The flower from Laelia sincorana was so vibrant last year (see photo A below). I kept monitoring the development of the flower this year and boy, do I have a lot of it! Here's the ones I finally selected for this post. Laelia sincorana originates from the Brazilian Sincorana plateau in the state of Bahia. This miniature orchid is either lithophytic or epiphytic and grows on rocky ledges and on the trunks of Velloiza bushes. Although the area is rather dry and barren, the high altitude allows fog and condensation on a daily basis to moisturize the plant as well as providing excellent ventilation. L. sincorana requires a very dry rest in the winter in cultivation and does best mounted on cork in a bright and airy location. We have ours mounted on cork and hanging in our study window.
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(A) Laelia sincorana from 2013. The orchid was very small in size and notice a slight imperfection on one of the top petals.
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The flower is between small to medium (10 cm across). The flowers have very vibrant colors and well formed. This year I followed, once again, from bud to blooming flower. Before I go any further, we had hope there will be more flowers but we ended up with one again.
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| (B) This photo was taken April 3rd. The plant is slightly bigger this year and the flower stalk is also longer. It was really exciting to see how the flower would look like. |
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| (C) Finally April 9th, the petals opened! |
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| (D) After much anticipation, we have our bold and brightly colored flower. But we see the imperfect petals again. This time in both top petals. |
The imperfection observed here is probably due to this particular clone. Arne is dismayed but not disheartened. Maybe next year it will be fine. He took great care to ensure the flowers would not get damaged when he was watering the orchid. Well, better luck next year (or he'll just buy another one!). It was an adventure but nothing can be perfect all the time! I'm sure this happens a lot and hopefully we'll learn from this experience.
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