Orchid of the day: Eurychone rothschildiana

Eurychone rothschildiana

Did you know that Eurychone rothschildiana was called Angraecum rothschildiana? It is still the synonym. The flowers are about 2.5 inches in diameter and emit a slight fragrance. Although it was very mild to almost absence in our hand. It started to produce flower stems and buds in early August this year and now almost all the flowers, on one of the stem, are open and some have wilted. 

A) August 30th.The first flowers stem showing at least six buds.

B) The second flower stem is not very visible (to the right) here but we can see the roots shooting upwards.

We have 2 flowers stems; the first had seven flowers and the second stem, still has three buds waiting to open. This orchid is found in Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Nigeria, basically in the central region of Africa. It loves moist and shady conditions to flourish. These orchids are monopodial and are small sized.

C) By early September, two beautiful flowers had emerged. A slight fragrance was noted but nothing too strong.

D) View from above. Here you can see the second flower stem growing to the right side of this picture.

E) The flowers up close. Note the delicate white surrounding the apple green color of the petals.

Below is a paragraph that Arne put together for me to share with you. Everyday is a learning experience for me. The flowers only last for about 2 weeks once it is open.

"The orchid family has more than 25,000 orchid species and no other plant family in the world can beat that.  It is therefore no surprise that every real orchid enthusiast once in a while suddenly stumbles upon a beautiful orchid species that he or she never heard of before.  That happened to me some nine months ago when I was searching for a small-sized orchid with relatively large flowers and found Eurychone rothschildiana.   I had simply never ever heard of it!  Eurychone rothschildiana is a rather small Phalaenopsis-like plant from Africa and has beautiful white and green flowers with a dark throat that disappears into its spur.  I gave it a try and I must say that it has grown surprisingly fast and is now awarding us with astonishingly large flowers on two stems.  Actually, the flowers are larger than average which makes me thinking of taking it for judging in the future.  I bought this plant from a nice botanical company in Montana and they advised me to have this epiphyte potted rather than mounted and I can see why.  I put it in a clay pot with large chunks of bark and it really seems to like it that way." By Arne.

F) The orchid, September 20th. The second flower stem is definitely much delayed in its development but here we can see the three buds.

G) Zoom in the see the details of each flower.

I hope you enjoyed the photos. This is a new favorite of ours!

Orchid of the day: Phalaenopsis lindenii

Phalaenopsis lindenii

A) This is our Phalaenopsis lindenii with a total of eight flowers, September 20th, 2015.

We have had this orchid since March 2011 and it began to actively produce flowers in 2012 and hasn't stopped since. This orchid is endemic to the island of Luzon, the Philippines. Unfortunately, this beautiful orchid is in the endangered list due to deforestation.

B) We hang our orchid outside to enjoy the warm Baltimore summer, photo taken July 19th, 2015. We see a flower stem shooting to the left of this photo.

The fern attached at the top of the bark has really thrived over the years and the Phalaenopsis lindenii thick waxy leaves really developed, showing the beautiful 'batik-like' patterns.

C) Three flowers opened showing the purple colors and yellow specks within. Photo taken August 30th, 2015. Five flower buds still waiting to bloom.

I asked, as usual, for Arne to write a little piece about this orchid or orchid family. I think it is only fair that you readers get to hear what he constantly tells me. A little orchid knowledge from this post to you. Do enjoy the paragraphs below!

"Of the orchids sold commercially today, more than 90% are hybrids of Phalaenopsis.  Because of the mass production of these orchids with huge long-lasting flowers that have been made easy for everyone to have and even grow, it is easy to forget that the true Phalaenopsis species are wonderful plants that are almost getting extinct in nature.  Phalaenopsis lindenii is one of those orchids.  Although not a cold growing orchid, Phal lindenii likes it colder than most Phalaenopsis species and is considered difficult to culture. 

To be a Phalaenopsis orchid, maybe it can be considered difficult at least if you want to show it off in its full glory.  When I grow an orchid I always try to envision how it grows in nature.  Because of that I grow Phal lindenii mounted on a piece of cork bark in rather low light in our basement.  The temperature is around 70 - 77 °F (21 - 25 °C) in summer and 59 – 68 °F (15 – 20 °C) in winter.  A fern came with the plant and I have a feeling that they like growing together". By Arne.

D) A clearer view of the pattern within  the flower. Especially the top bloom.

E) A total of six flowers on September 8th, 2015.

F)  See the contrast from July (A) to today. From a single flower stem a beautiful cascade of flowers. The fern that grew on the top of the bark is really doing well.

Orchid of the day: Bulbophyllum frostii

Bulbophyllum frostii

It's time to update one of my favorite orchids, 'the Dutch Shoe' or Bulbophyllum frostii. Our Dutch shoe did very well last year and we divided it into 3 pots. We gave one to a friend, and from the last I heard, it is doing well with possibilities of flowers developing. We kept the other two and they have been flowering ever since. The orchids were actively flowering at the end of June and right through July. Today most of the flowers are gone but recently we noticed some flower buds developing. A very happy orchid in Arne's care. Below, (A), is a photo from last year.

A) June 20th,2014

I asked Arne if he could put a little story together for every post. Do enjoy what he wrote below about his Bulbophyllum frostii.

"Bulbophyllum is the largest genus in the orchid family.  It is also the only genus that has species growing in all tropical areas on earth including Asia, Africa, and South America.  On a completely different note, most of them have very fragrant flowers but the fragrance is usually anything but appealing to humans.  Bulbophyllum frostii has a bit of an odd fragrance as well but it is so weak that it doesn’t matter and besides, the flowers are so incredibly cute anyway.  This orchid should be grown quite moist year around.  I have it growing on tree fern with sphagnum moss tucked in here and there. I water it very often and some other moss has formed some charming carpets in the pots because of that.  When I bought the mother plant several years ago, I read that it liked shade.  I later learnt how wrong that was so I moved it close to the fluorescent light bulbs.  If given a bright spot and frequent watering, Bulbophyllum frostii turns out to be quite an easy orchid to grow. " by Arne.

B) July 5th, 2015. Very sweet.

C) A profile of the three flowers from the same pot on July 5th, 2015.

D) July 19th, 2015. Here are the two remaining pots in our care. The Bulbophyllum frostii seems to do well in the plastic pot. As long as it gets enough aeration and flow for water to run through when watering. This will keep the roots nice and healthy.

E) The beauties up close.

F) It is fascinating to see the blooms spreading sideways from each pot. There is not much height but a great deal of spread on the ground. Imagine an entire area of the forest covered by these beauties.

This native and endemic orchid of Vietnam, Thailand and the Malay Peninsula, grows well in several little clusters in the wild. I hope we are still able to enjoy them fully in its natural habitat in the future.