Orchid of the day: Cypripedium acaule

Cypripedium acaule

We went away this long Memorial weekend to a very relaxing retreat up in Western Maryland, in Frostburg. It is a lovely place where we can bring our beloved dog, Anthony, and enjoy the woodlands and an attempt by Arne to fly fish in the Casselman river. I thought this week, I would be posting about one of our orchids at home while he was fishing and just enjoy the quiet sound of the woods.

A) May 27th, 2016. Cypripedium acaule amidst the pine forest

Well, that was not the case. I don’t recall exactly when and why, but Arne left our cabin and walked to the main building to fetch something. Upon returning, Arne was all excited and said, “You have to see this!” He whipped out his cell phone and showed me a rather well focused photo of an interesting flower. By now, I recognized that this was an orchid. In fact this really sparked my interest as I really enjoy discovering native orchids growing out in the wild. 

 

B) The orchids were spread out over a relatively large area.

It became apparent to us that there are wild native orchids flourishing in this beautiful area. We figured out that this is a Cypripedium acaule, which is a slipper orchid native to the Northern region of the United States. I have to admit, from someone who comes from Malaysia, it is amazing that orchids are so spread out in the world especially in areas I would consider cold. However, I must remember that the Cypripedium are also found up north as high up as Scandinavia. It does make you think and open your mind about the tenacity of these wonderful species.

C) The vivid pink and dark vein patterns made these flowers stand out on the forest floor.

What caught my eye was the size of the flowers and their vivid colors. The natural spread of the flower is up to 4 inches. It was also fascinating that these orchids seem to thrive in this pine forest which would likely have high acidity in the ground but upon closer examination, we noticed that these orchids were thriving in the outskirt region of this forest with some sunlight. Arne and the owner of the property were genuinely amazed how these orchids can survive in this turpentine rich soil as most slipper orchids enjoy alkaline rich soil to survive and flourish. 

D) As we walked down, we saw a cluster of the orchids to the left. Who would have thought this environment would harbor orchids?

E) The cluster of four flowering orchids.

F) Frontal view.

G) Rear angle.

I) One of the orchid without any flowering stems, emerging from the ground. There were several of them at this stage.
Normally, according to the owner, Mike, he noticed that the orchids would bloom in June and disappeared within a few short weeks. He thought they came out earlier this year in comparison to the previous years. In fact he seemed genuinely happy that we shared our enthusiasm about this flowering orchid with him. He has since posted a photo of the orchid on their lodge's Facebook page.

J) In its natural element, Cypripedium acaule. It was an exciting find!

Arne and I had a great time putting this post together. It was fun running up and down the hill to find these wonderful orchids. We look forward to our next visit here to enjoy the peace and quiet plus now, we can include 'orchid hunting'! By the way, if you are ever close to Frostburg, drop by the Savage River Lodge, you can bring your dog!

Orchid of the day: Cattleya mossiae f. semi-alba

Cattleya mossiae f. semi-alba

I wrote about this orchid in 2014, specifically June 2, 2014. This national flower of Venezuela flowered once again the same time each year. We are always amazed by the size of each bloom but we wish that the flowers were a little further apart so that each flower could really expand and display its glory.

A) April 25th, 2016.

We began chronically the flower development in early April. Once again, we are fortunate to have two flower buds.

B) Close up of the two flowers.

C) By May 7th, the flowers are in full bloom.

D) My Anthony providing perspective.

E) Close up on May 7th, 2016.

Today, May 21st, the flowers are still in full bloom. I have to say that these flowers really remind me of prom corsages. To conclude, I hope you have enjoyed the beauty of this orchid. Until next year, I will keep you all posted. Have a great week and Happy Preakness Saturday! Congratulations Exaggerator!

Orchid of the day: Ascofinetia Cherry Blossom Carmela

Ascofinetia Cherry Blossom Carmela with Anthony

Here's a little background on our Ascofinetia Cherry Blossom Carmela. It is a cross between  Neofinetia falcata x Ascocentrum ampullaceum, is a compact vandaceous type orchid that can be easily grown in bark or moss in pots or basket. 

Neofinetia falcata, is a native orchid of Japan while Ascocentrum ampullaceum, another mini vandaceous orchid is native to the more subtropical to tropical rain forest regions such as, Central China, Western & Eastern Himalayas, Assam India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Thailand, Burma, Vietnam and Laos to name a few countries. More details from my post from May 26, 2014.

A) Ascofinetia Cherry Blossom Carmela on May 6th, 2016.

Once again with great care, our orchid produced more flower stems than it did the previous year. We saw three flower stems developing as early as mid March. We are fortunate this year as we have close to one hundred and four flowers this year. Below are photos I took to chronicle the development of the three flower stems.

B) March 27th, 2016.

C) The three flower stems on March 27th.

D) Flower stems close up.

E) Our vandaceous orchid blooms opening by April 17th, 2016. 

F) Some buds still holding on.

G) By May 1st, most of the flowers had bloomed.

H) Today, our Anthony assisted by providing a size comparison with the Ascofinetia Cherry Blossom Carmela.

I) Today we have about 104 flowers from all three stems.

J) A different angle of today's orchid.

Once again, I hope you orchid enthusiasts and friends enjoyed my post for the day. Have a good week and since it is Mother's day in the USA, I wish you all Happy Mother's Day.

Orchid of the day: Dendrobium lindleyi

Dendrobium lindleyi

A) Flowers currently in bloom.

Our Dendrobium lindleyi honored us by producing beautiful flowers twice this year. The first time was in January where we had about twenty six flowers. We are happy to say that this time, we have close to eighty flowers.

B) We noticed in March, three flower stems emerging.

C) Here you can see one of the flower stems.

D) Another new stem

E) By April 25th, two of the flower stems had opened flowers.

F) A close up of the new flower buds.

G) The bright yellow hue of the flowers.

H) Even with unopened flowers, this orchid is very impressive.

I) All three stems showing the different shade of orange-yellow- yellowish green.

J) It is clear that the brightest shade of yellow is to the left of this photo. The newer the flowers, the more greenish-yellow the flowers are.

This particular orchid is known to produce thousands of cascading flowers. It will be sometime before we get to that point...but we are happy to have this opportunity to enjoy this beauty. Happy to share this post with you all. Until next time, have a great week.