Cattleya walkeriana 'Tokutsu' GM/JOGA

Cattleya walkeriana 'Tokutsu' GM/JOGA, a photo by mini-catts on Flickr.

by Peter Lin

Laelia anceps

Laelia anceps, a photo by cieneguitan on Flickr.

A very nice example of the species.

Cattleya dowiana var. aurea

Cattleya dowiana var. aurea, a photo by Mauro Rosim on Flickr.

by Mauro Rosim

Cattleya maxima

This is the last Cattleya maxima to bloom this year. A small seedling from Suwada Orchids in Japan. It has much potential.

Prosthechea mariae

Prosthechea mariae, a photo by Mauro Rosim on Flickr.

by Mauro Rosim

Oncidium Sweet Sugar

Cattleya purpurata f. flammea

Cattleya purpurata f. flammea, a photo by Mauro Rosim on Flickr.

by Mauro Rosim

A group of purpuratas, by Moises Bravim

Cattleya purpurata carnea

Cattleya purpurata f. carnea, a photo by Mauro Rosim on Flickr.

by M. Rosim

Cattleya jenmanii 'Eileen'

Cattleya jenmanii 'Eileen' 2013, a photo by KevinMIAfuego on Flickr.

by KevinMIAfuego

Cattleya maxima

Cattleya maxima, a photo by Mauro Rosim on Flickr.

by Mauro Rosim

Cattleya purpurata f. venosa

Cattleya purpurata f. venosa, a photo by Mauro Rosim on Flickr.

by Mauro Rosim

Cattleya percivaliana fma albescens 'D&D'

Cattleya percivaliana fma albescens 'D&D', a photo by salabat on Flickr.

plant and photo by Matt

A Visit To Sunset Valley Orchids (not by me!)

Cattleya warneri

Expo Divinópolis 2013 557, a photo by amigos orquidófilos on Flickr.

Expo Divinópolis 2013 557

Bulbophyllum medusae

Bulbophyllum medusae, a photo by hawaiiansunshine on Flickr.

Not a Cattleya, but pretty cool.

Cattleya maxina

Here is another C. maxima. This one is blooming for the first time. I acquired it bare-root from Ecuagenera at the 2013 Pacific Orchid Exposition. It established very nicely.

Cattleya purpurata rosea

Cattleya purpurata f. rosea, a photo by Mauro Rosim on Flickr.

Very pretty.

Cattleya warneri alba & tipo

Cattleya warneri f. alba & tipo, a photo by Mauro Rosim on Flickr.

Plants and photo by Mauro Rosim.

Temporary greenhouse

I was unhappy about the cost of heating the temporary greenhouse last winter (I use a small electric heater). This year I made a few changes to the greenhouse. First, I built another bench that fits snugly in the greenhouse. Now I have three benches, one against each wall (fourth "wall" is the entrance). Second, I used bubble wrap to insulate. On the inner walls I used carpet tape to fasten the bubble wrap. On the outside I used duct tape to tape down sheets of bubble wrap over the roof. Then I put a layer of poly, also fastened with duct tape, over the bubble wrap to protect it a bit from the elements. I will add some more grow lights. I have almost everything on benches this winter, with only a few hanging baskets. This should allow me to regulate water more easily. In the past it was hard to water the hanging baskets and control in any way the amount of water getting to the plants on the benches below. I thought the addition of the third bench would leave me with lots of space. Nope. I need to get rid of some plants. Pics show the view from the entrance.

Cattleya mendelii

Cattleya mendelii, a photo by Mauro Rosim on Flickr.

This is the best mendelii I've ever seen. Plant and photo by Mauro Rosim.

Cattleya aclandiae 'Sycamore Creek'

Cattleya aclandiae 'Sycamore Creek', a photo by sycamorecreek77 on Flickr.

grown and photographed by Bill Robson

Cattleya guttata

Cattleya Callistoglossa alba

Cattleya violacea semi alba

Cattleya violacea semi alba, a photo by mini-catts on Flickr.

Cattleya C. G. Roebling

Cattleya warneri f. albescens 'Santa Teresa'

Cattleya warneri f. albescens 'Santa Teresa', a photo by Mauro Rosim on Flickr.

This is a well known clone of this species.

Cattleya maxima

Cattleya schilleriana

Cattleya schilleriana, a photo by Flick Fer on Flickr.

I have a few small seedlings of this species. Nothing near blooming size yet.

Cattleya warneri

Cattleya warneri, a photo by Mauro Rosim on Flickr.

Cattleya Ned Nash

jenmanii x dowiana. Not my plant, unfortunately.

Cattleya maxima 'Hercules'

This is a mericlone of the upland form, which is shorter and carries fewer-but-larger flowers compared to the lowland form. I prefer the lowland form. Only one flower this year - I will have to move it out its basket when new roots start.

Cattleya guttata coerulea buds

I acquired this in July in my trip to the Cal-Orchid open house in Santa Barbara. In general I find that gutttata blooms later in the year than leopoldii and blooms from a dry sheath after a growth has matured, while leopoldii buds emerge from the sheath even before the growth matures.

Cattleya labiata

First one of the season.

Cattleya maxima

One of my favorite species.

Cattleya guttata

This young plant has bloomed twice for me, both times

in early Fall. Very different from my leopoldii, which always bloom in Summer.

Cattleya Chocolate Drop

Orchid fail

This plant is growing very well, so I was looking forward to the flowers. Unfortunately, I discovered  too late that the sheath was slightly malformed such that the flowers were having trouble breaking through. The result is that the stems of the flowers were severely bent inside the sheath. Oh well.

Epidendrum ruizianum 'Sycamore Creek'

Epidendrum ruizianum 'Sycamore Creek', a photo by sycamorecreek77 on Flickr.

I have a small of these. Hope mine turns out as nice as this one.

Cattleya nobilior f. coerulescens

Cattleya nobilior f. coerulescens, a photo by Mauro Rosim on Flickr.

Laelia pumila

Laelia pumila 1721, a photo by salabat on Flickr.

Stanhopea jenischiana

Only one spike this year. Space hog and short-lived flowers, but still worth having, I think.

Cattleya luteola

Cattleya guttata buds

This plant is doing OK, but not great. The newest growths are not as big as the previous ones, and I saw no sign of a sheath in the biggest (or smallest) new growths. Then, surprise, I saw a cluster of buds emerging.

Non-orchid post: Plumeria

If you go to Hawaii you see Plumeria all over the place, in landscaping and in leis. Fabulous fragrance. After one of our trips, I looked into how to grow them. Turns out there are lots of color varieties and forms. Also, lots of people crazy about Plumeria. Like, orchids, roses, etc, almost every plant type has a cadre of near delirious devotees. We get frosts here, so potting them up is the best strategy. I bought two NOID cuttings on ebay for about five bucks each and have been growing them for about two years in a cactus/succulent potting mix. No flowers yet, but the plants are now growing fast. I think they would be bigger by now if I had moved them up to big pots earlier.

My second Neofinetia

High light

I have been trying to grow my Dendrobium speciosum in very high light, as this is supposed to improve blooming. Here you can see a leaf turning slightly yellow from intense light. In fact, two other leaves have small burns, one of which you can also see below. I have backed off on the light just a bit.