Phragmipedium wallisii x Conchifera

I love the elegance of the twisted, long petaled Phragmipediums. When I see them I think about ballerina slippers pinned into a shadow box. These have been on my wishlist for a while. Unfortunately, these lovelies can get a bit large, like 3+ gallon bucket large. Recently I was browsing eBay and came upon a compact, long petaled hybrid that I decided to try out. Now introducing one of my summer additions: Phragmipedium wallisii-Conifera. 

It is 50% wallisii, 25% caricinum, and 25% longifolium and is very similar to a Phragmipedium Grande, just much smaller. It is about 14 inches tall with a 12 inch leaf span. So it fits nicely in my east window. It's pot is sitting in a shallow water dish. I water it once or twice a week. Once the water in the dish evaporates I water it again with pure water from my dehumidifier. I never allow it to dry completely but I don't keep it sopping wet.

The petals are continuing to elongate adding an increased the elegance to the flowers. It is a successive bloomer and has been in bloom for over two months. My one wish is that the flowers had more color. The color complaint is to minor I won't be looking for another clone anytime soon. Depending on how well I do with this one, I will get a couple of additional compact, long petaled Phrags. Maybe the contested Phragmipedium popwii or warscewiczianum is in my future. 

Coelogyne mooreana 'Brockhurst'

I recently started a small collection of Coelogyne species and hybrids. Although I have not seen all of them in bloom, I am willing to bet my Coelogyne mooreana 'Brockhurst' will be my favorite. I love the large pristine white flowers and the textured orange markings (keel) on the lip. It is an absolute show stopper. My only concern is its size. It is about 20 inches tall which is not a bad size. However the larger arching leaves eat into my limited bench space by constantly encroaching on its neighbor. Still, Coelogyne mooreana is worth the space.

This species originates from a monsoons climate so there are clearly defined dry and wet seasons. Considering this, here is how I grow it in my collection. Over the winter it experiences night temperatures into the high 40s to low 50s. Last winter, I reduced watering over winter but I went over board so now I have some accordion leaves. This winter I will provide more water. I am planning on once a weekly to every 10 days watering schedule. During the summer, I watered it pretty liberally, and it responded very well. I keep it in indirect bright light all year found. This orchid has great potential and I am looking forward to seeing in bloom again.

Encyclia bractescens

Most Encyclia species require a fair about of room due to their extremely long inflorescences. Some end up reaching over four feet. The plants themselves are generally very manageable on a windowsill or under lights until the inflorescences come. If you are interested in these tropical beauties but can not accommodate their flower spikes,  there are some options for you. Encyclia bractescens is a miniature to small growing Encyclia native to Mexico and Central America. The small egg shape pseudobulbs are topped with attractive grass-like foliage. As the pseudobulbs mature, inflorescences appear between the leaves. These inflorescences can reach about 12 inches and carry more than 12 two inch flowers. This small orchid puts on quite a long lasting show.

My Encyclia bractescens has been in bloom for over a month. I am very impressed with my first-time bloomer. The narrow, thin leaves indicate its ability to take relatively high light. So I grow it very close to a south window in the winter and in direct east morning light outdoors in the summer. It grows in warm to intermediate conditions year round. It likes to dry between waterings but its pseudobulbs will easily wrinkle when allowed to stay dry too long. Mine is growing in medium sized bark, charcoal, and perlite, and it is potted in a plastic basket.

Eventually I hope to mount a portion of it. It seems to be very tolerant of humidity levels between 40-50% and forgiving of slight under watering. In my book, that makes it a great choice for mounting  and displaying in windowsill or under lights. Plus, mounting would allow the flower spikes to hang in a graceful display. Hmm... maybe I will just buy another one and mount it.

Coelogyne ovalis

Here is another one of my recent Coelogyne additions. I purchased it in May at Windswept in Time's spring open house. Although Coelogyne ovalis has a reputation for having a rather dull flower, I find this one very captivating. Some Coelogyne ovalis can look a bit washed out. This one has a rich golden color to its petals and sepals. Plus a nice dark textured lip. So I think it is a very nice C. ovalis! But I am no expert so this could all be absolute non-sense. 

Coelogyne ovalis is known to be one of the tougher, more tolerant Coelogyne species. This one is living up to that reputation. I repotted it shortly after purchasing it. Most Coelogynes get really cranky about having their roots disturbed. Not this one. Three weeks following the repot, I noticed a small flower sheath emerging between the leafs. Arguably, the sheath was already developing. Still I was impressed it has not aborted. So I recommend this Coelogyne to anyone interested in growing Coelogynes. It seems to be a nice entry species.

I have been growing it evenly moist in an east window. Clearly, it has responded well. I water  it every 2-3 day. Anything less than this and the pseudobulbs start to shrivel. The east window is pretty warm (high 80s) when the sun shines in, but there is a fan close by keeping the air circulating. Soon all of my orchids will be moved to another room in the house, and this one will go under lights for the winter and experience cooler temperatures. My plan is to keep the orchids room between 75F and 55F over the winter. At that time, I will try to decrease its watering to better handle the cooler temperatures. I will see how it responds to the change and report back.

The only negatives I have noticed with this orchid is it rambling growth habit and successive blooming habits. Hopefully, my C. ovalis will branch to start to fill out the pot. Otherwise, it will become difficult to contain. Additionally, more branching will mean more flowers open at the same time. I have heard you can nick the rhizome of some species to encourage branching, but I rather have this happen naturally. Time will tell how it progresses. For now I will just enjoy the blooms and see what happens.

Aerangis mystacidii

I purchased three of these little darlings as small seedlings two years ago from Olympic Orchids. They all had cosmetic damage on their leaves so they were deeply discounted. I thought "Why not?!?" and bought them. I mounted all of them. Then I sold one at my local orchid society. The remaining two were kept on my growing shelves in front of a west facing window in the winter and under a shade tree in the summer. So far they have proven to be very temperature tolerant. I have grown them from 85F in the summer down to 48F degrees in the winter. Although I try to keep the humidity levels up, inside the house humidity averages around 50% most days. I try to water them every 2-5 days all year long. Most cultural notes recommend a slight winter rest. My version of a winter rest for this orchid is to decrease fertilizer and let it dry out completely between waterings, but not to allow it to stay dry too long. Regardless of the season, it is not allowed to stay dry more than 4 days.

It looks like my patience and hard works paid off with the first spike on the larger of the two seedlings. It took about 8 weeks for the spike to mature and the flowers to open. Aerangis mystacidii is a miniature African species in the Angraecoid alliance. Like other Angraecoids, it is fragrant at night. The fragrance is very light but it is there.

Six flowers on a small seedling is pretty good to me. However, a mature plant can carry up to 25 flowers on one spike. The flowers seem a bit small but that might improve as the plant matures. The flowers are cute and all, but the long spurs are what draws me in. These long spurs are common in Angraecoids and are specially adapted to suit their primary pollinator - a long-tongue hawk moth.

These blooms were definitely worth the wait. Hopefully, I am able to keep them happy and will get even more blooms next year!

Paphiopedilum niveum

This is my absolutely, adorable Paphiopedilum niveum! There is something extremely delightful about these perky 2.5" blooms. I think it is the burst of maroon freckles against the white background and the bright yellow staminode that gives you the warm and fuzzies. It is not the best form for a niveum. A better form would be much, more rounded. But as long as I like it, so what. Plus mine blooms about two to three times a year!

Paphiopedilum niveum is in the subgenus Brachypetalum. Members in this subgenus benefit from being grown in open, airy mixes and with a little more light than average for a paphiopedilum. Still an eastern window is more than adequate for these little beauties

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I have not found this Paphiopedilum to be difficult to grow or flower as long as I let it begin to dry a bit between waterings. I grow it under intermediate conditions with an occasional dip into the cool range in the coldest part of the winter. I don't think the dip into the cool range is desirable. It is simply a side effect of my growing conditions.