Comparing Eulophia - Species Or Hybrid ?

There is a condition in the orchid growing world that I call 'Species Snobbery' whereby a grower will look down his (or her) nose at any orchid that isn't a botanical species. I am glad to say I don't suffer from this condition. Quite often hybrids display the best attributes of their parents and are often far more forgiving of mistakes in culture than species can be. Of course there are numerous instances of a hybrid inheriting all the worst characteristics of its parents, too. Then there are the genera which for some reason the hybridists haven't been playing with yet. Into this category, at least to my mind, falls the genus Eulophia. As some of the sharper eyed of my readers might recall reading, I have in my possession a (an?) Eulophia hybrid. On its own, it has a lot going for it. There are 17 flowers on its flower spike, nicely spaced out on quite a tall stem.

Rather pretty, isn't it ? I still like the way the petals rise up above the lip like a little crown. The flower bears a resemblance in its form and colouring to Eulophia guineensis; one of its parents. In fact, the plant is a full three quarters Eulophia guineensis and carries lots of characteristics of its guineensis parent. Unfortunately, one of these traits is the unwillingness of it to bloom consistently. Eulophia guineensis is renowned for being bloom shy, and the hybrid is no exception to that.  Having said that, when it does bloom, the flower count and spike length is way higher than E. guineensis. The other species in the mix here is Eulophia euglossa which produces tall spikes with lots of flowers on. Sadly the flower is (at least to some people's eye) rather dowdier than E. guineensis, and this is another trait it has passed on to the hybrid, shrinking the lip size, washing out the pink colour and giving more brown to the upward pointing tepals. Luckily for our discussion, I do have Eulophia guineensis in bloom at the same time as the hybrid so I can compare them.

I will say right now that this looks to me to be a particularly good form of the species (line breeding I guess). You can see that the lip is much broader and more boldly coloured, and also that the upward pointing tepals are much pinker than the hybrid. Eulophia guineensis has produced two flower spikes from one growth (actually I have two plants; one has produced two spikes from one growth, the other has produced three growths and one spike...go figure). The flower count is lower with seven flowers on one spike and three on the other. Still a good show, though.  If we look at the flowers side by side, we can see the difference in flower size.

I should point out that the hybrid (on the left) is slightly closer to the camera, so looks slightly bigger than it actually is in relation to Eulophia guineensis on the right. I think you'll agree that the hybrid just has more washed out tones all round.

In terms of the plant itself (its a mistake to only look at flowers when making hybrids after all), they are actually quite similar. The hybrid has inherited taller pseudobulbs from E. euglossa, but they are not at all unweildy. The plant is slightly bigger than E. guineensis but isn't vastly bigger. Flowers are produced in the same way; as new growth emerges the flower spikes overtake them and bloom as the leaves are unfurling but before the new pseudobulbs have formed. As I mentioned before, Eulophia guineensis is known for being an unreliable bloomer.

Both of my plants have bloomed this year and I think I know what triggered it; though it might prove more luck than judgement. Once the leaves go yellow in the autumn, water is withheld completely. I don't give any water at all until new growth starts. Having said that, watering during the rest period doesn't seem to do any harm but it doesn't seem to get the plants going any earlier either. I don't keep them significantly cooler, just dry. I imagine they need to feel threatened before they decide to bloom. After all, if the plant is too comfortable it has no reason to bloom. Where the hybrid is concerned, Eulophia euglossa is a cooler grower, so I might have kept it too warm. Having said that, last year I put the plant in my (cooler) living room to bloom, only to watch the buds form and drop off one by one. I have several plants (not for much longer), and only one has bloomed.

Another thing with Eulophia guineensis and its hybrid is that they can take up quite a lot of room as they age. Each pseudobulb is quite fat and the plant will increase in width by at least a pot size every year. When repotting, there is a temptation to remove backbulbs and pot them separately to make new plants. This works fine and new plants invariably grow away fine, but I think it prevents the mother plant from blooming and this might be where their reputation for resenting disturbance comes from. I haven't found them to resent disturbance at all....repotted plants grow away just fine but tend not to bloom the following year. Potting on seems fine. Keeping the plants dry during winter does have the advantage of making the potting medium last longer than it otherwise would, but at some point flowers have to be sacrificed in order to replace the potting medium that is breaking down.

In summary, and tying back into the opening paragraph (which feels so long ago I'm almost tempted to post a link to it), I have to say I greatly prefer the species to the hybrid on this occasion. This hybrid has fallen into the classic trap of not being any better than its parents, having inherited only some of the good traits and quite a lot of the not so good ones. Of course, it is a very lovely plant in its own right and you can only be so scathing toward it when growing it next to at least one of its parents. Just to finish, look at the lovely nectar spur on the back of Eulophia guineensis; much shortened on the hybrid.

Bloom Event - Dendrochilum abbreviatum

I have grown rather fond of Dendrochilum species. OK, they're not so big and showy as many of the orchids I grow, but they are a little different from the 'norm' (whatever that is) and the small flowers and lovely scents invite the viewer to take a closer look. I don't know what I was expecting from this species, really, other than to assume it would be somewhat similar to D. magnum. I got it from (shock horror) Burnham Nurseries (link to the side), along with D. latifolium. Vegetatively, it looks just as much like a small Aspidistra as the other larger Dendrochilum species do. The leaves are longer and rather narrower than D. magnum. The flower spikes appeared rather early on while new growth was very young, and the now opening flowers are displayed below the adult foliage, before the new foliage has unfurled.

The flowers themselves are of a similar size to D. magnum so on the large side for the genus, but still not large. They are an overall greenish colour. I was expecting a brownish coloured lip, at least according to the label, but at the moment the lip is the same colour as the rest of the flower. It is possible that the lip will darken as the flowers age, as is the case with D. magnum.

These two photos are essentially similar but they do show the nice spacing of the flowers on the spike. They are rather hard to photograph with any accuracy because not only are the flowers small, they also point downwards and it is awkward to get underneath the plant to take a photo. I really should invest in a better camera and tripod to take photos of tiny flowers (I rather ashamedly refer you to the tiny flower comments I made in an earlier post). The photos make the flowers look rather yellower than they actually are. They are scented but not as strongly as some other species of Dendrochilum can be. Again, this might be something that will develop over the coming days. It had been my intention to post about this species next week, but once the blooms started to open I couldn't help myself. Honestly, I'm like a child in a sweetshop.

This species originates from Java, although it is not common there. In cultivation, it seems to like the constant warmth of my growroom (no surprise given its origins), and does not like to dry out at all, even when it is not actively growing. I wonder if many Dendrochilum have a bad reputation because they do only put on growth at certain times of the year (usually late winter and spring), and appear to 'sulk' for months on end before eventually sending up new shoots. No amount of water, fertilizer, heat or threats will get them going before they've a mind to. The natural response to this behaviour is to assume that the plant is resting and that it wants a dry rest, but this doesn't seem to be the case with many Dendrochilum, and I have found that the only effect a dry rest will produce is premature leave drop.

According to what I read (at Dendrochilum.com) the pseudobulbs should be further spaced, at 5cm. It could be that the species is variable and the clone I have naturally has shorter internodes. My plant is definitely more 'clumpy' and would be rather hard to accommodate if it had 5cm rhizome between its pseudobulbs. It is worth bearing in mind that when dealing with the lesser grown botanicals such as this and many other Dendrochilum species, there isn't the wealth of information out there that you find for other more widely grown species. There is always going to be some speculation about the provenance of the plant you have.

There is an ingrained habit among orchid growers of assuming that their plant is the one that is correctly labelled while everyone else's is wrong. I have encountered this many times and have now given up commenting on many posts on various forum that I would otherwise find very interesting because of it. I try to remain open to the opinions of others where naming is concerned because there is always the chance that the mistake has been made either by me or by the person who sold me the plant. In the case of the above, I keep the name D. abbreviatum because it is the closest fit to the plant I have, and I wouldn't pretend to know better than either the nursery it came from or the taxonomists who gave it that name in the first place. We must remember that species are constantly being discovered (and lost) and that some plants that have been in cultivation for a very long time might not be correctly named according to modern knowledge.

At any rate, I am very pleased indeed with my Dendrochilum abbreviatum. I won't lie and say it was particularly cheap, but it seems keen to earn its keep and is easy to grow. It has produced five new growths which is three more than I was expecting, and correspondingly, has produced five flower spikes, too. I definitely think this plant will bulk up rather quickly and should start to produce even more impressive shows of flowers even than this one. It might not win a beauty contest when compared to Cattleyas or Vandas, but it has a beauty in its own right and I firmly believe more of these more obscure species should be grown.

Bloom Event - Vanda Princess Mikasa 'Blue'

Yes, I know, another Vanda. It's getting boring, isn't it ? This particular plant has been languishing for ages with general malaise. Nothing ostensibly wrong with it, just not happy. And more importantly, not really growing or flowering. The leaves sort of folded up as if it was short of water, but I knew it couldn't be as it has been getting the same amount and frequency of water as all the other Vanda which are doing fine. I can only conclude that I did something a year or more ago that upset it and it has, in its own way, sent me to a kind of horticultural purgatory as a result. Now it has decided in its own inimitable way that I've suffered enough and has dutifully sprung back to life. The leaves have filled out again, it has started to grow and more importantly, it has produced some flowers.

I had quite forgotten what a handsome hybrid this is. I know I have it in a variety of colours which are all lovely in their way, but the blue is my favourite. Just like the other Mikasa hybrids I have, it is growing in a deep rose pot with coarse bark chips and seems to be thriving. Rather than just looking at the roots I can see at the surface, I like to look underneath at the bottom of the pot and if I can see roots at the bottom of the pot, I know my plant is happy. So it is with this one. Hence I cannot understand its sulking for so long. The flowers are, if anything, marginally larger than either Mikasa pink or white. The blue also shows off the tesselations better than the other colours, and that is what I find so attractive in many Vanda that have V. coerulea in their parentage. The blooms are nicely spaced on the stem, too. There aren't so many blooms this time and I know the plant is capable of better (I think there are five or six), but it still looks impressive.

I have found with a lot of these 'blue' hybrids that they look quite purple in certain lights (i.e. under my growlights) but this one looks blue even there. The difference is quite noticeable when one of my Blue Magic is blooming too and it looks quite purple under the lights. I've probably said it before, but I'll say it again. These Mikasa hybrids are nice compact plants that flower several times a year under my conditions. Even though I only have one in each colour now (except for two pink), there is still almost always at least one of them in flower, and I get way more flower spikes from them than I do from any of my Phalaenopsis (apart maybe from cornu-cervi which keeps blooming from the same spikes).

If only I could work out why it spent so long sulking. I should hate to inadvertently upset it again and have to put up with another year long sulk. All appears well now, though, as you can see.

Bloom Event - Prosthechea Green Hornet

I really wasn't expecting this to flower so young. It is still in the 6cm pot from Burnham Nurseries, and hasn't outgrown it yet. Still, the ability to bloom while still so young bodes well for the future, I have to say.  Prosthechea Green Hornet is a primary hybrid between P. cochleata and P. lancifolia. I really can't keep up with the naming of these species and hybrids, because I'm pretty sure that P. cochleata is now in another genus altogether (possibly) and P. lancifolia is usually considered a synonym of P. cochleata, or whatever it's called today. Confused? You should be. I'd be very interested to learn the proper provenance of this hybrid, as it is also fragrant. I have another hybrid of P. cochleata called P. Octopussy which is definitely not fragrant. As I understand it, neither P. cochleata nor P. lancifolia is fragrant. Now (stay with me on this, and try not to look too bored), if your plant labelled as P. lancifolia has a fragrance (as mine does), it is most likely mislabelled and should be called Prosthechea trulla. As the hybrid carries the fragrance, I'm guessing that it is actually a hybrid of P. cochleata and P. trulla. Also, P. trulla is a smaller species in stature than P. cochleata, and blooms on a much smaller plant, which would explain the behaviour of Green Hornet.

It isn't a huge flower, but I do find it rather charming. I am a big fan of the scent of P. trulla and I was hoping that I'd like the scent of P. Green Hornet. I don't. Many would, I suspect, but I have a deep dislike of honey or anything that smells remotely of it and that's the smell that this plant has. Don't get me wrong - it's not so strong I feel an urge to chuck it out of the window and I'd certainly not get rid of a plant because I don't like the smell. If it grows and blooms it earns its keep and I'd rather it had an unpleasant smell than none at all. I can count six blooms on the spike (Yes, I can count up to six!) which I don't think is at all bad for a first blooming. Whether the flower size will increase over time I can't say (Prosthechea trulla doesn't have flowers much bigger than this), but I am reasonably sure that P. cochleata will assert itself before long and increase the flower count, and the size of the plant.

All in all, a lovely little plant whatever its called.

Bloom Event - Paphiopedilum (macabre x grandmaster) x charlesworthii

I'm going to have to stop saying that I don't grow many Paphiopedilum as it's clearly a lie. Today I show you another one. I got this as a bit of a punt really because it was not in bloom when I got it but it is a cross of P. charlesworthii so it ought to be interesting, oughtn't it? Also, it wasn't expensive either (a tenner from Burnham Nurseries) and seemed a nice quality, blooming size plant. This was only at Christmas so I'm very pleased to see it bloom so soon. No sign of new growth yet, but I expect it'll get its act together once it's done blooming.

I absolutely love the spotting on the petals, and the markings on the dorsal sepal. Just goes to show sometimes a punt can pay off, doesn't it? A very nicely proportioned flower indeed. Here's a full frontal.

I'm not sure what my problem with Paphiopedilum is, really. They just don't excite me, you know? I have heard of a horticultural affliction that some gardeners of tropical plants suffer from (me included) called "Cactus Blindness" whereby you can appreciate a nice specimen but, fundamentally, they all look the bloody same. Perhaps I suffer from "Slipper Orchid Blindness". Now that's a rather specialist form of horticultural hypochondria. I have been mooting the idea recently that I should grow less Paphiopedilum than I do and instead focus more on Coelogyne and Dendrochilum that I like more. I can't say that I can't grow Paphiopedilum (at least not the hybrids I have) because they grow well for me. I can only hope that I'm not hurtling down the slippery slope that a lot of orchid growers do. I have noticed many times with orchid growers that the older they get, the more they like to grow the orchids with the tiniest possible flowers, finally ending up growing Pleurothallis and its allies. I mean, why bother growing a plant that bears flowers that are too small to see? I don't mean to disparage the people who grow Pleurothallids at all, of course, and I am aware that there are plenty of them that produce large and attractive flowers, but they are in the minority.

Anyway, went rather off topic there, didn't I? This particular plant is nicely proportioned as well as having a handsome flower with quite dark foliage with some purple speckling towards the outside of the centre of the crown. Some Paphiopedilum have handsome flowers and enormous floppy foliage, or teeny weeny fans of foliage and huge flowers (not a problem for some, but I think the plants look out of proportion). I have said all along with orchids that the are truly knockout flowers on quite scruffy looking plants and this is often true, but Paphiopedilum quite often have nice foliage so they look good even when they aren't blooming.

Having said I am considering growing less of these, I think this one is a keeper. There are a couple like that. I don't think there'll ever be none at all but I can tweak the collection to just keep the ones that I particularly like. I'm only trying to please myself, after all.

Bloom Event - Coelogyne fimbriata and Coelogyne massangeana

It feels like ages since I've had time to sit down and write a blog post. Its only been a few days in real time, of course. Still, where orchids are concerned flowers continue to open and today I have two Coelogyne species to share with you. The first is a miniature species, Coelogyne fimbriata. I have always had a soft spot for this species even though it is one of the dowdier species in the genus. There has always been space in my collection for this miniature species (I call it miniature, but it can in fact reach gargantuan proportions given the time to grow into a specimen). Technically speaking this is a cool growing species, so I know I'm not getting the best out of it in my warm growroom. I know also that growing it mounted on a branch is probably not a great idea given my somewhat erratic watering practices. Nevertheless, this plant does bloom fairly regularly.

I really like the delicately fimbriated lip (hence the name fimbriata) and the diminutive stature of the flower. All the more amazing when you think how huge some plants of this genus can get. There are different blooming habits in the genus Coelogyne. Some bloom from the base of a mature pseudobulb in the traditional way, some bloom from the centre of new growth before it matures and some bloom from the top of the newly developed pseudobulb. This is one of those species that blooms from the top of a newly developed pseudobulb. There are specific words for these blooming habits but they aren't really important if we just want to enjoy pretty flowers.

I have this plant growing on a short log with a pad of moss underneath it at the moment. This probably isn't the ideal way to grow such a water hungry species, and I think I will re-think my culture of this species in the near future (which means, to the uninitiated, shove it in a pot). It hasn't really attached to the log and seems to want to grow horizontally away from it. If that isn't a hint, I don't know what is!

As you can see, there are two growing points to this so I'll probably divide it into two plants (it seems to have divided itself, so that won't be difficult). One thing that I never fail to appreciate is that the flower is quite large for the size of the plant. There is usually only one or two per spike, sadly, but large(r) plants have many many growing points and can stay in bloom for some considerable time. I find the scent rather unpleasant (sort of sweaty) but it isn't too strong, luckily.

And now on to a more showy species, Coelogyne massangeana. I got this plant from Burnham nurseries a year or so a go off the bargain bench, in spike, for a tenner. It put out two new growths  after it bloomed, and although it could have done better, it has produced a flower spike for me this time around. It can grow into quite a giant and I know my plant is still only a baby. Thankfully it seems very willing to bloom at a young age. I look forward to seeing it bloom once it has reached full size.

I suppose there are more brightly coloured flowers in the world (Coelogyne is a great genus if you like brown flowers) but there is something rather endearing about it. I love Coelogyne for the lip markings unusual colours. This species also has a very pleasant scent, always a bonus. The most striking thing about this species, though, is how the flower spikes hang down over the edge of the pot, and the sheer quantity of blooms on the spike. As I said, my plant is a baby, but you can see that it will be spectacular when it grows up.

Coelogyne massangeana is quite common in cultivation, but I have to admit its rare you see a large plant in bloom. Probably, this is because they are difficult to transport to shows when in bloom (those flowers are as delicate as porcelain and very easily marked), and also because the plants can grow to very large proportions. So if you want to see a fully grown plant doing its thing, you'll have to grow it yourself, or visit one.

After blooming I will be potting this on as the flower spike only just had room to get out of the pot and the new growth certainly won't. Probably a good thing, as I haven't done anything with it as yet; I was waiting for it to settle into the pot its in first. No sooner its done that, its ready to pot on. Such is life. One for a basket in future, I think.

In keeping with the above discussion about C. fimbriata, C. massangeana blooms from the base of the newly matured pseudobulb at the same time as new growth is started. Naturally this causes lots of confusion when we try to work out whether we are seeing new growths or flower spikes. I'm going through this harrowing experience with C. velutina at the moment, so watch this space.

Bloom Event - Dendrochilum cobbianum

I have a real soft spot for Dendrochilum species. They are modest sized plants that are easy to grow, and many are very nicely scented. Dendrochilum cobbianum is not uncommon in cultivation by any means, yet relatively few people seem to grow it. Perhaps it isn't showy enough, I don't know. D. cobbianum has comparitively large flowers compared to many members of the genus, but they are still very difficult to photograph (at least with my Nexus). What they lack in size they make up for in quantity, though.

Actually, that's not too bad, is it? I am tragic enough to have counted the flowers on this spike, and I make it 53. Of course, when photographing, it doesn't help that the flowers all face downward as well. The flowers are very strongly scented. When I was first introduced to this species, many moons ago, I really didn't like the scent at all, but my plant smells very pleasant. Maybe it's me that's changed.

Dendrochilum are closely related to Coelogyne, and seem to enjoy similar treatment. My Dendrochilum have all grown better since I have grown them warmer (the label says intermediate I think) and given them more water. The inherited knowlege I had was always that if an orchid isn't actively growing it should be allowed to dry between waterings, but this doesn't seem to be true for quite a lot of orchids. Turns out neither Dendrochilum nor Coelogyne like this, and don't thrive if they dry out. Now I'm watering before they dry, they are growing more quickly, flowering better, I'm getting growths bigger than the proceeding ones, and quite often more of them too.

This plant is doing well, but I do wish it would produce more than one growth at a time. Having said that, a friend of mine has a much larger plant than this that hasn't flowered for five years, so I should be careful what I wish for.

Can you imagine how this would look (and smell) if it had several flower spikes all out at once? The very oldest couple of leaves have black marks on them (probably a secondary infection bought on by insect attack which was bought on by initially keeping the plant too dry), but the the new emerging leaf and last years leaf are clean (a result of better culture; pat self on back). The newly developing pseudobulb is already as tall as last years, so should be a good bit bigger when it is completed. Bigger pseudobulbs equal more new growths in due course.

I have also started to feed much more regularly recently. I have never been a big fan of feeding orchids before, and it is certainly true that they are perfectly capable of growing and flowering using just what tiny amount of feed is present in the growing medium and water we use to irrigate. But why settle for them just subsisting when we could take them to the banquet? I should point out right away that overfeeding them is far more damaging than underfeeding them, but giving a full strength feed once a fortnight seems to work rather well. I have read in several places that one should feed 'weekly, weakly' by diluting the orchid feed by more than suggested on the bottle but I prefer to feed at full strength so I can flush the growing medium with plain water to remove any dissolved salts that can damage roots. I am still experimenting with the various brands of orchid feed, and there is still one on my list that I haven't tried yet but want to. At the moment, I am feeding with orchid focus which seems fine, as did the last bottle which was the Lorbex brand. It probably matters very little what you actually use, provided you don't go mad with it. The only issue I have with branded orchid feeds is that they are often labelled as 'grow' and 'bloom' formula. This seems a blatant excuse to sell two bottles of feed where one would have done perfectly well. Furthermore, trying to separate out and give different feeds depending on whether plants are blooming or not is bordering on insanity. I much prefer to give a balanced feed so I can give all the plants the same (in fact, I do give them all the same, regardless of whether they are growing or blooming, or what it says on the bottle). I suppose I could put half strength of both solutions in the spray bottle, but that seems to be just unnecessary messing around.

New Plants - Order from Orchid Botanics

There is quite a story to be told here; a thrilling one, if I say so myself. For some considerable amount of time, I have been after Coelogyne usitana (Google for pictures; its lovely). C. usitana is quite a new species to cultivation, as in less than 20 years, so its fairly natural that there aren't so many around. Burnham nurseries have a lovely awarded plant that really is a sight to behold in flower but I couldn't have that for some reason. I contacted the usual people in the UK but there weren't any plants of a saleable size around, so I cast the net rather further afield and found a couple of nurseries on the continent that stocked it. Sadly, one of them wasn't Schwerter otherwise I'd not have hesitated.

In the end I found quite a few of the Coelogyne species and a few non-Coelogyne I wanted at Roellke orchideen in Germany. I felt confident enough to order from them as I'd heard about them and they seemed to have a good reputation. C. usitana was one of the species they had that I wanted, but they also had C. asperata. I bought a C. asperata from Burnhams but it died almost as soon as I got it home. I assume it was too new a division, and probably needed more time to settle in before it was sold. Anyway, I ordered the C. asperata from Germany, along with a couple of Cattleya hybrids and two Epidendrum species. I didn't put the C. usitana on the order thinking that I would see what the plants were like before I placed a bigger order. And thank goodness I did because to say I was disappointed would be putting it rather mildly. The two Cattleya hybrids had not a live root between them, and the Coelogyne asperata (which I was quite exited about) looked as though it hadn't been watered for a month. The two Epidendrum were better, though I they could have been far better.

I don't know about anyone else, but when I order plants from a professional nursery, I always assume that they are far better at growing orchids than I am and I'll get a plant with nice healthy roots and I'll panic that I'll kill it. Not much to ask for, is it? So you can understand why I was disappointed. Anyway, I complained and the nursery refunded me, which is something. I'm not sure if it was an admission of responsibility or just to shut me up.  They didn't ask for the plants back and I am trying to save them, but it is a long and laborious process. One of the Cattleya didn't even have a live eye on its leading growth. However, one of the Epidendrum is showing a new shoot.

The Coelogyne asperata has started to recover. Luckily, it had a new shoot that was almost at the right stage to start to produce roots on its own. I should say now that that doesn't excuse not watering it. Coelogyne asperata, like most of the genus, does not like to dry out. Once I had been refunded and it became clear that I wasn't going to have to send plants back to Germany, I repotted the plant into bark chips and crossed my fingers. Over the past couple of weeks, I have noticed that the new growth has started to produce roots, so it looks like disaster has been averted at least for now. In fact, it looks like a second new growth has started to emerge now, too.

As you can see, the plant is still pretty wrinkly so we aren't out of the woods yet. At least we haven't lost any foliage. I will add that the plant is rather smaller than I was expecting for a flowering size Coelogyne asperata, too. The plant from Burnhams that died was huge (I guess size isn't everything). I am informed this plant is flowering size, though I don't expect flowers until it is significantly healthier.

I am very glad I didn't order the Coelogyne usitana from them, too. So my search continued.  Then out of the blue I got an email from a chap I got talking to (briefly) at a show last year asking if I was still interested in a Coelogyne usitana. The plant was even in spike. After a couple of photos and 28 emails, I got the plant this morning for what I consider to be a very reasonable price indeed. The plant is not in bad condition, good root system on it, and new growth that has yet to root out.

This is the plant as it arrived. There is some spotting on the leaves (mostly on the older leaves), but there is a nice new growth. I'm assuming its a fresh(ish) import, so it has survived its journey remarkably well. as I always do, I have removed the plant from its pot and had a good look at the roots. Lord only knows what it was potted in, but the plant seems to like it so I can't complain too much. I have replaced the growing medium with medium bark chips as I do with almost all new plants and have given it a good watering to settle it in. I present the plant in its new pot, looking not very different:

Looks better already, doesn't it? as a bonus, I was also sent a couple of backbulbs of Coelogyne odoardi; a species I'm not familiar with at all. From what I read it is a hot growing species allied to C. tomentosa with russet brown flowers on pendulous spikes. As a bonus it is also very fragrant (I say bonus, it might smell horrid). There are only a couple of backbulbs so we'll see whether they sprout or not. It looks like there's a live eye, so I guess it just depends on whether it decides to grow before it shrivels to much. I hope it does.

Bloom Event - Coelogyne Mem. William Micholitz 'Burnham' AM/RHS

It says on the label that this hybrid is a cool grower (temperature, not street cred). I grow it warm as you may have guessed and I can only use one word to describe it: Rampant. It is a hybrid between C. lawrenciana and C. mooreana (hopeful I'll get blooms soon, but can't promise), so having a warm growing and a cool growing parent. Whatever temperatures it actually wants, it is a strong grower and quickly grows into a large plant, as mine is doing. I don't have too many awarded clones in my collection (I can't afford them, more's the pity), but this is one, and for good reason.

Flower colour (including the orange lip) has come straight from the C. mooreana parent, while the sequential flowering habit, flower shape and size has come from C. lawrenciana. I really like this hybrid; it really makes a statement. Flowers are somewhere between 4 and 5 inches across, and unlike its C. lawrenciana parent, it opens a few per spike at a time. My plant has two lead growths, so two spikes. At time of writing there are four flowers open, with quite a lot more to come.

It has always done well for me, whatever growing conditons I have thrown at it, so it must be a very robust hybrid indeed (the best ones all are). As must be pretty obvious from reading this blog, I have a great soft spot for Coelogynes in general, but these large flowered white hybrids are a real favourite of mine. It always seems to flower at the same time each year. It has been in spike for quite some time now, taking quite a long time to develop its buds (another habit it shares with C. lawrenciana). I particularly like it when I grow a primary hybrid like this one, and also have both its parents in my collection, as I can compare it to its parents. Sadly I haven't bloomed C. mooreana yet (and may not do at all as my growroom is, at least on paper, too warm for it), but it is clear to me that C. mooreana has mostly given flower colour and the ability to hold several flowers per spike at the same time to the mix and not much else. The overall habit and size of the plant seems much more like C. lawrenciana. The flowers are scented, but only in a nondescript sort of way.

Yes, I know this needs potting on quite urgently. I'm intending to do it after blooming. This is one of those awkward hybrids that starts showing flower buds at the same time as new roots, which is when I would ideally want to pot it on. I needn't worry really; this hybrid is so robust it probably wouldn't notice if I did it this minute. You will notice if you look at the pseudobulbs that they are rather wrinkly. I spent quite some time obsessing and worrying about this, during which time the plant just got on with it and carried on growing. I have noticed the same habit with C. lawrenciana and it doesn't seem to affect the health of the plant at all. I guess it just uses up a lot of energy pushing out new growths (particularly to that sort of size) and flower spikes.

At any rate, this is a very nice hybrid and I'm proud to have it in my collection.

Bloom Event - Phalaenopsis Mini-Mark, Tsay's Evergreen, Sogo Rose, Mannii and Japonica.

Phew. I've had a busy week what with one thing and another; luckily we are in the midst of a 'lull' as far as orchids are concerned. Having said that, there are a fair few plants in spike...a couple of Coelogyne, three Paphiopedilum, couple of Vanda, two Dendrochilum, Dendrobium anosmum....OK forget I said that!   Growth is rampant, but there isn't so much of a 'queue' of posts at the moment.. Nevertheless, today I thought I'd share a few of my Phalaenopsis that are in bloom, bringing us up to date on all of them, I think.

I've been really impressed by the mass blooming of Phalaenopsis I've had recently. I put it all down to the cooler nights at the back end of last year (In the UK we had a very warm autumn. This may seem counter-intuitive, but what it meant was that the nights stayed warm outside, so I could leave the growroom window open overnight, resulting in slightly cooler temperatures indoors). The difference from 'normal' conditions could only have been 2C or so, but it seems to have been enough to trigger practically all my Phalaenopsis to initiate spikes. Of course, it takes a couple of months for even the fastest of them to get from spike initiation to open blooms, so I'm still reaping the benefit of all this now.

Now I've started to write, I can't remember what photos I've taken (always the way), so I'll start with Phalaenopsis Mini-Mark since I know that one is in bloom.

I always like this when it blooms, but every time I think it could just do a little better at it. I used to have several plants, but have managed to sell the majority of them now, leaving me with just two. I didn't even keep the biggest and best for myself. How very public spirited of me! This is probably as miniature as hybrid Phalaenopsis get. The plant is as diminutive as the name suggests, and hardly takes up any space at all. One of the reasons I like this one is that even though it is a miniature, it looks in proportion to itself. A lot of the so called miniatures on sale at the moment look like a standard size Phalaenopsis in small proportion. That probably doesn't make much sense, but to me they just look wrong, somehow, as though they have been forced into a skin thats too small. Anyway, P. Mini-Mark is a very pretty flower. I just wish it would produce more flowers on longer spikes. I'm sure its capable of it, so I guess it really is just a case of my impatience. I was told (and have since read) that all the plants of this cross in Europe are virused. If my plants are virused, they don't show any sign of it that I can see. At worst, they seem a bit on the slow side but that really is all.

The plants originally came from a nursery in Germany (no, not Schwerter), and have always stayed around the same size. Roots are healthy and new leaves grow every year, so I don't worry about them. Yes, I know the leaves are rather pale in comparison to a lot of Phalaenopsis, but remember that I grow them in much brighter light than most people.

Next up we have a first blooming from a plant I got from eBay... Phalaenopsis Tsay's Evergreen. This really is a pretty little thing. Having had a quick Google for this hybrid, my flower seems much greener than most of the pictures I have seen, but it has only just opened so it probably needs a few days to get its proper colour. I really love the shade of green, though.

I suppose we might call this a 'novelty' hybrid, though it is a little more complex than many novelties. Usually, by 'novelty' we just mean any Phalaenopsis hybrid that differs from the usual types seen in the garden centres  sold without names in their thousands. Phalaenopsis Tsay's Evergreen is a nice small plant that I repotted as soon as I got it (as I do with most new purchases unless there's a specific reason not to). It was perfectly healthy, but I was still glad to see it spike as it is usually a sign that the plant has settled down. Only one flower on the spike, but I rather fancy that if I leave the spike after the flower fades it may produce more as is common with a lot of these types of hybrids (or any types of Phalaenopsis hybrids). It carries a light fragrance, but I can't quite make out what it reminds me of. Sadly it doesn't show on the photo, but there are in fact markings on the flowers if you look closely.

It is clearly still only a baby, so the flower count will increase over time (though I imagine it will never produce more than 2 or 3 per spike at a time. Hopefully there will be several flower spikes in future so it should give a good show. It isn't a huge flower, but it isn't grossly out of proportion with the size of the plant, and the size might increase as the plant gains more strength, too.

Next up is another novelty hybrid, Phalaenopsis Sogo Rose. I have had this plant for quite some time now, and it has flowered several times. For the first time in its career with me, it has produced two spikes this time, the second of which is blooming slightly later than the first. I very much like the colour of the flowers, as well as the shape and heavy texture they have. You'd think that the more heavily textured flowers might last longer than the thinner flowers of the more common hybrids, but this doesn't seem to be the case.  I'm not saying they're short lived, they just don't last longer.

As is often the case with novelty hybrids following this breeding line, there aren't a vast number of flowers per stem, but they make up for that by being pleasantly fragrant, a trait which always gets brownie points with me. I like that while flower spikes are green they can produce buds for years to come, so old spikes are not to be cut off until they are absolutely brown and dead. I seem to be developing a liking for these novelty hybrids, don't I?

Looks nice and healthy, doesn't it? The first spike has gone over now, but has already started to produce more buds; there's one just about to open as you can see on the above photo. At some point soon, I think I'll have to get round to giving this plant a new pot as there are quite a lot of roots wandering now and there is getting to be bare stem at the base of the plant. It doesn't usually carry quite as many leaves as it has now; I assume the extra feed its been getting is helping with that.

Next up we have a couple of species just starting to bloom. The first of these is Phalaenopsis mannii. I got several plants of this species together and have sold all but one. They all went through some sort of root crisis after I got them, and I repotted them all into coarse bark. I think a couple of them then missed the water when I went round with the spray gun and, believe it or not, they got attacked by red spider mite. Dark times indeed. However, the plants bounced back nicely once I had worked out what the problem was, and the mites moved on to pastures new (or got drowned in soap). My plant started to put on strong growth, both leaves and roots, and has now put out a flower spike.

To me, this flower has quite a strong resemblance to P. cornu-cervi, though the plant is different looking, as is the flower spike. I really like the hairy lip. They aren't huge, but they are generously produced from a spike with an ever extending tip so blooming should last for some time once it starts. There are a couple of colour forms of the species (I also have the Zarbitter cultivar but it hasn't produced a spike as yet), but this is the regular form. The flower has a slightly odd fragrance, at least to my nose; it reminds me of frazzles (bacon flavour crisps). Not unpleasant at all, just a bit weird on an orchid.

We are right at the start of the bloom cycle and the spike is still growing.

The plant itself is rather large, even for a Phalaenopsis, so its a good job the flower spikes get good and long! You can just see on the above photo that the new leaves are pleasantly purple spotted so the plant has at least a bit of interest when it is out of bloom. The foliage is a good deal thinner than many Phalaenopsis, so the plant has a somewhat floppy appearance.

The second species in bloom used to be in genus Sedirea but has now been reclassified to be part of Phalaenopsis, so its now called Phalaenopsis japonica. A very nice diminutive species with long flower spikes of interestingly marked flowers. I got this species (as some may remember) from Schwerter as part of my first order back at the end of February. It had the beginnings of a flower spike back then, but no more than that. The spike has grown quickly, and now flowers have started to open. A couple have blasted, but there should still be plenty to enjoy.

Very pretty, I think you'll agree. Unusually for a Phalaenopsis, there is a nectar spur at the back of the flower, and the flowers have a very pleasant fragrance that reminds me strongly of lemon balm or lemon verbena. I have read some horror stories about this being difficult to bloom. I can't take any real credit for these flowers, so I suppose I'll have to wait and see what it does when its next bloom cycle arrives. Just in case you've forgotten, here's a couple of photos of the whole plant.

Bloom Event - Brassia verrucosa

I got this plant at Christmas from a British Orchid nursery (no prizes for guessing which one), and it put out a flower spike almost straight away, which I wasn't expecting. I got a couple of other Brassia at the same time, which have been rather more sensible and put out new growth. I potted them into pond pots as soon as I saw new roots, and both of them look to be doing rather well for themselves. Not that Brassia verrucosa isn't. It has also put out new growth and is starting to produce roots, but I haven't been able to repot it as I wanted to though, because it rather selfishly decided to bloom. There are 10 flowers on the spike, which I consider to be pretty good going for a young plant.

I love the delicate markings on the lip. On close inspection the little green spots are raised (hence the name verrucosa), and the flowers are lightly fragrant. They are a decent size, too at around ten inches from top to bottom.

I'm doubly pleased with this because traditionally I haven't been very good with Brassia, but the four plants I have now seem to be doing well. They seem to like rather more water than I had ever given them credit for before, and don't really seem to rest between completing a growth and starting a new one. It is looking like they appreciate a bit more air around their roots, hence they seem to be doing well in the pond pots with regular water and fertilizer.

I really like this plant, and I'm doubly pleased that its a species and is still growing well for me. I got Brassia verrucosa var. brachiata at the same time which is reputed to have larger flowers than this (bigger than ten inches??), so I look forward to seeing that bloom, too.

Bloom Event - Phalaenopsis sanderiana, stuartiana 'yellow', cornu-cervi 4n and cornu-cervi 'flava'

As there are a few Phalaenopsis species blooming together, I thought I would do a joint post about them. We get so used to seeing garden centres full of big blousy (although still lovely) Phalaenopsis hybrids all year round that we forget that the Phalaenopsis species are both beautiful and charming in their own right. I had read that they had somewhat of a reputation as a whole for being fussy and hard to grow, but that hasn't been my experience with growing the species at all. I will say that they are a bit slower growing and don't bloom quite so frequently, but as you'll read later on, that isn't necessarily true of all of them.

So, to begin. First up we have Phalaenopsis sanderiana. Some authorities have this as a variety of P. amabilis which is the parent of most of the white Phalaenopsis hybrids we see around. Some authorities have it as a species in its own right. As I understand it, P. amabilis has broad shiny mid green leaves, whereas P. sanderiana has a definite purplish cast to its foliage and they are narrower, too.

Its a pretty flower, pretty indistinguishable from other white Phalaenopsis, really. What I have noticed about it is that the flower spike seems very slim, almost wiry, and has needed staking into place. This isn't a problem, of course as it allows me to train the spike to its advantage.

P. sanderiana is a variable species, and I must admit I was expecting pink flowers, especially given the purplish cast to the foliage. I got this plant off ebay, and it wasn't in particularly good condition, only a couple of live roots and quite dehydrated and leathery looking foliage. Not how it was in the photos. I didn't pay a lot for it, so I persevered and potted it into medium bark. This must have been a year or more ago (I got two or three plants at this time), and the plant has made a very good recovery. It is these few species (sanderiana, schillerana, stuartiana, amabilis, aphrodite) that give the genus the name 'moth orchid' because in the wild the pale coloured flowers hang below the plant giving the appearance of moths in flight, hovering in mid air. It is very difficult for us to emulate the natural mode of growth for the plants, so that their flower spikes can be allowed to cascade gracefully below the plant as nature intended. Instead we train them up a cane.

As you can see, it is still a small plant but the pot is filling nicely with roots. I wasn't expecting flowers so soon, so I'm not disappointed by the low flower count; rather I'm encouraged that it produced this many while still not 100% recovered. Good potential in this one for the future, definitely.

Secondly, we have Phalaenopsis stuartiana 'yellow'. Another parent of the modern white hybrids, but I prefer it to them anytime. Another variable species, I have the yellow form. I'm thinking I should start looking out for the white form, too, because I think this is lovely.

Yes, the colour is real. This is another eBay purchase from around the same time as I got P. sanderiana. This plant was in similar condition, so once again I'm surprised that it has decided to produce flowers for me.

I took the above photo about a week ago, and the colour has definitely darkened a little. I really like the spotting on the lip and lower sepals. If you look closely, they aren't just spots, they have all sorts of shapes to them. In addition to these lovely flowers, the plant also has very attractive foliage with silver markings overlaying a greenish purple background. It is a pity these foliage markings don't seem to come down the breeding line into the hybrids; it is quite unusual to find a modern hybrid with attractive foliage.

This is a truly dreadful photo, but it does at least show the foliage and the general proportions of the plant. As with the species above, although the flower count is not high, there is clearly potential there and I have read that a healthy mature plant can produce over 100 flowers on branched pendant spikes, so I am eager to get this plant to its full strength. It is making gradual progress but doesn't do anything particularly quickly.

Next up we have two forms of Phalaenopsis cornu-cervi. Phalaenopsis is quite a big genus, and this species comes from 'the other side of the family' from the two species I have talked about here. The first is quite a new plant that I bought from Schwerter as part of my second order from them. It already had a flower spike on it (two in fact), so I can't really claim any credit for the flower. Phalaenopsis cornu-cervi has several different forms, this one is the '4n'. All 4n means is that the plant has double the normal amount of chromosomes, resulting in a more robust plant and larger flowers. Don't get me wrong; they still aren't large flowers, but they are larger than the flava (yellow) form that I'll be describing later.

I love this species. It is really quirky, and older plants become almost perpetually blooming.  The flowers are produced in ones and twos from the ends of the flower spikes, and spikes can keep producing flowers for years so shouldn't be removed until you are sure they are dead and brown. The spikes are curiously flattened and the buds emerge from the edges. P. cornu-cervi has generally narrower and paler foliage than most Phalaenopsis which I take as a sign that it enjoys rather more light. Of course, under the growlights this really doesn't matter very much and all my plants get all the light they could possibly want.

This photo shows the shape of the flower spike rather better, though it does make the flower look bigger than it is.  I look forward to seeing this one with three or four flower spikes.

Finally, for comparison, we have Phalaenopsis cornu-cervi var. flava. Its nice to have two forms of the species in flower at the same time to be able to compare them.

Notice the lack of spots that you can see on the 4n form. Actually, they are there but you can't see them so well because they are kind of yellow on yellow. It is this kind of detail that I really like because it keeps your attention. This plant is blooming on three flower spikes, and there is a keiki forming (slowly) on one of the too. It is quite a bit older than the 4n plant above and came from another nursery in Germany. I had four plants originally, but I have sold the other three. I'm glad I kept this one, though, because I really like it.

I think that long flower spike might be the original one the plant came with three or four years ago, and it is still flowering. Now I call that value for money. The roots are wandering all over the place but I think that just adds to its charm.