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.

Orchid of the day: Angraecum sesquipedale

Angraecum sesquipedale

Our Madagascan beauty blooming in winter with three flowers. I've posted about this orchid rather frequently in my blog but it never fails to amaze me how unique this orchid is. My first post was on January 27, 2014. In my post on February 5, 2017, I went in depth measuring the spurs, which I found very interesting. The fact that there exist a specialist moth to pollinate this orchid, is fascinating!

A) January 16, 2019. One flower in bloom, while two more buds pending.

B) Indoors in this cold winter.

C) A week later, all three flowers were blooming.

D) A closer look of the three flowers.

E) The flowers are crisp white with very long spurs.

The flowers are rather delicate. The tips of the petals tend to brown rather quickly. We kept this orchid in the basement and try not to move it around too much as temperature change will affect these flowers.

Orchid of the day: Rhyncostylis gigantea

Rhyncostylis gigantea

This Vanda-like pure species comes from Southeast Asia and is a very slow-grower. Rhyncostylis gigantea is very popular because there are many colour varieties. The flowers are very long-lasting with pleasant fragrance and its bloom season is right in the middle of the cold months of January-February.

We acquired this orchid in 2015, and it began to flower in 2018, see my post from February 11th, 2018. Aside from being a slow-grower, this orchid is a rather easy plant to care for as long as it can grow in moderate light with not too cold temperatures year round. This time, our Rhyncostylis gigantea has twenty six flowers and doing well.

A) Our Rhyncostylis gigantea on December 30th, 2018.

B) A close up of the developing buds.

C) Twenty five flowers in full bloom today.

D) A closer look at each of the purple and white flowers.

E) Another angle of the flowers up close.

Until my next post, as usual, have a great week.

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!