Encyclia tampensis

Encyclia tampensis is an orchid native to Florida.  This orchid is also known as the Florida butterfly orchid.  It grows mainly in central and southern Florida.  It is also native to the Bahamas and Cuba.  When the plant gets large, it can have many flower spikes with hundreds of small flowers.  It usually blooms in June and July.  The pictures below is a bloom on a very small seedling that bloomed for me in May 2011.  The color of the blooms vary quite a bit in nature.  There is also a white-lipped form of this orchid.  It is easy to grow if you can resist watering it too much, especially in the cooler months and early spring.  During the growing season, this orchid can take more water, but still likes to dry well between watering.

Encyclia Moonlight Shadows

Encyclia Moonlight Shadows is a primary hybrid that is a cross between Encyclia alata and Encyclia cordigera. Most of the Encyclia’s that I have seen have not been very colorful, showy, or fragrant. However, this particular hybrid seems to have more intensity of color than many Encyclias, has a larger bloom than many, and is VERY fragrant. The fragrance of this orchid is its most attractive feature. The fragrance is quite strong in the mornings and is very pleasant. It reminds me most of a very expensive French perfume. This orchid is in bloom on my porch right now. Each morning I am greeted with the wonderful fragrance of its bloom.


Encyclia’s are well known for liking to be grown on the dry side. Some Encyclias like to have a very specific dry spell. However, on this particular one, I water it consistently the same all year round. However, I have it mounted on a plaque of tree fern fiber inside a slatted wooden basket. This type of mount dries out very fast which is what most Encyclias like. However, I have found that some in addition to this type of mount also like a period of almost no water or they will not bloom. This hybrid is not like that. I water this plant nearly every day except during cool periods in the winter. Many growers recommend that this hybrid to be grown in a pot with free draining media. I would say yes to the free draining media, but it is too humid in Miami to grow this in a pot. Growing in a pot will invite fungus and rot. However, as with everything orchids, if you grow it in a pot and it works for you, keep up the good work.

This particular hybrid likes a hot growing temperature. It is ideal for growing in South Florida. It also likes bright, indirect light. It may even take some direct sun, but I do not expose it to direct sun during the brightest part of the South Florida day. I only give it direct sunlight in the morning.

This particular blooming season, this orchid has four flowering spikes with between 8 and 12 blooms on each spike. Enjoy and good orchid growing!

Guarianthe skinneri coerulea 'Robert' x Guarianthe skinneri alba 'Viva el Jardin'

You may be more familiar with this genus of orchid by the name 'Cattleya'.  With all of the switching between genera, this one ended up in 'Guarianthe'.  Guarianthe skinneri is the national flower of Costa Rica.  It is a beautiful orchid that can have as many as 1,000 blossoms on one plant.  Once the flowers open, unfortunately, they do not last very long.  Usually, mine has lasted two or three weeks.

This season the blooms on this plant have been the best yet.  I cannot find any registration for this cross.  However, it is a cross between the cerulean color form and the white form of the plant. (Please don't ask me about the spelling of "coerulea".  That is the way it is spelled on the name tag of the plant.  I have seen this word spelled several different ways.  Probably because most, like me, are not sure of the spelling.  But based upon a check on the spelling before I wrote this blog, it seems that the world should be spelled "cerulean".)  The flowers seem to be more delicate the most skinneri.  The current blooms opened very fast.  Last night the buds were just barely beginning to peek open, and this morning I took these pictures.  There are still some buds on the plant that will probably open today or tonight.  This plant seems to like the 60 degree temperatures that we have had at night during the month of February.

When I bought this plant, it was already mature and in full bloom.  Unfortunately, whoever had put the plant in its wooden basket had mounted in with spaghnum moss around the roots.   That is a recipe for disaster for someone who grows these plants outdoors without cover.  The moss simply holds too much moisture and gets too soggy in our summer rains.  For awhile the plant just languished, so I started teasing out all of the moss.  I replaced the moss with only a slight amount of long tree fern fiber.  The plant began to recover and each season the blooms have gotten better. 

During the summer, the plant must be protected from direct sun.  It does best with about 30% to 40% of direct South Florida sun.  However, in the winter months, the amount of light needs to be increased.  These orchids grow in nature on deciduous trees so in nature they get more light during the winter months.  More light will result in more blooms and stronger, more upright blossoms.  In one of the pictures below, you can see a picture of a single inflorescence that is quite strong and upright with multiple blooms.

Do you have a Guarianthe skinneri?  Questions on how to grow it?  Send me an email and I will help in any way that I can.

Lc. Hsin Buu Lady 'YT' Bloom on Valentine's Day 02 14 2011

What a beautiful orchid for Valentine's Day!  This plant is a cross between L. anceps and C. Wendy's Valentine.  The wonderful shape of this orchid is heavily influenced by the L. anceps species which makes up about 50% of its genetic background.  C. Wendy's Valentine is a wonderful hybrid in its own right.  The brilliant scarlet color is coming from C. coccinea that makes up part of the genetic background of C. Wendy's Valentine.

This orchid had been very easy to grow and has done very well in the heat of South Florida even though  C. coccinea is known for growing on the cooler side of Cattleya culture.

I have one plant in bloom now with two others that have several buds.  This plant is still fairly small; however, when it gets larger and more mature, the number of of blooms will increase.  Another great feature of this orchid is the strong, upright inforescences that the blooms grow on.

I grow this orchid in a wooden basket.  Inside the basket, the orchid is mounted on a tree fern fiber plaque with a few expanded clay pellets around its roots.  During the winter, I water every two or three days.  But in the very hottest part of our very hot and humid summers in Miami, I water every day EARLY in the day.  On DRY, hot days, I water a second time around 10 or 11 AM. 

Would you like to know MORE about growing Cattleyas in your own backyard in South Florida?  You may email any questions you have to remliw@bellsouth.net.  I am glad to help in any way that I can.  Have fun and good growing!

Rly. Hwa Yuan Bay 'She Shu'

I have written about this hybrid on the blog in the past.  However, the photo above is the best bloom that I have had from the plant so far.  The plant is now becoming larger and mature.  This hybrid has several species in its genetic background:  C. dowiana, Bro. sanguinea, C. intermedia, C. warscewiczii, C. tenebrosa, and C. trianae.  It is a relatively compact plant and easy to grow in South Florida.  Since I grow this outdoors without protection from the rain, it is in a wooden basket without any media at all.  This particular hybrid and cultivar has been awarded by the AOS.  As the plant grows larger, it can bloom with 20 or more blooms at one time.  With this bloom, the plant has seven blooms on three inflorescenses and two buds on another.  The color of these blooms is what I like about this orchid the most.  The flowers are much smaller than the classic cattleya blooms.  The natural spread on the largest of the blooms is just over 9 centimeters.  Except for Bro. sanguinea, the size of the blooms is generally smaller than the blooms of the other species in its genetic mix.  The blooms have no fragrance.  I purchased this hybrid here in South Florida, so it is available in the Miami area.  In fact I saw a near specimen size of this hybrid at a local grower just recently.

Have fun.  Good growing.

Bc. Mililani Star 'Nalo'

I purchased this orchid at the Tamiami Orchid Festival in January 2010.  This is its first bloom.  The sheaths appeared around July and it took until late December before the blooms started to appear from the sheaths.  This is a cross between B. Little Stars and Bc. Morning Glory.  It has B. nodosa, B. subulifolia, and C. purpurata in its genetic background.  For a first bloom, it has a good number of blooms.  This plant promises to be quite floriferous; however, I am dissappointed by its form.  I doubt it will be an award winner.  However, the color and veining in the blooms are quite nice.  A very nice display for January.  I have grown this orchid with typical Cattleya culture.  I have it mounted on a piece of tree fern fiber that is framed by a wooden raft.  It hangs under my Cattleya Pergola most of the year, but when it is getting ready to bloom, I move it to a spot under my peach tree.

Tamiami Orchid Festival

The Tamiami Orchid Festival will be on January 29 and January 30, 2011.

Come join us in Miami at the fairgrounds.  Tamiami Orchid Festival is a great
South Florida winter orchid festival!