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| Broughtonia sanguinea |
Broughtonia sanguinea is endemic to Jamaica and in my earlier post, July 13th, I featured this photo together with our awarded Broughtonia sanguinea var. alba 'Karin'. However, when we got our official certificate from the American Orchid Society (AOS), we noticed that our awarded orchid was called Broughtonia sanguinea 'Karin', the 'var. alba' was not included. Apparently, there is no real var. alba of the Broughtonia sanguinea because the orchid was not entirely white. If you are interested to know more, you are welcome to read the comment submitted by Arne explaining this in my post of Sunday July 13th.
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| A) June 8th, 2014. As the weather got warmer, the orchid is hang outside. Notice the two flower stalks developing at this time. |
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| B) June 12th, 2014. More flower stalks developed in less than 1 week. Some flowers began to bloom too. |
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| C) June 20th, 2014. The flowers and some buds were developing one after the other. |
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| D) June 20th, 2014. The flowers up close. |
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| E) July 12th, 2014. At this time, even more flowers developed and bloomed. Flowers are blooming in all of the seven stalks. |
Today, there are even more flowers and buds opening up. This orchid will stay outside and enjoy the sunshine and the warm Baltimore Summer for another month or two. We have seen hummingbirds pollinating the red flowers now and then. It's a real thrill to see the hummingbirds coming so close to our front porch. The only drawback is that the flowers get pollinated and develop into fruits and drops off. But that is the circle of life! Happy to see this orchid attracting hummingbirds over to us.
Beautiful specimen! Can i ask what temperature range you have in your enviroment? Do you put her inside in winter i suppose. Thanks
ReplyDeleteThis orchid requires a year round temperature of about 70 degrees Farenheit. And we only take it outside during the warmer weather in Baltimore, like late Spring and throughout Summer. Hummingbirds really love the honey that these flowers secrete! Once it gets cold, in it goes to our lit basement or indoors close to the window.
DeleteDo you cut
ReplyDeleteUnless you live in the tropics, I suggest you cut the flower stems in September. If you do not cut the stems, the plant will continue to flower but the quality is poor. In a tropical environment, the plant will flower all year round. I hope this helps.
Delete