Orchid of the day: Laelonia Dave's Dapper Dandee

Laelonia Dave's Dapper Dandee

This is a primary hybrid between Broughtonia negrilensis x Laelia crawshayana. I have posted about our Laelonia Dave's Dapper Dandee in November 2014, and twice in 2016, (January and December). This is another one of our collection that blooms regularly around the holiday season. This year, this orchid has produced the most flower ever. As the orchid grows, so does the length of the flower stem, making it a little bit difficult to house the orchid indoors during the cold weather. 

A) Indoors, December 16, only two flowers opened.

B) Notice the nectar droplets secreted by the flowers buds. Very sweet!

C) By Christmas day, another four flowers were in bloom.

D) Eight flowers are opened today and another three buds waiting to come.

E) The length of the flower stem in 32 inches or 81 cm.

F) Flowers up close.

G) In the upper left, there are the three flower buds.

I hope you found my post today enjoyable. Let's hope our seven year old Laelonia Dave's Dapper Dandee will continue to do well in years to come.

Until my next post, 'Happy 2019 everyone'.

Orchid of the day: Brassavola Little Star

Brassavola Little Star

This orchid is a hybrid between the Central and South American species, Brassavola nodosa and Brassavola cordata, a Jamaican native. The white flowers, exude a citrusy fragrance at night. We have a few clones of this orchid but the one I am featuring here is the HUGE clone that Arne has been housing in his lab. Fortunately, he has found a little spot in the university's green house! Our Brassavola Little Star will most likely keep growing. The photo above, shows our orchid in its new location in the green house. 

A) The orchid on Dec 17th, 2018.

B) Our orchid last year in Arne's lab at work.

C) In early December, still in the lab. There are about fifty flowers at this time.

D) This orchid is so heavy that Arne uses a strong metal stand to keep it hanging close to the window. About 8 to 10 kilograms in weight.

E) Another angle of our orchid.

F) A close up of the crisp white flowers.

I hope you enjoyed our Brassavola Little Star. Until my next post, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Orchid of the day: Cattleya cernua

Cattleya cernua

Our Cattleya cernua, formerly called Sophronitis cernua, or our 'Christmas orchid', is blooming again this holiday season.  This orchid is a prolific bloomer, check out my earlier posts from 2014, 2015, January 2017 and December 2017. This miniature orchid, which originates from the Minas Gerais region in Brazil, displays bright orange-red flowers that can be a little larger than an inch (up to 3 cm). This time we have nineteen opened flowers with many buds coming. We are not sure how many more will develop but these flowers can last up to three to four weeks.

I really like this orchid especially with the Spanish moss draped on the mount. This orchid is a warm grower and requires a lot of light. It definitely does well mounted and receives water regularly. The roots like moist but airy conditions. The Spanish moss drapes the roots and prevents desiccation when the sun or light is strong.

A) The entire plant outside.

B) Zooming in the flowers

C) Three developing buds seen in this photo.

D) Two days later the three buds are opening.

E) Our C. cernua today indoors.

If you manage to click on my earlier posts over the years, you will see how this orchid has grown over the time. I hope it will continue to do well in our care.

Orchid of the day: Cattleya walkeriana "Khairul Bariah"

Cattleya walkeriana 'Khairul Bariah'

Arne bought this orchid about a year ago. It came from a piece of very large 'rambling' plant that was once collected from the Brazilian jungle, the Minas Gerais region, a long time ago. We already have a C. walkeriana but it is a coerulea, i.e. bluish form. Arne wanted the more commonly occuring type species, which has flowers that are purple/pink in hue and supposedly have better shape than the coerulea. 

A) The entire plant in the wooden box in our basement. 

B) Close up of each flower bubs. Interesting to see clear droplets of sweet nectar dripping around the petals and stem. It was sweet to the taste!

C) Zooming a single bloom.

We were both pleasantly surprised when the blooms opened about a week ago because they were unusually round and almost flat. The inflorescence carried not two but three flowers, which is quite unusual for the species. Arne said the flowers are very beautiful and he decided to name the clone after me, Khairul Bariah. A very sweet gesture and much appreciated. 

Vegetatively, this orchid differs from most plants of walkeriana Arne has seen earlier. Each of the pseudobulb is much more elongated in shape which makes the entire plant much larger than expected in size with a 'rambling' tendency. This orchid is currently in a wooden basket but its sprawling growth will call for innovative solutions to keep it reasonably compact.

D) The entire orchid this weekend.

E) Flowers fully opened and emit fragrance during the day.

Well, this is my first post for December. Hope you liked it. 

Have a good week everyone!

Orchid of the day: Masdevallia Swallow

Masdevallia Swallow

Masdevallia Swallow is a hybrid between Masd. Falcata and Masd. infracta.  The plant was a gift from the Maryland Orchid Society when our Encyclia mariae was picked as the judge’s choice in June of this year.  While Masd infracta is a warm growing species, the other parent, Masd. Falcata, is a hybrid between the two cold growing species Masd. coccinea and Masd. veitchiana.

A) A close up of a flower which was in full bloom in July.

B) Another flower stem developed in October and this is a new flower blooming on November 25th.

C) Close up of the flower in (B).

Arne has been quite lucky with this orchid. This cool loving orchid seems to be producing flower stems since coming into our home. A very interesting looking flower too.

Orchid of the day: Phalaenopsis Taida Sunflower Boy

Phalaenopsis Taida Sunflower Boy

When Arne started with orchids decades ago, and Phalaenopsis was still considered an exotic genus, he bought Phalaenopsis hybrids.  Everything changed over time and Phalaenopsis became the most popular orchid ever.  He hasn't bought any Phalaenopsis hybrids since.  

However, Arne brought home this orchid after attending the local orchid society meeting. He got the winning ticket for the society’s door prize, which was a gigantic Cymbidium. Of course, we have no space for it in the house, nor can he take it home in the car. So Arne swapped it for this more manageable Phalaenopsis.

Phalaenopsis Taida Sunflower Boy is a complex hybrid to say the least and a check in the database, OrchidRoots, reveals a background involving more than ten different species although Phal. amabilis makes up about 25%.

A) The side profile of entire plant 

B) Six flowers and the four buds

Today in his care, this orchid has six beautiful flowers and four more buds waiting to develop (B). A nice looking orchid and worth posting in my blog.

C) A close up of the flowers.

I find the flowers very beautiful and although Arne thinks Phalaenopsis hybrids are no longer a challenge, even he cannot deny that these are gorgeous flowers! I hope you have enjoyed seeing this hybrid of ours.

Orchid of the day: Encyclia vitellina

Encyclia vitellina

Our Prosthechea (Encyclia) vitellina turns out to be a prolific bloomer.  This year, it bloomed until March or April, when it has a break for a few months and then started again when its new growth had matured in September.  The very first flower that opened is still looking good two and a half months later and the flower stem is still producing new flowers.

It is interesting to note that the color of the flowers is more yellow-orange than red this time.  The reason for that can be attributed to the temperature when the flowers were developing because the production of anthocyanin, the pigment responsible for the red color, is supposedly favored by lower temperatures.

This time, the flower stem started to develop during late summer when its warmer.  In the previous post, the flowers with the most orange-red color had developed during the end of the year when it was much cooler.  See post on January 21, 2018.

A) October 4th, hanging out with a few flowers in bloom.

B) Five flowers in bloom and a few buds developing.

C) A close up of the beautiful vibrant orange-red flowers. 

D) Today, November 24th, all flowers are in bloom.

E) The entire plant doing well indoors under our artificial lights.

F) It is amazing how long lasting the flowers are. The colors are still vibrant since late September.

I hope you enjoyed my post. More to come!

Orchid of the day: Aerangis luteoalba var. rhodosticta

Aerangis luteoalba var. rhodosticta

A) October 4th, buds developing.

We have this orchid for a little more than four years now.  It has bloomed every year since 2015 and it even bloomed twice per year a couple of times.  This year, it wasn't too happy though.  So Arne had to come to terms with the use of a systemic fungicide at least once a year and that has helped our Aerangis luteoalba var. rhodosticta. Since he is only 'experimenting' with the use of fertilizers, he has started to cut down on the treatments. Whether there is a positive or a negative outcome, still remains to be seen in half a year or so. 

If the effect of the fertilizer is only transient, perhaps we can skip using it in the future and just focus on adjusting the level of light instead.  This year it has four flower stems carrying 45 flowers including three buds.

B) The weather was quite warm on November 4th. So we took this close up picture outside. 

C) The entire orchid indoors, November 11th.

D) All flowers in full bloom today, November 24th. Too cold to be outside.

E) If you look really closely, you will see some abnormality on some of the petals. We couldn't quite figure it out but perhaps it is temperature related. Something we will have to figure out!

It has been a quiet few weeks from me but I'll be sure to post more during this Thanksgiving weekend. Here's a final picture for this post, all of our orchids are indoors, warming up from the intense cold outside! 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Orchid of the day: Masdevallia Elven Magic

Masdevallia Elven Magic

Masdevallia Elven Magic is a primary hybrid between Masd. davisii and Masd. infracta.  The plant was given to us as a reward by the Maryland Orchid Society when our Paphiopedilum philippinense became the judges’ choice in May this year.  The genus Masdevallia is comprised of species that like cold or cool conditions and high relative humidity.  Most people cannot provide such conditions all year round and Masdevallia has therefore gotten the reputation of being a genus for specialists.  Luckily some species are more tolerant of warmer conditions and one of parents to Elven Magic, Masd. infracta, is one of those warmer growing species.  Well, we still have doubts about growing Masdevallia.  Time will tell.

A) A picture of our Masdevallia Elven Magic in the shade.

B) So far we have three flowers and two developing buds.

C) A closer look at our almost blood red flowers.

D) The hue changes with natural light.

I hope you enjoyed the photos in my post today.

Until next time, have a great week!