needs room to ramble. I should perhaps consider chopping a chunk out of some EcoWeb I recently received from First Rays. It seems to prefer fairly low light, so I imagine it will be happy with the paphs, and apparently likes being regularly watered. It's a cute little plant and I look forward to seeing it flower, when these plants are covered in tiny yellow-orange blossoms. Apparently, this species was only described in 1989! Ron Hanko has some great photos of it over at Orchids in Bloom; have a look at his impressive orchidariums when you visit!

Finally, Dendrobium unicum:

Dendrobium unicum

This plant apparently drops its leaves in its second year of growth (presumably on each growth), so I must not panic if I see the leaves do so! In fact, shortly after this leaf fall, you'll see the development of flowers along nodes on the stem. It has great orange flowers which apparently "smell exactly like freshly sharpened crayons". I wonder what animal finds that smell enticing (and what would happen if you sat in its natural habitat sharpening crayons)!? Apparently, it prefers being mounted or in a basket. Like many Dendrobium, it likes a cooler, dryer period in the winter with fertiliser being withheld during that period. 

So, whilst this order might have been for four more plants, I think we can all agree they're rather small - which, it could be argued (I maintain so!), is like getting 2 plants... :D They're certainly not another Ansellia africana, which dwarfs all my other orchids. We've also made some more room at OOAB HQ by moving (thanks Ron!) two gigantic pots with frangipani planted in them to the garden outside my office. Our sneaky plan is to make/buy some kind of staging upon which to grow plants in the area formerly dominated by the frangipani. One day, we shall have a garden, and that garden shall be great. And feature two frangipani!

Hooray for miniatures!

*good thing that Bulbophyllum tingabarinum was out of stock then, phew.