Orchid of the day: Aerides houlletiana

Aerides houlletiana

Arne bought Aerides houlletiana while he was at the Maryland orchid exhibition in March this year. The long aerial roots sprawling out from the basket caught his eye. It looked very tropical and as it turned out, Aerides houlletiana is native to the hot and humid lowlands of Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. Aerides houlletiana is classified as a vandaceous orchid meaning, the leaves are arranged in two rows along the main stem and the inflorescences (the entire flower cluster), emerge from where the leaf is attached to the main stem. All vandaceous orchids are monopodials, i.e. the orchids have a single stem and the growing point is at the tip or crown of the plant.  I'm really getting into this orchid language, aren't I? 

A) April 13th. Notice the sprawling roots.

B) April 13th. The flower stalk emerging out from the stem.

C)May 16th.  Aerides houlletiana, re-potted into a wooden hanging basket.

D) By May 16th, the flower stalk developed further. 

E) June 6th, hanging outside and the flowers were developing well. Exciting!

F) June 8th. A good shot of the buds on the stalk.

G) Up close of the buds. Some spiderwebs...how tropical!

H) June 14th. Within a short time, the buds opened up!

I) There are 20 flowers and at this time only a few were showing their yellow gold and lilac colors.

J) All 20 buds opened by June 28th.

K) Just hang outside in our backyard.

Well, I love Aerides houlletiana because it looked simply wild to me! The flowers smelled of citrus but from my Asian upbringing, I can safely say, it exudes a scent of lemongrass, fresh and bright! Reminds me of home.

This orchid is a fairly large evergreen epiphyte and thrives well in high and bright light. Right now it is hanging outside as Baltimore's weather in Summer can be above 80^oF (38^oC). We take it in when there is a heavy rainfall overnight. Beautiful colors, golden yellow white and lilac. Unfortunately, the flowers are beginning to wilt. Easy come, easy go.

Orchid of the day: Neofinetia falcata

For such a small and petite orchid, Neofinetia falcata has a fascinating story to tell. This is what I have gathered and summarized so far. It is indeed an interesting story worth further reading for those intererested.

Neofinetia falcata

Neofinetia falcata is native to China, Korea and Japan. Also called the Samurai orchid because Shogun Tokugawa Ienari, of Japan, fell in love with this orchid. This is the first orchid to be cultivated in-house in Japan and treated very much like bonsai, admired not only for the flowers, but also for the composition of the foliage and the overall shape of the plant. The Japanese name for Neofinetia is Fukiran, the rich and noble orchid because it was adored by the rich and noble class. The popularity of Neofinetia cultivation in Japan goes back to the Edo period, 400 years ago. However there was a brief decline in popularity after the Meiji restoration period in 1870s. The reason being the introduction of bigger, more colorful and more exotic tropical orchids by the Westerners. Fortunately with the establishment of the All Japanese Fukiran Society in 1920, the popularity and survival of this orchid continues to thrive not only in Japan but has expanded around the world.

A) May 18th 2014. A flower stalk appears.

Neofinetia falcata generally flowers in June to July and emits a very sweet candy-like fragrant. It is strongest at dusk and dawn. In our hands, we noticed a flower stalk emerging by mid May this year. Arne bought this orchid online in February 2013. It came as an extremely small seedling in a pot with stones! He then re-potted the Neofinetia falcata in sphagum moss, according to the traditional Japanese-style. Giving it a very bonsai-like look, I would say.

B) A close up of the stalk with developing buds.

C) June 7th, three clear flowers developed with the spurs at the ends.

D) Four flowers bloomed on June 14th.

E) June 15th. Trying another background to clearly show the 4 blooms.

F) Finally I got the money shot! A clear definition of individual orchids up close on June 21st 2014.

G) The entire pot. We keep this orchid in our orchidarium.

H) My Anthony (~77 lb, English Shepherd mix), giving the size perspective of this petite, bonsai-like orchid in real life.

Another fun fact, we were fortunate enough to visit Japan a few years ago and stayed at a mountain resort in Hakone, near the Mount Fuji area. This hotel has been around since the Edo period and we found out that this resort was a favorite of the late Shogun Tokugawa's wife. The actual room we stayed in was her favorite room. Coincidental? Perhaps!

Orchid of day: Phalaenopsis parishii

A) Phalaenopsis parishii. Close up June 15th 2014.

This miniature orchid has a flower size under 2 cm (3/4"). In nature, this orchid is found distributed between India and the South East Asian regions. It loves the warm climate but prefers medium to low light to grow. Imagine it growing among moss covered trees in the jungle. Normally it would produce five to six flowers simultaneously in Spring. Well, we have nine but Arne is not too happy with the leaves. He put the orchid too close to the light in the orchidarium and the leaves got "burnt/damaged".  Alas, we are human after all.

B) April 28th 2014.  I started taking pictures when we saw two flower stalks peeping through.

C) May 28th 2014. Flowers beginning to open up.

D) June 7th 2014. The flowers are really small and not as dense as our Ascofinetia Cherry Blossom Carmela (posted May 26th).

E) June 15th 2014. All 9 flowers in full bloom today.

The flowers are so tiny that I have a little trouble taking a good photo of them up close. Maybe it is time to get a better camera, (note to self).

Orchid of the day: Tolumnia popoki 'Mitzi'

Arne bought Tolumnia popoki 'Mitzi' from Carter and Holmes 5 years ago. Reading up on this orchid, I found that it is also called "Oncidium Dancing Lady". This orchid is a miniature oncidium and commonly called equitant oncidium.

(A) Tolumnia popoki 'Mitzi' with six flowers om June 11th 2014.

It came in a small pot and was not doing well. So Arne put the orchid on a bark and it has been flourishing since then. This year, there are 6 flowers with intense dark purple to red shade. The earlier the flower bloom, the more intense the color appears and it gradually fades the longer it blooms.

B) April 4th 2014. A flower stalk appears (left side).

C) April 7th, the flower stalk elongating in our orchidarium.

C) May 16th. The flower stalk with about 5-6 buds.

D) Three flowers appearing from the buds so far on May 28th 2014.

E) Close up on June 7th 2014. The remaining three buds are opening up.

F) Flowers up close today June 11th 2014.

G) Our Tolumnia popoki 'Mitzi' today, June 11th 2014. 

There is only 1 bud that hasn't opened completely. But I decided to post this today before I miss out and the very first flower would fade away! I hope you enjoyed post.

Award of Merit: Paphiopedilum philippinense ‘Khairul-Bariah’.

On May 19th, I posted about our Paphiopedilum philippinense which was quite magnificent in my opinion. That slipper orchid produced six beautiful cascading flowers that simply reminded me of the tropics and exotic beauties in the wild. Arne kept saying he wondered if he should take it in for judging. He checked and found a judging center down in Washington DC. Then he kept going back and forth debating whether it was worth the time driving down to DC (he hates driving into DC...). Then he doubted if the orchid was good enough to be judged. Well, I decided not to get too involved in this process and let him decide on his own. 

A) June 8th. The flowers are still in bloom since late April. Photographed with the preliminary certificate.

Well, this post is to announce that Arne did drive down to DC and got his orchid judged. Our Paphiopedilum philippinense did indeed receive the Award of Merit on June 7th 2014! I'm sure this experience will inspire Arne to drive to Washington DC more often in the future. The official certificate will be available to us between one or two months time. Below is a brief story from Arne about his trip to Washington DC yesterday. I wanted Arne to write about his experience at the judging center because I was at work when this happened. He had a good time and I'm really proud of him and his 'not-so-little-hobby'.

B) Upclose of the preliminary certificate from the American Orchid Society (AOS).

I never thought the day would come when I took any of my orchids for judging by the American Orchid Society. The judges do not discriminate between professional growers and amateurs or whether you have a green house or grow your plants in a small confined space like me. To that comes the fact that an average Paphiopedilum philippinense is quite an impressive plant in itself and the species as such has received numerous awards in the US over a period of several decades. What made me decide to have my philippinense awarded was the appearance of a sixth flower. I checked several pictures of the plant and the number of flowers seemed to be between three and five. Maybe I saw one single plant with six flowers.

An orchid is judged at a judging center. In our case that means a drive to the Capital Judging Center in Washington DC. I guess we should be happy we live quite close to DC because this plant is huge. Anyway, I put it in the car with two pieces of wood, towels and my fly fishing waders as support and drove off to the National Arboretum. When I arrived I looked over my shoulder and, to my relief, my plant was still in one piece.

The judges inspected my philippinense for about 40 minutes. It received 83 points, which is enough for an Award of Merit. When a plant receives an award the judges ask you to give it a clonal name. From now on my plant is called Paphiopedilum philippinense ‘Khairul-Bariah’, after my wife and author of this blog. You all know her as Karole, her nickname. Just before I left, one of the judges said: “Next time stake it properly. The flower stem could have snapped in the car you know.” Learning as I go on this journey! (Arne Schon).

Orchid of the day: Cattleya mossiae var. semi_alba

As I was researching the background of our orchid, Cattleya mossiae var. semi_alba, I couldn't move forward without talking about Cattleya mossiae. Cattleya mossiae is native to, and the national flower of Venezuela. Typically Cattleya mossiae's bloom is lavender in color or occasionally completely white and is a favorite classic cut flower for corsages. The flowering season is in Spring between March, April and May. 

A) Cattleya mossiae var. semi_alba in the clay pot. Cultured in the orchidarium in our basement.

Unlike the classical Cattleya mossiae color, our Cattleya mossiae var. semi_alba is mostly white with lavender-colored lip. This two colored Cattleya mossiae orchid first came to a young German botanist, Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach in 1856 from his friend, Herr Decter. It caused a sensation world world wide at that time. The orchid was then named Cattleya mossiae "Reineckeana".  Over the years botanists discovered that the unique color combination was not limited to Cattleya mossiae as many large-flowered orchid species had a plant or two with white sepals and petals and lavender lip. For years these orchids were called "white with colored lip" orchid, a mouthful. Today we call them "semi_albas" which was a term coined up by Dr. Gustav Melquist in the late 1950s. 

 B) Anthony, "Wonder if it smells good...."

By the time I started photographing, the blooms had already opened. Much to Arne's dismay! Today, it has been around three weeks since the flowers bloomed. In this post I wanted to share a 'new' technique in photographing orchid blooms. Apparently photographing in the dark would provide better contrast of the colors. I liked what turned out and will try to apply this style of photography in this blog more often.

C) Photographed in regular light.

D) Taken in the dark with flash on. Next time I'm going to have a black background too. Maybe black cloth in the background. Am I getting a little geeky now?