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The thread "Our Orchid blooms in May 2012" in Orchids forum

It's Laelia purpurata time!


Cattleya luteola is blooming on schedule


and both my Coelogyne Burfordiense plants are opening good spikes. If you live in my area and like this plant, I am happy to part with one of them. It is a beautiful leafy plant year around and does not need a premium sunny spot to do well.


Domingoa haematochila throws out a pretty bloom


a first bloom on this cute windowsill Catt - this is Slc Bright Circle


Encyclia Grand Bahama starts up


Vanda parviflora is a very small Vanda with cute little blooms


And this Neofinetia falcata Shunkyuden has too many flower parts

Wonderful start to the new month, Ursula, and yes it is Laelie purpurata time as mine opened today as well. Pictures will follow tomorrow. I love the Encyclia Grand Bahama and the Coelogyne Burfordiense. I agree that your Nelfinetia has too many parts to make a good picture, kind of like my D. spectabile. I always want to put it on the ironing board and straighten it out a bit. Cute little blooms on the Domingoa haematochila and the vanda.

Jim

Lovely show, Ursula. Your Enc. Grand Bahama sure looks a lot like Enc. tampensis. Probably the flowers are bigger though?

Thanks.
Elaine, Enc. Grand Bahama is a hybrid of tampensis and plicata. Not sure if it is much larger, I need to see tampensis right next to it.

Ah, I thought that might be the case.

My tampensis flowers are just over 1.25in. or 3.4cm. across. Very delicate.

I was thinking that whoever bred Grand Bahama didn't change the color much so they might have been going for a bigger flower instead?

All my 'chids got a nice rinse with rain water today, straight from the sky! It rained nicely, nearly all day long. So wonderful.

As Ursula said, it's Laelia purpurata time:


Also blooming is Aerides houlletiana:


Bc Little Star is full of blooms and the first two opened today. The evenings will soon smell delightful in the OC.


Jim

I went out to water and discovered a bloomer I had overlooked. This is Epi. Mabel Kanda 'Miyao' X Epi. Cordigerum 'Paradise'.

Jim

Oo, I do love those Brassavolas! They look like the modern art version of orchids.

The Psychopsis alba has produced a second bloom on the spike that was already blooming. I've seen it before but not often.

Jim

Jeez, Jim, how many do you have that you can "overlook" a bloom? I only have 98 (not counting duplicates), and if I get so much as a spike or sheath, I check it twice a day! Nice show!

Oh my, what a show!!! I love it!
That is a very nice purpurata too! Pretty color!
And I love the Aerides!! I have a very small plant of this, which is now dangling over the pond as an experiment. Lots of sun with extra humidity.....
But the Mabel Kanda x really grabs my attention here!!! Is it fragrant?

Ursula, I noticed the difference in lip color between our two purpuratas so I went back and looked at my pics from years ago. This first picture is from this year, the second is from last year and the third is from 2010. Why has the red lip turned to blue?

Jim

Carol, I have around 225 to 230 orchids. Many are hanging up by the roof of the OC and others are jammed onto shelves so it is not too hard to miss a bloom or two. The Mabel Kanda X is one of those up by the roof and I didn't notice the flower until I was deep watering this afternoon. By the way, I didn't notice a fragrance when I took it down to photograph but I'll check it out better tomorrow. I also need to post the Lc George Baldwin X again as it is covered in those lovely light purple flowers. What an incredible orchid it is.

Jim

Jim, you didn't give that Laelia purpurata a swim in the pool, did you? (just kidding)

Maybe the lip color will intensify as the flower matures? Different fertilizer? A bit less light than last year, with the Aluminet on the roof?

Maybe the Laelia is jealous of George Baldwin's beautiful colors?

I think the last idea is the best.

Jim

Not sure why yous changed Jim but theres alot of different colours being produced from L.purp. isnt there, heres a few i have.... . I feel my 2nd last pic is the real purp.? as ive always thought L.purp was a white flower with deep purple lip.

I think I would pick the last photo as the real purpurata. That would be white with some light purple and a dark purple lip. The real question is why did mine morph into something different this year?

Jim

Jim, are you sure it's not the new camera seeing the color differently?

Sure seems like those orchid naming nuts slipped up on Laelia purpurata. I googled it, and the picture gallery had everything from all purple to all white, white and pink, and even a pale yellow with a pink lip, all named Laelia purpurata. Seems very inconsistent, given that the orchid authority is so strict about naming x this and x that.

Point here, maybe it's just an unstable cultivar? They're also calling it Sophronitis. I hate when they do that!

Jim, the picture of L.purpurata in my favorite book has it pale lilac with a reddish purple lip.

Before I comment further on L. purpurata, I would like to devote a post to Lc George Baldwin X C. Trithena. It flowered nicely in November and began flowering again in early May of this year. It currently still has eight fully open blooms and two buds. It is in an eight inch clay pot and seems to be bursting at the seams. It is just one of those special crosses that I would recommend to everyone.

Ursula, can you check to see if this fellow has earned its own name yet?

Jim