Orchids we saw in Porto, Portugal

A different post today. Travelling in Porto, Portugal this Thanksgiving week and walking around we saw orchids on balconies. Some with buds and some just resting. Then we walked by a beautiful flower shop and I decided, I have to share the beautiful photos I took. In addition, I took some beautiful photos of Porto. I hope you will enjoy them.

A) Porto by day.

B) Walking around the neighbourhood, we noticed a few balconies with orchids just 'hanging' out. Upon closer look, we deduced they must be some kind of Cymbidium.

C) Walking further up along the streets, we came across this flower shop, Jardim do Norte, owned by a wonderful lady named Clara. A beautiful Portuguese lady born in Angola, extremely well versed in botany.

D) Jardim do Norte front window display. Mostly fully bloomed orchids. Most of them were Phalaenopsis hybrids but one was a pure species.

D) This small beauty is Ludisia discolor, a pure species according to Arne. Strange with my increased interest in orchids, I noticed the special ones are the more modest beauties. This orchid is normally cultivated for their beautiful leaves. Ludisia is a genus of orchids that contains only one species, commonly referred to as a jewel orchid. A native of Southern China, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and Burma.  

E) Ludisia discolor upclose.

F) The flamboyant Cattleya hybrids, of course! Simply gorgeous.

G) A Dendrobium nobile hybrid that caught my eye.

H) Zooming in for a better view, 

To conclude this 'travel' post, we did go to the botanical garden, Jardim Botanico, yesterday but we couldn't get in the green house. There were renovations but we did see some orchids resting. Maybe, we will return again and see these plants in their full glory.

I) Porto by night taken from the other side of the river on Vila Nova De Gaia.

Beautiful, historic Porto. Home of port wines.  

Orchid of the day: Laelia endsfeldzii

Laelia endsfeldzii

Laelia endsfeldzii is found in Brazil in Minas Gerais as a small lithophyte, i.e. grows on or in rocks, at elevations of 900 meters. This orchid does well in in bright light, warm to cool temperature, a long dry winter rest with occasional mistings. However, this orchid is not easy to cultivate.

A) Laelia endsfeldzii on October 26th.

B) Five flower buds developed

C) By November 6th, one flower opened.

D) The four flower buds and the single developed flower on November 6th.

E) A beautiful shot outside on November 8th. Now two flowers are seen.

F) A different angle for an up close shot of the blooms.

G) Three buds still pending on November 8th.

H) Today, November 19th.

I) Zoom of the four flowers on November 19th. One more bud still waiting to burst out!

J) Beautiful tiny blooms.

Arne had this orchid for three years. The first flower stem appeared two years ago and 'died' promptly before the first flower opened! Arne couldn't figure out what caused it but he was very happy to see the flowers this time. Only issue is that these flowers are so tiny! I want to say about 1 inch in diameter, about 2.5 cm. 

I will definitely update this post when I have all five flowers in bloom. As for the photos, my favorites are G and I.

Orchid of the day: Broughtonia negrilensis x Laelia crawshayana

 Broughtonia negrilensis x Laelia crawshayana 

Update 1: Nov 22nd 2014, all five flowers in bloom. 

Update 2: All five flowers from the top

Broughtonia negrilensis x Laelia crawshayana

As promised, this is our Broughtonia negrilensis x Laelia crawshayana. In contrast to the flowers from the previous year, these flowers have very light purple to white on the sepals and petals. The darker purple hue with fine purplish veins are focused on the lip.

A) A better photo depicting the clear contrast in the deep purple color on the lip.

B) This photo was taken in April 2014. I wanted this picture in this post as a comparison of how the plant looked without any flower stem. 

C) October, a very clear flower stem developed and at least five flowers will be blooming soon.

D) The five flower buds up close.

E) The length of the flower stem is between 22 to 24 inches.

F) Frontal shot of the biggest flower. We are still waiting for the other three flowers to open up.

G) View of the two blooms and the three buds from the back.

H) Here's Anthony! The Broughtonia negrilensis x Laelia crawshayana is hanging on the chair.

I) A great close up shot of the flowers.

I hope you enjoyed looking at the flowers. I will post an update when all five flowers are in bloom. Until the next post!

Orchids of the day: Upcoming posts

Summer has turned to Fall here in Baltimore and our orchids are safely indoors. Although it has been an excellent year for our orchids, the Summer of 2014 has been rather cool in comparison to 2013. My Thai chilis and Cheyenne peppers weren't doing as well as they should but that is another story...

Slowly but surely, we have noticed several flower buds developing in at least five of our orchids right now. Today I'm going to share some photos of the early budding flowers from three of our orchids. I am beginning to chronicle the different stages of flowering now. The post today will be brief but I hope to 'wet' your appetites for upcoming posts of each of these orchids.

A) Laelia endsfeldzii, native to Brazil, in Minas Gerais.

B) Laelia endsfeldzii.  At least five flowering stems are developing today. The flowers should be yellow. This is exciting to see!

C) Aerangis luteo alba var. rhodosticta, miniature orchid from Kenya. Actually found across equatorial Africa. Four flower stems are developing from this miniature orchid. The color varies from pure white to ivory white, cream or pale yellow.

D) Laelia crawshayana x Broughtonia negrilensis. This orchid bloomed in 2013 with four flowers (See post April 22).

E) Here is what the flowers would look like (from earlier post April 22nd).

F) Laelia crawshayana x Broughtonia negrilensis. This time at least five flowers are getting ready to bloom.


Well, that is all the updates I have for today. Very soon it will be back to my weekly updates, I hope. Of course, the lack of flowering orchids is encouraging Arne to purchase more orchids! And thanks for the kind words from followers of this blog.

Orchid of the day: Brassavola perrini

Brassavola perrini

Brassovola perrini is found in Bolivia, Paraguay, Brazil and in Argentina at elevations of 1980 to 2580 meters. Brassovola perrini is also known as Perrin's Brassovola, Perrin being an English gardener in the 1800's. This orchid is can be small to medium in size, and its warm to cool growing. If you search for images of this orchid in the wild, you will find them growing on stony cliff walls. The normal number of flowers with fragrance per plant is between three to six blooms. 

A) August 24th. 

Arne purchased this orchid this year. The weather has been very cooperative and the orchid has flourished this Summer. We saw several flower stems developing very quickly in late July and early August.

B) Flower stems developing.

C) Zooming to another flower stem.

D) September 7th. More developed stems. At least eight buds appeared.

E) The orchid looks delicate.

F) Flowers opening up very nicely on September 22nd.

G) Four flowers opened at this time.

H) Up close.

Today we still have four flowers completely open but within one to two weeks, we should see a total of eleven flowers in bloom. Definitely more than the average of three to six as predicted. This orchid has great potential for another future award. Fingers cross.

I) Zooming in the beautiful bloom. The flower size is between 2.5 to 3.0 inches (6.75 to 7.5 cm).

Orchid of the day: Cattleya Newberry Radiance

Cattleya Newberry Radiance

Today will be a nice and short post. I took these photos in July and waited to post them because I had a few interesting orchids to talk about. Many were flowering at the same time. It was difficult to select which one to post about. Sadly, I missed out the early flowering stages of this orchid. But I hope I made up for my mistake by posting these nice photos with my old camera. I hope you will enjoy.

A) July 9th. Three flowers developed this year.

Arne bought this orchid in 2006 from a known orchid growing company. This orchid is registered and originated by this company in 9/8/2005. The seed parent is Cattleya Mini Purple, the pollen parent is Cattleya Spicey Hot. Interesting names. If you are interested, I did post about our Cattleya Mini Purple in my earlier post in February 13th.

B) The leaves are thick and waxy. Some of the roots were sticking out of the growth medium in the pot.

This orchid was previously known as Sophrolaeliacattleya Newberry Radiance because Cattleya Mini Purple was known as Laeliocattleya Mini Purple and Cattleya Spicey Hot was known as Sophrolaeliacattleya Spicey Hot.

C) Up close, I noticed some dark purple spots on the petals. There's a tinge of orange in the center.

D) This photo was taken in 2013. We had two flowers then but just as beautiful.

Well, I hope you liked the photos. I have one orchid coming up. No blooms yet but will keep you 'posted' soon.