Orchid of the day: Cattlianthe Trick or Treat

Cattlianthe Trick or Treat

A) Our orchid outside for a brief moment out in the cold February day.

B) Our two feet tall orchid bears ten flowers this year.

C) Here we still have one bud waiting to open.

This orchid has been in our care from 2011 and has grown significantly since my first post on March 1st, 2015. We hope it will continue to do so.

Have a great week everyone.

Orchid of the day: Stelis ciliolata

Stelis ciliolata

Stelis ciliolata is a charming little orchid from Ecuador’s cool rain forests.  We are not collectors of miniature cool growing orchids but Arne bought this little species two-three years ago because of the unexpected success with a similar orchid, Stelis quadrifida, that arrived as a hitchhiker attached to a Dendrobium about ten years earlier, see my previous post, on March 5th, 2016.  Side by side it is quite easy to say that Stelis ciliolata is culturally more demanding than its relative quadrifida and needs much more humid conditions. Stelis ciliolata is a very recent discovery and was described as late as 2004 by Carlyle Luer and Stig Dalström.

A) Flowers are continuously blooming and fading away.

B) The petals of each flower are deep purple with feathery white hue along the edges.

C) A close up of the flower.

D) The entire plant is growing in a tree fern.

E) We are not able to determine how many flowers this orchid has as the flowers keep developing over the period of two months now.

Until my next post, have a great week!

Orchid of the day: Cattleya walkeriana coerulea

Cattleya walkeriana coerulea

This is one of our regular bloomers, an orchid which originates from Brazil, specifically in the Minas Gerais region. I've posted about our Cattleya walkeriana coerulea for the first time on January 29th 2014, December 21st, 2014 and then again December 20th 2015.  By December 20th 2015, our Cattleya walkeriana coerulea grew too big for the piece of cork bark and so Arne had to split this orchid to another piece of bark. 

A) This photo was taken sometime in December last year. Two flowers were blooming then.

B) A closer look of an individual flower

C) Another one of the flowers up close.

C) A new flower stem developing to the right. We expect to see more flowers a little later in 2019.

D) By February 5th, the previous two flowers which bloomed in December, had withered and died. The flower and bud you see here are from the new flower stem (C above).

E) In a different light.

F) A day later, February 6th, the bud begins to open.

G) February 9th, both flowers in bloom.

H) These flowers have a citrusy scent and the fragrance are usually stronger in the evenings.

I hope you enjoyed the photos of our Cattleya walkeriana coerulea today. Until my next post, have a great week.