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!

Bnts. Richard Mueller x Laelia aurea

Do you ever wish that orchids were easier to grow?  Well, Bnts. Richard Mueller x Laelia aurea, pictured below in bloom, is very easy to grow and quite floriforeous.  This cross can bloom almost any time of the year.  Mine is in bloom right now, at the first of December, in Miami, Florida.  It has also bloomed this past year twice before this December bloom.  It bloomed in early spring and also toward the end of the summer. 

This orchid is not unusual, nor does it have great form or even a very remarkable color; but, nevertheless, it is attractive.  Its best quality is it is EASY to grow and EASY to bloom.  I have this orchid outdoors all year round in Miami.  Last winter, the temperature dropped to 34 F and this plant did not suffer at all.  It was outdoors all summer long when the humidity reached nearly 100% and the temp topped out over 100 F.  It survived this great variation without even the smallest problem.  While I doubt that it could survive temperatures below freezing or in an extremely dry environment or in a high shade environment, it still thrives in quite variable conditions.

How do I grow it?  This plant is growing mounted on a round piece of rough cut cedar and it is hung in the horizontal position.  I screwed four eyes into the cedar and hung it with a wire basket hanger.  I have been told in the past that one should NOT hang orchids on mounts in the horizontal position.  Well, if someone tells me that I shouldn't do something and I cannot see any reason for the prohibition, then I will probably try it anyway.  Especially, when the possible consequences are minor.  This plant probably costs around $10 as a seedling and maybe not much more even full grown.  A small price to pay for orchid education.  Back to the mount.  The orchid just loves it on this cedar mount.  In just three months after mounting, the roots had spread all over the surface of the mount and even now continues to fill in all the area on the surface.

I grow this plant in about 50% shade, water daily in the driest and hottest part of the year, and use a weak solution of fertilizer about once a week.  I have never had any pest or fungus problems with this plant.

Do you have an orchid that is easy to grow?  Leave me a comment about your plant and how you care for it!

Have fun and good growing.

Rlc. Yen Corona 'Green Genie'

I woke up this morning and this new bloom greeted me in my garden.  It is a Cattleya hybrid that has quite a few different species in its background.  C. bicolor is one of the species that makes up this beautiful flower.  I suspect that the green sepals are coming from C. bicolor.  These photographs have been taken with various types of light and various backgrounds.  I am a totally amateur photographer, but I enjoy it and enjoy trying out various methods for taking a photo of the same subject.  Which photo do YOU like best?

Ascocenda Princess Mikasa 'Indigo'

This orchid is a cross between Vanda coerulea and Ascocenda Royal Sapphire.  The pictures below are from two plants that I bought a year go as seedlings.  They are still only about 7 inches tall.  Based upon this early first bloom, these plants promise to be very floriferous.  The color is a brillant, electric blue.  Since these blooms are the first for these plants, the flower spikes are SHORT, and they do not have very many flowers.  However, as these plants get larger, they promise to have many more blooms and longer flower spikes.

This orchid seems to enjoy the South Florida environment.  It seems to be tolerant of a fairly wide range of temperatures.  It is generally recommended that this orchid grow in cool to intermediate temperatures.  This would mean that night temperatures should be between 50 and 60 F.  South Florida may get some of these kind of nights during the winter but most of the time the night time temperatures are going to be much warmer.  These plants went through the hottest part of the summer without any problem.  Some recommend that these plants receive full sun.  However, here in South Florida, I have been giving them only about 50% of full sun, and they seem to be doing fine.

In addition to having a brillant color and being an early bloomer, the flowers are very well shaped.  They are very flat with no gaps between the petals and sepals.  If you live in South Florida, I would highly recommend getting one of these orchids for the color alone. 

They are BEAUTIFUL.

Guaricattonia Starrlyn 'Kate'

I bought this orchid as a seedling two or three years ago.  I think it needs a little more light to bloom well.  It also probably prefers a little cooler weather than we have here in Miami, FL.  In spite of these two problems, the plant has bloomed for me. 

Guaricattonia Starrlyn 'Kate' is a hybrid that is a small plant with small flowers.  This makes it an easy plant to have for a backyard grower.  It does not take up much room and it is easy to move around.  When this one bloomed I moved it into my family room.  I normally hangs in a basket under my peach tree or under my Cattleya Pergola.  This plant takes fairly standard Cattleya culture with maybe a little higher light.  For someone growing it in South Florida, make sure that it drys out quickly.  If you have no cover from the rain, you may want to put it into a wooden basket with little or NO media.  During dry, hot spells you may need to water more often with this set up but you will save the plant from certain death by root rot.

Guaricatonia Starrlyn 'Kate' is a cross between Cattleytonia Capri and Guaritonia Why Not.  The species that are in this hybrid's background are Broughtonia sanguinea, Guarianthe aurantiaca, Cattleya intermedia, and Cattleya bicolor.