Orchid of the day: Laelia endsfeldzii

Laelia endsfeldzii

This orchid bloomed in mid November last year with five flowers. This year we have four flowers but they are much bigger and the flower stalk towers at 37 cm in height. Laelia endsfeldzii is a native of Brazil, in the state of Minas Gerais near Itutinga. This orchid is rupicolous, meaning, it grows among rocks.

A) November 8th.

B) A close up of the developing flower buds.

C) By November 29th, the inflorescence or flower stalk was reaching upwards. It was difficult finding a good spot in our orchidarium.

D) By December 20th, almost all four flowers were completely open. The flower stalk measured at 37 cm or 15 inches in height.

E) Upon closer examination of the flowers, we noticed a darker yellow or even orange tinge on the tip of nearly all of the sepals. This was interesting as this star shaped flower should have a homogenous yellow to pale yellow appearance. This was what we saw last year.

F) Today, December 31st.

G) Fully opened flowers.

H) What a beautiful star shaped flower, with ruffled lip like lace!

I hope you've enjoyed this post. Another one should be just around the corner.

Happy 2016 everyone!

Orchid of the day: Cattleya walkeriana coerulea

Cattleya walkeriana coerulea

It is amazing what information you can find when you research the internet, here's some background  about our Cattleya walkeriana. This small plant originates from Brazil, specifically in the Minas Gerais region.  The color is normally soft purple towards pink but many varieties exist.  The one we have is pale blue and considered a coerulea form.  Cattleya walkeriana is a highly epiphytic orchid that really clings to a tree trunk or a piece of bark.  Once it has established itself it doesn’t want to be separated from its substrate. The flower has a strong fragrance that can be overpowering.

It has come to my attention that Arne intends to purchase a few more varieties of Cattleya walkeriana. The space to put them, well, that is our constant challenge!

A) November 8th. We noticed a few flower buds on four flower stems.

B) One of the flower stem with two buds.

C) A profile of a healthy orchid.

D) A small stem developing within the many folds of leaves in the center.

E) Another shoot in the back, probably will develop into flowers.

F) November 22nd. The shoot from photo E, developing into two buds.

G) Flower from photo B, November 8th. Another bud developing next to it.

H) A view from above.

I) Both flowers fully opened by November 29th.

J) Here we see at least four other buds on November 29 plus the two flowers.

K) The flowers upclose.

L) A profile of the entire plant on the cork.

On November 29th, there are a total of at least six buds and two fully developed flowers. A grand total of eight flowers this winter. 

M) All eight flowers are opened and the smell can pretty strong especially in the morning.

Finally, all eight flowers are in bloom on December 20th. I can only stay in the basement a short while in the mornings because the fragrant is very strong! I found the best time for me to take the photos would be in the early evenings.

N) The flowers up close.

Clearly the flowers can last a long time before they whither, as the first flower was blooming on November 22nd. Well hopefully they will last right through next year! That's my post for today. I hope you all enjoyed the photos of our Cattleya walkeriana coerulea.

Orchid of the day: Cattleya cernua

Cattleya cernua

A) The last time this orchid flowered was in December 2014. By November we noticed some stems developing.

B) Developing flower stems on the upper right and lower left.

C) November 18. Two flower stems with a bunch of flowers bursting through.

D) By November 22, the flowers began to emerged

E) The flowers fully developed

F) The beautiful crimson orange blooms.

Orchid of the day: Cattleya Trick or Treat

Cattleya Trick or Treat

A) Anthony with our orchid October 25th, 2015.

B) At this time we only had 1 flower in bloom. The rest were still buds, 6 in total.

C) A different angle.

D) By November 18th, five flowers were blooming and at least four buds in development.

E) The brilliant orange color of these flowers really shines brightly in the sun. 

F) The entire plant stands more than 2 feet tall in height.

G) November 29. Still waiting for the last three buds to open up. In total today, we have eight flowers in bloom.

H) Cattleya Trick or Treat today.

Orchid of the day: Brassavola nodosa

Brassavola nodosa

As promised, my new post today is another orchid of the genus, Brassavola, specifically, Brassavola nodosa, or as Arne calls it, the reluctant bloomer.

A) October 31st, four flower buds developed

This orchid is a native of Mexico, Central America, the West Indies, Venezuela, Colombia, Guyana and French Guinea. It is also known as "Lady of the night" because in early evenings, the flowers exude a citrus and gardenia-like fragrant. This fragrance is thought to attract moths for pollination, which is very likely.

B) By Nov. 1st, one of the buds opened. Normally we should have many more flowers but considering we wanted to 'dispose' of this specimen, this is a success!

C) Two beautifully shaped flowers, Nov. 7th.

D) To better capture the definition of these white flowers, we took the pictures outside with natural light. 

E) The span from petal tip to petal tip across is almost 4 inches across.

F) Our Brassavola nodosa tonight. All four flowers in full bloom and exuding a pleasant citrus fragrance.

I hope you have enjoyed the beauty of our reluctant bloomer. Who knows, it may produce even more flowers in the future. I'm certainly glad we kept this orchid around as Arne thought it was purely vegetative a year ago. Until my next post, Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Orchid of the day: Brassavola perrinii

Brassavola perrinii

The species within Brassavola have cascades of mainly white flowers that are more or less fragrant.  The most well-known is Br. nodosa, or Lady of the Night, that emits a strong but pleasant fragrance especially during the night (next post).  Br. perrinii cannot compete when it comes to fragrance but, at least according to Arne, the flowers are superior in shape and the species as such is much more floriferous and a specimen plant is quite a sight.

A) October 31st, 2015

B) November 7th, 2015. 

This plant arrived a little more than a year ago.  It had long grass-like growths and the vendor told Arne that he had decided to ship them in pots rather than mounted because of their awkward shape.  Arne mounted it as soon as he could because these plants really do not like pots.  That process disturbed it quite much though and that is why it only has a few flowers this year.  But it had to be done and from now on it will grow fast. 

C) November 8th. We took this photo outside to get natural light.

D) In the grower's own hands. Beautiful specimen.

E) View from above.

F) Upclose

Lastly,