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!