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.

Orchid of the day: Leptotes pohlitinocoi

Leptotes pohlitinocoi

Leptotes pohlitinocoi is a Brazilian orchid that was discovered as late as 2004. Its name pohlitinocoi is the quite difficult-to-remember result of the combination of two Brazilian orchid enthusiasts, Pohli and Tinoco.  Arne's success with Leptotes bicolor made him look for other Leptotes species that he could grow up to specimen size.

Still, pohlitinocoi has somewhat smaller flowers and each growth will only produce one or two flowers in contrast to our Leptotes bicolor 'Khairul Bariah', which produces up to five-flowered stems.  Nevertheless, the flowers of pohlitinocoi, are more colorful and Arne believes that with excellent culture and care, this Leptotes pohlitinocoi, which he purchased in June 2015, will make this plant grand in some years. In fact, Arne bought this plant as a seedling and it has taken its time to grow and finally produced this three flowers.

Its culture is similar to that of bicolor, i.e. it needs to be mounted and given a bright place protected from direct sunlight.  Its natural habitat is quite dry subtropical to tropical jungle and it should therefore be watered only when it has dried out properly.

A) March 25. Three flower buds developing.

B) By April 3rd, the flowers had opened up showing the purple and white hues.

C) The three flowers upclose.

D) By April 17th, all flowers had opened.

E) A zoom of all three flowers.

Sadly, today we don't have the flowers anymore. They have all wilted but hopefully with care and patience, we will have more to share next year! Have a great Sunday and a good work week!

Orchid of the day: Aerangis fastuosa

Aerangis fastuosa

This year, our Aerangis fastuosa, or also known as The Magnificient Aerangis, produced seven flowers in total. In contrast, we had five last year. This native of Madagascar is a dwarf orchid or miniature orchid when describing the size and height of the overall plant. However, the size of the flowers and the leaves do not reflect that status. This is easily seen with the photographs in this post today. 

A) March 27th. Six visible flower buds appeared. The seventh is underneath the leaves towards the back.

The flowers are about 2 inches or 5 cm in size and exude a pleasant fragrant throughout the day especially in the afternoon and at night.

B) A closer look of the flower buds.

C) By April 3rd, at least four flowers were opening up. All exhibiting the crisp white color.

D) The seventh flower is still hidden from this view.

E) Today, April 17th, all seven flowers are opened.

F) Once again, 'The Magnificient Aerangis' is in full bloom at almost the same time as last year, (see last year's post, on April 15, 2015.)

G) All seven flowers in full bloom today, April 17th, 2016.

It never fails to surprise me that each time I post an update of one of our orchids, it seems to fall at about if not the same time of the year. We joined an Orchid forum group and one of the senior member, Cattan, had found a lovely quote about orchids. I think this describe them very well.

"Orchids are very eloquent. They tell their master by their appearance, how they are treated", H. G. Reichenbach.

Orchid of the day: Leptotes bicolor 'Khairul Bariah' CCM/AOS

Leptotes bicolor 'Khairul Bariah' CCM/AOS

This Brazilian native was purchased by Arne when he first came to the United States in 2000. The first post about this orchid was in March 2014. This is our oldest orchid and we are happy to say, this specimen was awarded the Certificate of Culture Merit (CCM) by the American Orchid Society(AOS) last year on April the 4th, 2015.

A) Flower buds developed by March 2nd.

After 15 years on the same tree bark, we increased the growing surface by adding another piece of tree bark so the roots can spread further. See below. It was quite a delicate process because we had to ensure that the roots were not harmed.

C) The two pieces of barks were attached by metals prongs to create a larger surface for this orchid to grow.

D) A frontal view of the whole orchid.

E) By March 25th, many of the flowers had opened.

F) More blooms opened by March 27th.

G) A view from the left.

H) Right profile.

I) All opened by April 2nd.

J) The abundance of flowers is very impressive.

K) We have at least 75 flowers as of today, April 3rd.

Today, our 16 year old Leptotes bicolor 'Khairul Bariah' CCM/AOS, produced at least 75 flowers. We have kept this orchid in our basement to ensure the flowers will last longer as the cooler temperature will prevent early wilting. Last year when this orchid was awarded, there were 56 flowers. Hopefully we will be able to keep this beauty as long as possible and keep her happy!

Orchid of the day: Coelogyne nitida

Coelogyne nitida

It is unbelievable but it is almost to the day that I posted about our Coelogyne nitida last year. Orchids tended well and with dedication continue to repay us by blossoming annually. My last post about our Coelogyne nitida was on March 22, 2015. 

A) Seven flowers in bloom.

Our Himalayan native was divided in late 2014 and today, this one is doing well by producing seven flowers this year. I really love the beautiful vivid yellow-orange dots on the upper lip of each flower. In fact, I missed out on chronicling the development of the flower stems at this.  

B) A view from the back.

C) A healthy orchid with a promise of more flowers next year.

This orchid flowers in Spring and true to its nature, these beautiful fragrant flowers emerges each Spring in March. Something we will look forward to next year.

D) A close up, once more to end this post.

I hope you have enjoyed my post today. Personally, I hope this orchid will flourish even more and perhaps be brought for judging. I believe this orchid has potential in the near future. Have a good week!