Orchid of the day: Bulbophyllum frostii

Bulbophyllum frostii

It's time to update one of my favorite orchids, 'the Dutch Shoe' or Bulbophyllum frostii. Our Dutch shoe did very well last year and we divided it into 3 pots. We gave one to a friend, and from the last I heard, it is doing well with possibilities of flowers developing. We kept the other two and they have been flowering ever since. The orchids were actively flowering at the end of June and right through July. Today most of the flowers are gone but recently we noticed some flower buds developing. A very happy orchid in Arne's care. Below, (A), is a photo from last year.

A) June 20th,2014

I asked Arne if he could put a little story together for every post. Do enjoy what he wrote below about his Bulbophyllum frostii.

"Bulbophyllum is the largest genus in the orchid family.  It is also the only genus that has species growing in all tropical areas on earth including Asia, Africa, and South America.  On a completely different note, most of them have very fragrant flowers but the fragrance is usually anything but appealing to humans.  Bulbophyllum frostii has a bit of an odd fragrance as well but it is so weak that it doesn’t matter and besides, the flowers are so incredibly cute anyway.  This orchid should be grown quite moist year around.  I have it growing on tree fern with sphagnum moss tucked in here and there. I water it very often and some other moss has formed some charming carpets in the pots because of that.  When I bought the mother plant several years ago, I read that it liked shade.  I later learnt how wrong that was so I moved it close to the fluorescent light bulbs.  If given a bright spot and frequent watering, Bulbophyllum frostii turns out to be quite an easy orchid to grow. " by Arne.

B) July 5th, 2015. Very sweet.

C) A profile of the three flowers from the same pot on July 5th, 2015.

D) July 19th, 2015. Here are the two remaining pots in our care. The Bulbophyllum frostii seems to do well in the plastic pot. As long as it gets enough aeration and flow for water to run through when watering. This will keep the roots nice and healthy.

E) The beauties up close.

F) It is fascinating to see the blooms spreading sideways from each pot. There is not much height but a great deal of spread on the ground. Imagine an entire area of the forest covered by these beauties.

This native and endemic orchid of Vietnam, Thailand and the Malay Peninsula, grows well in several little clusters in the wild. I hope we are still able to enjoy them fully in its natural habitat in the future.