Bloom Event - Phragmipedium sedenii

As many of my readers might remember, I have given away or sold the vast majority of my slipper orchids, so there are only a few plants left. I have held Phragmipedium sedenii back because although my two plants are very healthy indeed, the ink on the name tags has rubbed off and I can't tell what they are. Both are named cultivars of P. sedenii, but that's as much as I know. I originally got he plants on eBay so my first point of reference was to find the record of sale, but unfortuantely the records don't go back that far and I also couldn't remember who the seller was. As luck would have it, I can't tell the difference between the two flowers now both plants are blooming either so they will have to go by the name P. sedenii and nothing else. My two plants appear to be rather paler pink than I might expect from P. sedenii but this could easily be down to the temperature.

Whatever its called, its worth waiting for. Previously when this bloomed, the flowers were mis-shapen and didn't open properly. I never worked out why and this time round the flowers are perfect. I guess I'll never know. I used to grow these standing in an inch of water and they did fine. This year, though, I have been growing them slightly drier (by drier I just mean not standing in water) with my warm growing Cymbidium species and this seems to suit them even better as growth seems faster.

There are three flower spikes across the two plants and there seems no difference between the height of the spikes either. The plants are relatively compact (for a Phragmipedium) and clumpy with only a minimal desire to climb (P. schlimii hybrids have been terrible for this in my experience)

It is a pity that only one or two flowers are ever open at a time because this could be spectacular rather than just graceful and elegant (despite the atrocious photography). Once they get large enough to produce multiple spikes they should put on quite a show.

As a primary hybrid between P. schlimii and P. longifolium it is no surprise that there are a lot of cultivars out there and that no two plants are the same (unless they have been divided) so I'm not going to worry too much about the naming of them. They are growing in rockwool cubes, though I imagine there is no reason they wouldn't grow equally well in bark chips. I tend to use inorganic medium for these plants because the constant wet conditions would mean very frequent repotting if I use an organic medium like bark chips or sphagnum moss. The inorganic medium never breaks down and so should never need changing. It is advisable to be careful with feeding when using inorganic media as the fertilizer salts can build up in the pot. This is another reason for not growing them in water and watering instead from the top and allowing water to flow through the pots. Excess salts are then leached away before they can damage the roots and blacken the leaf tips.

All in all, this is a vigorous, flexible hybrid that seems well suited to a wide range of growing conditions. Highly recommended.

Bloom Event - Brassavola nodosa

This is a good performer and reliable bloomer for me. My readers will no doubt remember that I've written a blog post about this one before, back in February. I have had a few problems with this plant in the interim. I think I wasn't watering enough while it was hanging up. This species is very good at dealing with drought, but it performs better when not allowed to dry out at all. The leaves were very terete (pencil shaped) and slightly wrinkly. It looked very sorry for itself, and the new growth failed to bloom, otherwise there would have been flowers over the summer, I'm sure.

Since I put the plant on one of the benches so it catches more water, the leaves have opened out and plumped up and are now quite flat and plump. Interestingly, I can't see much in the way of roots in the pot itself, so I assume it likes the extra humidity the matting provides. Most of the roots are aerial and all seem healthy. Two of the growths (the leading one and the previous one) have produced spikes, but its too early to tell how many blooms I might get on the second spike. There are two blooms now open on the leading growth. There are never many flowers per spike, two or three seems quite normal.

My plant no markings at all on the lip, but some forms of the species have delicate purple spotting in the throat. I would dearly like to get hold of a plant like this (not that I'm dissatisfied with my own plant at all - I love it), so if any of my readers know where I might find one, contact me either via comments below or via my facebook page. I'd ask the original seller, but I've had the plant for some time and I haven't the faintest idea where it came from.  After a couple of days, the shape of the lip will improve (i.e. it will open out a bit rather than curling under) but I am always impatient to get a photo when blooms appear.

As you can see, the leaves are all lovely and plump and the plant looks healthier than it ever has before. There are two growing points, two spikes on the first (as described above); its too early to tell whether there'll be a spike on the other lead. I imagine there will be.

As I've mentioned in previous posts, this species is highly scented at night though I haven't experienced the scent yet this time around.

Bloom Event - Angraecum crestwood and Veitchii

And when I say event, I mean event. You might remember my post a few weeks back about eBay purchases of Angraecum crestwood 'tomorrow star' and Angraecum veitchii. I have been eagerly watching the flower spikes develop ever since.

Angraecum crestwood had just the one spike which spawned two buds. The flower spike is relatively short, a trait shared with Angraecum sesquipedale (one of its parents), but the flowerbuds were enormous, especially when you take into account the massive nectar spur at the back of the flower which is longer than the bud!

The flowers soon opened, and stayed that green colour for several days, until fully open.

And yes, the flowers really are that shiny in real life. The flower is six inches from top to bottom and side to side with the spur at the back being seven inches long. They are fragrant at night, though I am not overly keen on the scent.

As you can see, the green colour fades to ivory after a few days. They have a really heavy, thick texture and seem outlandishly big for the size of the plant (as is often the case with Angraecum).

The only issue i'm having with it is that brown mottling is appearing on the flowers which I put down to mite damage (I have given the entire collection a soap and oil spray recently, so that should sort them out), which really shows up on pale flowers like these. The plant has more than one fan so I'm hoping that flowering will get better and better in future as the plant matures (not that it's small even now!)

Also in flower is the other plant I got at the same time, Angraecum veitchii. You might remember that this one had five flower spikes growing when I got it and it hasn't disappointed. There are four or five flowers per spike. Angraecum veitchii is a hybrid between A. sesquipedale and A. eburneum. One parent (sesquipedale) produces flowers that look very much like A. crestwood, pictured above, but the other parent (eburneum) produces greater quantities of smaller flowers on a longer spike. More importantly, the flowers of A. eburneum are non-resupinate, meaning that to our eye at least, the flowers are upside-down with the lip uppermost. Angraecum veitchii is well known for being, shall we say, confused, with the blooms usually twisting through three quarters of a turn to open on their side, facing downwards.

As you can see, my tactic to deal with this was to let the flower spikes develop unsupported, so the flowers open facing down on practically horizontal spikes. "Why didn't you support the spikes as they develop?" I hear you ask. The answer to this is that orchid flowers are sensitive to gravity. If I had supported the spikes, the flowers would have opened all facing downwards.

Quite a nice show, even unsupported, isn't it? As you can see, though, the flowers are facing all sorts of one directions. Even the ones facing forwards are upside-down.....

Pretty nice flowers, even when upside-down. If it were just a case of the flowers will have a good orientation (i.e. facing forwards) but were ostensibly upside-down, I wouldn't bother to support them - quite a few orchids in my collection have non-resupinate flowers, after all. Once the blooms are open and set, though, I put stakes in and tied the flower spikes upright, so the flowers then end up displayed the right way up.

As you can see, most of the flowers are now displayed correctly, and it looks even more of a spectacle.

Both of these plants are in relatively small pots that are full of roots so once blooming is done I will have to repot them. Angraecum have a reputation for refusing to bloom for several years once they have been disturbed so it is with some trepidation I shall approach this. All I intend to do is to remove the outer pot and pot on, so the roots shouldn't be disturbed at all. That's the idea, after all. I guess we will find out next winter.

Interestingly, although the plants somewhat resemble Vanda (at least vegetatively),  Angraecum seem much happier growing in pots and seen to absorb vast quantities of water. Each week when I come to water, both of them are quite dry and need a good wetting. The pots must be full of roots.  They also seem unfussy as to their growing medium. One plant I bought recently (A. sesquipedale var. angustifolium) is planted in a medium that I would have thought held far too much water for the plant, but it seems perfectly happy with roots growing at the bottom of the pot as well as new roots emerging from the stem. Had that been a Vanda, I would have found a pot full of dead roots with live ones only above the growing medium.

Provided I can re-flower these plants in the future I can recommend them as easy to grow orchids (apart from their size).

Bloom Event - Phalaenopsis mannii 'dark' x speciosa and Phalaenopsis corningiana

I'm really falling for Phalaenopsis species and primary hybrids. This one is another cracker that I got from Schwerter back in March. It was the only plant in that batch to be in bloom, and the flower spike had been trained up a cane, presumably to save bench space and make packing easier. For this blooming, I decided not to support the flower spikes but to allow them to arch naturally, and I think the flowers are much better displayed as a result.

The flowers are very like P. mannii in shape and patterning, but the flower spikes are much shorter and bear fewer flowers (P. manii can flower for months on end). P. speciosa is the opposite; it has short flower spikes with flowers borne one or two at a time from the tip. The spikes can live for years.  It is a bit of a pity that the flower count of P. mannii hasn't made it into the hybrid, but you can't have everything. I guess its another case of not really thinking through what the parents are expected to bring to the hybrid.

I am growing this hybrid hanging from a wire. This is partly to prevent it standing in water in my trays so the roots stay a bit drier but also so the flower spikes can hang naturally, and I think they look better for it.

Also in flower is Phalaenopsis corningiana. This plant is a recent acquisition from a show about two months ago, although I forgot to do a new plants post regarding it. It is from a UK supplier but the original grower/importer was Schwerter. It has produced a flower which is pictured below. I'll do a proper blog post about it once it has settled in properly and put out fresh spikes under my conditions.

Its another one with short spikes producing a couple of flowers at a time over a period of several years. I love the markings and the shaving brush lip. There is a nice scent to it, too.

Bloom Event - Phalaenopsis micholitzii x tetraspis

It feels like ages since I've sat in front of my computer and written blog posts (well, let's face it, it has been) so it's nice to be back at least for now. Hopefully you'll follow my Facebook page and Instagram account so you'll realise I've not been quite as lazy as it may appear.

Phalaenopsis micholitzii x tetraspis was given to me quite some time ago (three or four years, probably) by a friend who said it wouldn't flower. It was sold to him as 'flowering size' (I know, we've all fallen into that trap) by a dealer who had a 'reputation', lets say. I can't comment on my own behalf as I've never dealt with them and they are now out of business as far as i'm aware. The plant was very healthy, but nowhere near flowering size.

With parents like P. micholitzii and P. tetraspis I would expect the plant to be on the small side, but I would probably describe them both as small rather than miniature (there are some truly tiny Phalaenopsis species), and a fairly small hybrid would be expected. They are in fact fairly similar species and are related (google the species and note the little shaving brush lip they both have). P. micholitzii is a nice enough species but rather plain coloured while P. tetraspis is white with varying red markings. I'm not sure what the purpose behind the hybrid is (except to see what we get) as only one of the parents might be regarded as showy.

At any rate, by this time last year, I figured the plant must be reaching flowering size and, lo and behold,  it promptly put out two flower spikes, which didn't produce any buds. This isn't unusual and as a bonus the spikes have stayed green. This year, the plant put out a third spike while the two original spikes have produced buds, two of which are now open.

As you can see, it isn't the easiest to get a decent photo of. The slightly muddy colour of P. micholitzii has carried through (I actually rather like that ivory colour), as have the reddish markings of P. tetraspis (though they could be a bit bolder if I'm being super picky).

You can make out the quirky shaving brush lip in the above slightly older photo (I'm rather impatient, so the flower isn't fully open). I'm aware that the Phalaenopsis I grow are mostly not the showy, floriferous (gaudy, some might say) hybrids of the garden centre and supermarket, I choose to focus instead on the species and more simple hybrids because I find them more interesting and 'orchid like'.

The plant itself is well behaved, as you'd expect any Phalaenopsis to be, and appears to produce flower spikes during the autumn for winter blooming as is usually the case for Phalaenopsis under my conditions, so you can expect quite a few Phalaenopsis posts over the coming few months.

The above is really blurry for which I apologise. The growroom is so humid that as soon as I take my phone out to take a photo the lens steams up. Great for the plants, not so good for my already dubious photography. Unfortunately, the flowers are facing backwards for some reason, and there is another bud lurking behind that leaf sticking up at the back. I would expect them to sit just on top of the foliage. Possibly this is hybrid confusion or just due to it being a first blooming. The other thing about many Phalaenopsis species, of course, is that while they grow and flower perfectly well in pots, this is not a normal orientation for the plant to grow, and it would much rather be sat at 45 degrees with its leaves dangling down (this is the reason crown rot can such a problem for cultivated plants). The flower spikes then display the flowers just below the crown. I am experimenting with hanging them in their pots so that they are tilted to an angle more natural for the plant (I don't want to mount them because I don't have the time to keep up with the watering of essentially bare root plants).

The flowers will never be produced in great quantities with this hybrid, only a couple at a time on short spikes, but the spikes will stay green for years and as the plant grows, more new spikes will be produced so it is capable of quite a few flowers on older plants. I haven't detected a fragrance, though I'm not sure whether I was really expecting one or not. I just always think its a bonus, you know?

Bloom Event - Coelia bella

After returning from a very pleasant few days away earlier in November, I found the flowers I had been watching develop on Coelia bella open at last. I have been growing this plant for a while and it has finally reached flowering size. This species seems to need to reach quite a size before blooming, but now it has got there I'm hoping it will bloom regularly.  It originates from Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala and can be found at a range of elevations, giving the plant good temperature tolerance. I grow it at warm temperatures (such as might be appropriate for Phalaenopsis species and hybrids) with good results. Regardless of temperature, the plant takes a brief rest between maturing its pseudobulbs and starting new ones, at which time it blooms.

I give plenty of water to this plant, treating it much like a Coelogyne species (a genus to which it is related). It does not like to dry out at all, even while it is resting and seems to enjoy quite wet conditions, at least under warm temperatures. It is possible it would appreciate being kept a little drier under cooler conditions, but I haven’t tried that.

It was interesting watching the flower spike develop because it starts out rather like a new growth emerging from a mature pseudobulb, but quickly becomes much fatter though I can’t call its development fast, with buds only becoming visible right before they are about to open and remaining partially hidden between their protecting bracts even after opening.

The flowers are produced on short racemes with long bracts, the flowers remaining tubular and opening fully only at the tip. There are around 5 flowers per raceme, and are quite large but due to their habit of not opening fully they are much longer than they are wide, and they barely escape from their surrounding bracts.  They have a heavy almost crystalline texture and are mostly white with pinkish purple tips and a narrow yellow pointed lip. This species is reported as being marzipan scented, but I can only assume that whoever wrote that has never smelled marzipan. The scent is very pleasant indeed but is (at least to me) more reminiscent of species such as Dendrochilum glumaceum, but slightly spicier.  The flowers lasted just over a week though they may last longer under cooler conditions.

The flowering racemes sit well below the foliage and cluster among the pseudobulbs. The leaves are long and strap-like with each pseudobulb bearing around five leaves, emerging erect from the apex of the pseudobulbs and arching over gracefully. The plant itself puts me in mind of one of the narrower leafed Aspidistra species. Pseudobulbs are rounded and ovoid, pale green. On my plant they are around 5cm or more in diameter, but may increase further as the plant grows.

I suppose the next challenge will be to see whether potting on upsets it or not. I've no reason to assume it would, but you never know. It really needed doing as soon as I got it, but I still haven't got round to it. The plant doesn't seem to mind, though.

Coelia bella is one of those unfortunate plants that has had taxonomic tennis played with it quite a lot in the past, Being part of genera such as Bothrochilus and Bifrenaria before finding a home as Coelia. Wherever it finds itself in the future, I think this is a lovely species and well worth a place in any mixed collection.