Orchid of the day: Epidendrum radicans

We were away for the briefest of R&R in Florida a few days ago to escape the cold up in Baltimore. We stayed at our friend's place on Hutchinson Island. A nice stretch of white sandy beaches and friendly people. We saw dolphins surfing the waves and apparently it is shark migration time there. Well, it was fun and relaxing no matter what! While taking our afternoon walk, Arne and I noticed this plant sticking out in a pot. I looked closely and I said, "It must be an orchid!". "Yes it is. It is the reed-stem Epidendrum radicans", said Arne, in his matter-of-a-fact voice. It does annoy me but he is correct and I decided to take a few photos of this orchid. This blog is constantly on my mind.

(A) This Epidenrum radicans was growing out of a metal pot directly exposed to sunlight.

I found it interesting because this orchid was just out in the elements, compared to the special care Arne invests in his orchids at home. Well, I read up and found out that these reed-stem Epidendrum are a common roadside weed at the middle elevations in Central America. Native to the tropical Americas, from South Carolina south to Mexico and Central America right to Argentina. Reed-stem Epidendrum are commonly called the poor man's orchid for several reasons; they are affordable, yielding many plants, easily propagated and tolerant to a wide range of growing condition. Whatever it maybe, I found the radiant colors beautiful and I would love to be surrounded in field of reed-stem Epidendrum.

(B) I tried to get a better close up here but I'm afraid, it wasn't my best. The sun was quite bright that day.

(C) Here is a better close up of what we saw in Florida. Pity we can't have these growing up in Baltimore.

I hope you enjoyed my post today. This was an interesting accident and it was fun to share these photos. I look forward to continue sharing with you out there. There will be more to come. Arne wants me to say that. Enjoy!

Maryland Home and Garden Show March 2014: Maryland Orchid Society Exhibition

On March 7th 2014, Arne went to the Timonium Fairgrounds to check out the Maryland Orchid Society exhibition. He said there were fewer orchids this year and he was informed that the extreme cold weather had affected the orchids. But he took some photos so I can put them up in the blog.

A) Arne bought several orchid plants from this Pennsylvania company. He bought his Tolumnia Golden Sunset from them. 

B) Dendrobium & Laelia purpurata, among the many flowers that caught his eyes that day.

C) An assortment of Cattleya orchids.These are rupiculous Laelias, meaning they are rock dwellers.

D) More gorgeous orchid arrangements. See if you can identify which is which!

E) Another company from Lancaster, PA., exhibiting their variety. 

F) Phalenopsis, Paphiopedilum, Leptotes, and Cattleya to name a few that I recognized.

G)  Phragmepedium, Cymbidium and more Phalanopsis exhibited.

H) More orchids to feast your eyes on!

I) Initially I thought this was a Paphiopedilum but Arne pointed out it is a Phragmepedilum. Long story ensued...they look very similar. See my earlier post on Paphiopedilum.

J) This is a Cattleya and Arne had to take a picture because it was ~8 inches across. I took his word on that.

K) Final photo for this posting. A gorgeous array of orchids.

That is all for Arne's visit to to Maryland Home and Gardening Exhibition this year. He bought 4 more orchids. He said he had to so I can continue writing this blog. He bought Rhyncholaelia glanca, Aerangis fastuosa, Aerides houlletiana and Tolumnia Tequila Sunrise (finally a name I could type out easily). I'm looking forward to these new orchids flowers. Kind of exciting, I have to admit. Until next time, enjoy the photos.

Orchid of the day: Leptotes bicolor

As promised, we have orchids in bloom in the house! I had to wait before posting this. It was like waiting for the birth of a child! Leptotes bicolor has been in Arne's life since 2000 when he moved from Stockholm, Sweden, to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It is still growing on the same bark and is happy to bloom every year. I managed to get Arne to write a paragraph about his Leptotes bicolor. I think I have inspired him join in the blog. Let's see how this will progress!

A) This photo was taken in April 2007.

B) This is the usual residence of Leptotes bicolor all year round. In our study window.

"Leptotes bicolor is the oldest orchid in my collection. After I arrived in Baton Rouge in September 2000, I realized I needed to start my orchid hobby again from scratch. At the time there was a web-site called Linda’s orchid page, or something similar, where Linda presented her collection, gave advice and suggested the best vendors etc. Her awarded site was very helpful, especially to growers in the US, so I looked up one of the vendors that had Leptotes bicolor for sale. Being in Louisiana I found it quite ironic that the first orchid grower I was talking to was the New York based company J & B Orchids. The gentleman at J & B was very nice and I ordered my Leptotes bicolor and many more orchids from them after that. Unfortunately, I don’t think the company exists anymore.

Leptotes bicolor is a highly epiphytic orchid from Brazil so I ordered a cork bark slab together with a plant so that I could mount it immediately. The plant has been growing on the same slab for 14 years and I don’t see any reason to change anything within two or three years from now. This year it will have 33 flowers. It needs bright light but not hot sun light. Normally, the advice is bright light but not direct sun, which leaves most growers helpless. It is all about the heat generated by the light and that should be avoided. If mounted, the plant can be watered every other day and it will love it ." (by Arne)

C) I started to photo document when buds would appear and waited to post until they started to bloom. Photos C & D were taken February 16th, 2014. Notice how tiny buds are peeking through the leaves at this stage.

D) Doesn't look like much at that time. We weren't even sure of how many flowers would come out.

E) About 1 month later, March 12th, 2014, some of the buds broke open into flowers.

F) Today, March 16th, 2014, all but nine of the 33 buds bloomed into flowers. I hang it against the wall for a better photo!

G) Close up of this beautiful, miniature cool to hot growing epiphyte originating from Southern Brazil and Paraguay. Did you know that the seed pods from this orchid are used for flavoring ice cream in Brazil? The Brazilian extracts this plant's fruit capsules and use them for flavoring like vanilla. Vanilla extracts that we use in our cooking comes from other orchid genus, Vanilla.

Hope you enjoyed this posting. I certainly did. It was a wait worth waiting for! Until the next posting, Happy St. Patricks!

*********************************************************************************

Update below:

Here's the latest photo of our Leptotes bicolor. Today is April 7th and the flowers are still going strong. Although there are clear signs of wilting now.

Orchid of the day: Tolumnia Golden Sunset

It has been awhile since I posted. I apologize for my delay. Lots of things and have been going on plus the weather in Baltimore has been quite challenging. Winter has been around too long and today it was below freezing again. Let's hope Spring will turn up soon! Back to orchids. 

Today I'm highlighting Tolumnia Golden Sunset. These photos were taken in February 2010. I found this orchid very similar to Oncidium, one of those few orchids I recognized from my childhood. Well, I found out that they are called Equitant Oncidium. But now they are removed from the Oncidium genera to be called Tolumnia. Read more about this in the American Orchid Society webpage.

This orchid was found originally in the West Indies. A serious orchid grower and breeder in the early 1950s, W.W. Goodale Moir of Hawaii, pioneered Tolumnia breeding when he started to collect this orchid on his business trips to the West Indies. Arne is not sure which clone of the Tolumnia Golden Sunset he has. I'm sure he will buy more of this orchid after this posting!

Tolumnia Golden Sunset up close. Arne said this orchid should be mounted otherwise they rot easily in a pot. Special care is needed if you insist on cultivating this orchid in a pot.