Orchid of the day: Leptotes bicolor 'Khairul Bariah'

Leptotes bicolor 'Khairul Bariah'

This is our 17 year old Leptotes bicolor 'Khairul Bariah', which was awarded the Certificate of Cultural of Merit (CCM) by the American Orchid Society (CCM/AOS) in 2015, hence the name Leptotes bicolor 'Khairul Bariah' (yours truly...). Another of our Brazilian beauty, which always blooms at this time of the year. My last post was about our Leptotes pohlitinocoi and you can clearly see how the purple color is distributed differently in this particular specimen. More white than purple, that is.

A) This photo was taken on March 12th. We anticipated about 85 flowers at this time.

B) A different angle. Buds still closed.

C) Beautiful warm weather on March 18th. Almost all the flowers had opened that day.

D) View from below.

E) This specimen seemed to adjust quite well after Arne transplanted it to a bigger piece of bark.

F) Today, March 25th, all flowers in bloom.

G) A gorgeous specimen after 17 years of care.

If you are interested to see the 'evolution' of this particular Leptotes bicolor 'Khairul Bariah', please click on these links from my earlier posts.(March 16th, 2014; March 29th, 2015; April 4th, 2015; April 3rd, 2016)

H) A zoom of the individual flowers again.

This is definitely one of my favourite orchid in our collection. It is amazing and I believe it will continue to be kind to us and repay our care with more flowers next year.

Have a great weekend my friends! And stay safe.

Orchid of the day: Leptotes pohlitinocoi

Leptotes pohlitinocoi

Arne really loves this new addition to his collection. He keeps reminding me that this orchid was discovered as late as 2004 in Brazil. I last posted about this orchid on April 24th 2016. We had three flowers last year but now we are fortunate to have five. The similarity to Leptotes bicolor is very strong but the flowers have more purple hue  and are slightly smaller.

As usual, Arne has this specimen mounted on cork and place it in a bright place protected from direct sunlight. This is an ideal growth environment for Leptotes pohlitinocoi, as in nature, its habitat is quite dry, in subtropical to tropical jungle. It doesn't need to be watered too much either.

A) March 5th, the first flower opens.

B) Four remaining buds to the lower right.

C) Profile of the Leptotes pohlitinocoi hanging on the cork. The roots are beautifully wrapping around the cork.

D) All five flowers in bloom on March 18th.

E) Beautiful shades of purple on the flowers. 

F) Beautiful intense purple on the lip, petals and dorsal tips. 

I hope you have enjoyed my post for today. I certainly have! Arne said the flowers can last up to 3 to maybe 4 weeks from now. We hope to enjoy this specimen and maybe next year, it will produce more flowers. 

Anthony providing the size perspective of this orchid.

Orchid of the day: Our flowering collection

Eight of our flowering orchids. To the left, Aerangis fastuosa, Paphiopedilum delenatii 'Karin Schon', Encyclia vitellina. In the center, Leptotes bicolor 'Khairul Bariah', Dendrobium lindleyi, Leptotes pohlitinocoi, Stelis quadrifida. To the right, Coelogyne nitida.

Today we decided to display all of our currently flowering orchids outside. The break from the cold and snow made it possible! Even Anthony wanted to join us on our back deck. Above is a nice collection of our orchids.

A) Arne with his precious collection. Anthony being the most precious, of course!

B) Our model, Anthony enjoying the warmth on our deck.

C) Here are the orchids which I will be posting individually next. 

I hope this short post will wet your appetite for my upcoming post! Do enjoy your Saturday and I will be posting very soon! Until then, have a good day.

Orchid of the day: Aerangis fastuosa

Aerangis fastuosa

Our Aerangis fastuosa, or The Magnificient Aerangis, have one flower stem this year in contrast to 2016 (See post on April 17, 2016). Despite having one flower stem, we have six beautifully crisp white blooms. This dwarf orchid or miniature orchid is a native of Madagascar. The flowers, which are 2 inches or 5 cm across, are fragrant in the afternoon and at night. If you are interested to read more about this orchid, please checkout my post on April 15th, 2015.

A) A single flower stem peeking out in early February.

B) A closer look of the developing flowers buds on the single stem.

C) By March 5th, you can see how developed the flower buds were.

D) All six buds showing the nectar spurs.

E) This is how the orchid looks like on March 12th.

F) The final look of our Aerangis fastuosa.

I hope you enjoyed my second post for this weekend. I wanted to post about our Aerangis fastuosa because we have so many orchids flowering at almost the same time and I didn't want to neglect this Madagascan beauty! I've also update the layout of my blog and I hope this will highlight the colours of our orchids in each upcoming post.

Until next post, have a great work week!

Arne's Orchids at the Maryland Orchid Show 2017

Cornucopia of orchids at the Maryland Orchid Show 2017

Have you ever wondered who would have all these flowering orchids at one time and exhibit them at such a show? Well, I finally have the answer. These beautiful displays are contributions from individual growers or hobbyists from the orchid societies around the area. Members who have flowering orchids at the same time of show were asked if they would like to share and exhibit their specimens for the event. I found this out since Arne was asked and he submitted the Coelogyne nitida and Encyclia vitellina or Prosthecea vitellina.

A) In the center is our Coelogyne nitida. I recently posted about this specimen on March 5th, 2017

B) Posted last week, March 5th, 2017. This specimen received an unexpected 2nd prize at the Maryland Orchid show in the Coelogyne alliance category!

C) Another gathering of flowering orchids at this year's show.

Our other orchid at the show is the Encyclia vitellina or Prosthecea vitellina, which also to our pleasant surprise, received a third prize in the Epidendrum alliance category!

D) Our Encyclia vitellina or Prosthecea vitellina, in the center. Not too easy to see!

E) Here is our Encyclia vitellina or Prosthecea vitellina up close, which I posted on February 12th, 2017. And it is still flowering today.

F) Another assortment of orchids from different private growers in Maryland.

G) Beautiful arrangement to show the great beauty and diversity of the orchid family. Diversity is a wonderful gift of nature and I guess when you consider man made hybrids, science too.

H) An array of of Paphiopedilum on show. Our Paphiopedilum delenatii 'Karin Schon' AM/AOS, wasn't in full bloom this weekend, so we didn't bring her in this time. But I will be posting about it very soon!

I) A final picture of our Encyclia vitellina or Prosthecea vitellina

Well, I hope you enjoyed my post for this Saturday, March 11th, 2017. As the show ends tomorrow, we will be picking up our prized orchids home on this cold Baltimore weekend! We will try to keep them warm and out of the freezing cold. 

Until next post, have a great weekend! 

Orchid of the day: Coelogyne nitida

Coelogyne nitida

Our Himalayan beauty is flowering again. I've posted about this orchid each year at about the same time, March 20th, 2016, March 22nd, 2015 and February 4th, 2014. In 2015, the plant was big enough to be divided. We are happy that the division had resulted in a healthy specimen.

A) Today our Coelogyne nitida is in full bloom. A total of fourteen flowers and three inflorescence.

B) The last time our Coelogyne nitida bloomed, we had only six flowers. 

C) A view from the top.

D) A final picture for this post.

I hope you have enjoyed my post for today. We have been 'quiet' these few weeks because our orchids were not in bloom but it will change very soon! Keep an eye out for upcoming posts!