The Devil's Excrement

I have added two new orchid blogs I have recently discovered and enjoyed. First there is Orchidsex, with lots of wonderful pictures and then there is Headspace: Orchids, describing the everyday tribulations of an orchid enthusiast. I hope one day to have hundreds of them listed here, blogs are an ideal medium to share about this passion. 

I have added two new orchid blogs I have recently discovered and enjoyed. First there is Orchidsex, with lots of wonderful pictures and then there is Headspace: Orchids, describing the everyday tribulations of an orchid enthusiast. I hope one day to have hundreds of them listed here, blogs are an ideal medium to share about this passion. 

Left: Cattleya Loddigessii Tony Boss, this is a legendary variety of that specoes. I has always had great shape, but this time the flower is simply huge!. Little scent. Left: Another Venezuelan Species Psychosis Papilioi. Great lip, the antennae could be better, so could the picture.

Another of my generous Gaskellianas, Gaskelliana Mimi x Aida, this is a Venezuelan species. There are four big flowers in the bunch, I could not find an angle for getting even two of them together.

This is Potinara Hoku Gem “Sun Spots”. I have hasd this plant for years. It was doing badly to the point I thought I was losing it. But I repotted and after three mediocre years it is beginning to flower often and for the first time, in many bunches.

I did not think I would have enough pictures to post this weekend, but when I went to take pictures of two plants, I found two more in bloom. Here they are:

Top row: Rhynchlalelia Digbyana, formely Barassoval Digbyana. I have had this plant for a long tme and it has always been a strong growerm but had a hard time flowering. I first changed it to a cork slab, where growth has been even more vigorous. Then I moved it more into the sun and it has begun flowering regularly. This is the first time it has two flowers at once. Second time in six months it flowers. Not much sent, the sepals were damaged when I moved it from where it hangs.

Second row from the top: I do not have too many hybrids, but I love these Blc. Ronald Hauserman. It flowers every three months. Huge flowers with the consistency of cardboard. Nice scent, spectacular shape. The color difference between the lips of the two flowers is real, one got more sin than the other.

Third Row. The first flower on the left I think is a Venezuelan species Cattleya Gaskelliana. Nice shape. The scent is so strong taht there are little bugs all the time flying around the plant. The next plant, third row on the right,  is a Cattleya Intermedia from Brazil. Firts time it flowers and it went wild. The next row shows how the flowers within the same plant are different. Most are flared like the one on the left above, but one has no flares whatsoever like the one on the right. Slight scent.

I did not think I would have enough pictures to post this weekend, but when I went to take pictures of two plants, I found two more in bloom. Here they are:

Top row: Rhynchlalelia Digbyana, formely Barassoval Digbyana. I have had this plant for a long tme and it has always been a strong growerm but had a hard time flowering. I first changed it to a cork slab, where growth has been even more vigorous. Then I moved it more into the sun and it has begun flowering regularly. This is the first time it has two flowers at once. Second time in six months it flowers. Not much sent, the sepals were damaged when I moved it from where it hangs.

Second row from the top: I do not have too many hybrids, but I love these Blc. Ronald Hauserman. It flowers every three months. Huge flowers with the consistency of cardboard. Nice scent, spectacular shape. The color difference between the lips of the two flowers is real, one got more sin than the other.

Third Row. The first flower on the left I think is a Venezuelan species Cattleya Gaskelliana. Nice shape. The scent is so strong taht there are little bugs all the time flying around the plant. The next plant, third row on the right,  is a Cattleya Intermedia from Brazil. Firts time it flowers and it went wild. The next row shows how the flowers within the same plant are different. Most are flared like the one on the left above, but one has no flares whatsoever like the one on the right. Slight scent.

Blooming seems to be picking up now. Temperatures have dropped lower than usual ( I will not say how low, some people in the Notrthern Hemispehre would feel terrible) delaying the flowering of Cattleya Lueddemanniana. But this week I began to see some buds with promise. These are the ones that have opened. From Top to bottom:

Firt Row from the top: The lesser known Venezuelan Cattleya Lawrenceana, lots of flowers,, is is much smaller than the ususal Venezuelan Cattleyas.

Second Row: A beautiful Venezuelan Cattleya Jenmanii, it has a slight scnet, the flowers are very well shaped and the color is dard purple. This is a selfing of Cat. Jenmanii “Rose”. Everyday I like Cat. Jenmanii more and more, I don’t have too many, but will try to get some more.

Third Row: A month or two ago, this same plant of the Brazilian Cattleya Intermedia flowered as ingle flower and I was so proud and impressed by its beauty and its size. Well, this week it decided to be even more generous and sent out four blooms. Slight scent.

Fourth Row: This plant of Brazilian Cattleya Warnerii has nine flowers and two more buds should open this week. Very nice shape even if the pictures is not the best.

Fifth Row: Yes I do have some hybrids, here is Epicattleya Don Herman which I purchased from H&R in Hawaii. They finally have a website. They have very nice hybrids and lots of species too. Not too expensive either.

Things are starting to pick up now. From top to bootom: Top Left: Another nice Cattleya Aclandie from Brazil, these have a very strong aroma. Top Right: Lc. Lulu Hot Pink. Middle Left Some type of Oncidium Hybdrid, probably Odontocidium. Next to it another Cattelya Aclandie in a pair which is not that common. BottoM; Bulnohllum corolliferum is what the label says, the book says its name should be Cirrhopetalum cutissi, but when I read the description of Cutissi, it says the labeklum is bright yellow, which I dont see. Anyway, these flowers are tiny, smallert than a peanut. What you see is the sepals, the rest of the flower is very small in the center. There are thousnads of these, no scent.

Juan Ramon just sent in these beatiful pictures of some of his orchids (together with the spectacular picture I posted in the home page of a bird inside an Araguaney tree). From top left: Cattleya Aclandie Rio Clarox self, one of the best shaped Cat. Aclandie there is, not too large but perfect in shape. From Brazil. Top right: A very nice Cattleya Walkeriana also from Brazil  this is the typical flower of this species. Middle left: Cattleya Trianae, note the flaring on the petals. Middle Right: A Beautiful Oncidium Orthostates. Bottom left: Psychopsis Papilium from Venezuela, previosuly known and Oncidium Papilio. Bottom Right: Rossioglossum Grande from the Andes. Enjoy!

This spectacular Grammatophyllum Scriptum has just finished flowering all five shoots that it grew this time. Each of these growths has between 70 and 80 flowers about one and a half inches in size. The plant is originally from Papua Nueva Gunea, has little scent and I find that it loves the sun. As it has grown I had to move it from the orchid room to its fringes where the sun hits it more and the results are incredibe. The plant has been with me for about seven years and I bought it as a small seedling. This is not the largest of the species. There is an even larger one called Speciosum or Papuuanum which can be taller than peple. I have had one of those for ten years. its huge, outside the orchid room in full sun (too big), but has never flowered. From top to bottom: Top Left: My brother in law standing like a Harvard Botanist next to the plant. He is there simply for scale purposes. Top right: The full plant with its five shoots. Next four pictures concentrate on a single branch showing it closer and closer until you see a single flower. Finally, an interesting picture I took by looking up the long shoot is shown in the bottom. This is simply spectacular.

The queen of Venezuela’s Cattleyas (in my humble opinion) Cattleya Lueddemanniana, has begun its flowering season a little early, but in full force as seen above. These are two plants that flowered this week, each with three floers in each stem. The top one did not have a label, but I think it is wonderfl. It is the first time the plant flowers and these pictures may be premature as the flowers opened only yesterday. Note that they are big flowers, the lip is dark and it has a little suggestion of flaring which can not be seen clearly in the picture. In the bottom is a much lighter variety a cross between Cat. Leuddemanniana Clint Mclade x Raga. The second one I got from Orquideario Cerro Verde. The first one probably came from there too, as Mr. Mantellini definitely has the best variety of Cattleya Lueddemanniana in Venezuela thanks to his patient crossing of the best plants in the Country. He is also a very nice person and a great conversationalist.