Cattleya Stonehouse

Now blooming with nine, 5-6" flowers on three inflorescences.  Nice fragrance.

Sibling L. anceps

Here are the two plants, full sibs from the Wallbrunn x Helen cross (from Cal-Orchid).  I like both of the them.  The shape on the first one is going to be outstanding.

 

Why novice growers get burned at ebay

This links to a small seedling of a nice form of C. guttata for sale on ebay.  This obviously just came out of a compot or even a flask.  Despite the seller's claim, it is significantly more than three years from blooming.  Unless you have good conditions and lots of experience, you will kill it.  You might as well light a $20 bill on fire - the pain will be intense, but then it will be over.  If you buy this plant, you may nurse it for 2 years before it finally dies.

Potinara Green Emerald 'Orchid Queen'

Got this about three years ago.  This is the first time it bloomed for me. Plants in this genus have genes from Brassavola, Cattleya, Laelia, and Sophronitis.  Now that Sophronitis has been replaced by Cattleya, depending on which Laelia is (are) in this plant, the plant might actually be Bc. Green Emerald.  Whatever, if you like spotted bifoliate hybrids, this one should make you happy.

Oncidium splendidum update

Comparing the spike from the 1/31/10 post, you can see it is growing fast.  It is also starting to branch.

Laelia anceps first bloom seedling

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Wallbrunn x Helen, acquired from Cal-Orchid.

Cattleya guttata

The American Orchid Society published a very nice article on this species, which has many color forms.  Here is a link to the article.

Root growth

Last year I mounted a Laelia gouldiana that wasn't doing well in a pot.  It established and put up a spike this year, but the buds blasted.  Here you can see new roots emerging and also new roots tips growing from existing roots.  I think the mount suits it.

Frank Fordyce articles

Frank Fordyce is one of the major figures in Cattleya hybridizing over the last 40 years.  Unfortunately he closed down his orchid nursery in Livermore just as I was getting introduced to the hobby.  While exploring I stumbled upon this nice set of scanned articles authored by Fordyce.  I've enjoyed reading them and thought they might be of general interest.

I think it would be great fun to have electronic access to all the old AOS publications just to see the history of the hobby and old advertisements etc.  In the world of scientific publishing, most journals provide access to old volumes at no cost.

Dendrobium amabile

I am not having much luck with D. amabile.  It was an impulse buy at a show a few years ago. My first re-blooming was last summer, shown below.  Anyone have any hints about best practices for growing this plant and its relatives? 

Cattleya forbesii

This is a nice small species from Brazil.  Today I traded this plant for a Maxillaria picta at the Sonoma County Orchid Society show and sale.  Hope you enjoy it, Richard.  I also picked up a small C. walkeriana semi-alba at the member sale tables.  There were lots of terrific plants at good prices.  Austin Creek Orchids donated a lot of plants for the member sales table - I would definitely like to stop by that greenhouse some time.  Some of the vendors had very nice plants, too.  One nice thing about the small shows is that it is easy to meet the vendors.  I especially enjoyed meeting Blaine Maynor, owner of Orchids for the People up in Humboldt county.  He had a wonderful assortment of species and a few primary hybrids.  Many cool growers, but lots of intermediate to warm growers, too.  I almost bought a few things from him, but managed to talk myself out of it.  Overall, if I were looking to expand my collection, I could have done some serious damage.  Kudos to the SCOS.  
 

 

Lc. Stonehouse

This plant is 50% C. trianae, 25% C. mossiae, and 25% L. purpurata (i.e., C. purpurata).  It grows like a weed (I've nicknamed this plant, "the beast"), huge, long-lasting, fragrant flowers, with short distances between consecutive growths - perfect for growing a specimen.   It takes up a lot of space, but I think it's worth it.  This year it has 9 sheaths (which means 18-27 flowers) - this is the first one to bloom.  I probably won't be able to resist posting at least one more of this when the greatest number of flowers is open.

Two new Cattleya trianae

I'm pretty picky these days when buying plants - fewer but higher quality is the rule.  My collection is a bit thin on C. trianae, so I bought two nice ones from Ecuagenera, one of which is shown in the cardboard box.  They arrived bare root, which is how plants from South America usually arrive.  You can see a new growth beginning.  The white roots are alive.  Once new root growth begins I'll pot these up in 6" baskets.  Mature plants seem to handle this transition with little problem - they have lots of resources to draw on from large, older growths.  I have had much more trouble establishing seedlings shipped in this way.  Flower pics are from Ecuagenera.