Roots are not judged.

Whew!!

Ken, your flowers are very, very far from pedestrian.

Thank you, Alice and Ursula. Bill might not agree. I just grow them and hope they'll bloom. My problem (and I have lots of problems ) is that I generally don't let my orchids get to "specimen" size. The pots get too large and the pots and plants take up too much space. I regularly divide mine when they overfill an 8-10" clay pot. I imagine my flowers would be more presentable if the plants were larger.

I do to a certain extent!
My first love is still Standard sized Cattleyas. That has not changed in over 45 years.
But in my crowded greenhouse, if plant A had wide open, beautifully displayed flowers, it stayed in my collection but if plant B has flowers twisted or contorted or upside down and those flowers never got better, I got rid of the plant! I needed the space for something that did produce nicer flowers.
I never threw any out. They were put aside and went to the orchid club meeting. I would place them on the raffle table no matter what genera.
I also gave them to new members! Can you imagine the look on a new members face who goes home from their first meeting with an orchid!!! The look was priceless. That's how we cultivated new members.
Giving of my time, and my orchid knowledge, rules my world now, now that the kids are grown and I'm retired. When I was working and raising kids, you kind of lose your focus, lose your morale compass. By giving advice, by helping people, by gifting orchids, I am trying to "build back some credit with Saint Peter!!!" He is the gatekeeper.

I've always been drawn to the large, floofy, and fragrant flowers of the Cattleya Alliance. I go back to the days of orchid corsages being given to our moms, our sweethearts, and then to our wives. I guess those days are gone, but seeing these blooms brings back sweet memories, memories that in my opinion harkened back to a better time.

drdawg said:I've always been drawn to the large, floofy, and fragrant flowers of the Cattleya Alliance. I go back to the days of orchid corsages being given to our moms, our sweethearts, and then to our wives. I guess those days are gone, but seeing these blooms brings back sweet memories, memories that in my opinion harkened back to a better time.

{sigh} Same memories here too As a Child I'd give my Mom a Cymbidium corsage _every Mother's Day... because I couldn't afford a Big Cattleya corsage. By the time I was a teenager... I had my own Greenhouse & a huge collection of Orchids...

If we could turn back time.....

Yes, Glenn, if only we could........

Oh I don't know about that.
I might want to stay like I am right now and go for twenty extra years. That might not be so bad. As long as nothing breaks down in those extra years.

Way back I couldn't play golf like I do now with my son. I was working, he was in school, etc. seeing the other son and his wife and having them barbecue and take me out to eat isn't too bad either!
You know go from 72, add twenty years without numbers and then hit 73, 74 and so on might be cool!

I am thrilled with the scientific and technological advances but I do miss the slower lifestyle when we could savor the little things. I remember big floofy catt corsages for Easter, Mother's Day and, of course, for proms. They never held up well at the proms because, in the "olden days" people danced together and they often got squished.

I wore mine on my wrist

I dug through my photos, came across some pictures from the flowering former!! noid Dendrobium, one even shows a pic of the tag!
So, checking my notes, I bought a Den Roy Tokunaga in bud in April 2018 at Silva Orchids at an open house. I took pictures of the plant in bloom on May 30. 2018. Haven't found any pics from 2019 and 2020, I don't think it bloomed then.


Mystery solved! Bill, you nailed it when you said "Den. Roy Tokunaga is like that."
I suppose, the bloom count needs to be improved!

It is a great hybrid to grow that's for sure.
Fire Wings and Hawaiian Spectacular are also very nice. There are others but those three show a lot of great features and are reliable bloomers and great growers.

@Samlav,
Nice to see you here, and I hope you had a great birthday!
As an orchid novice, I can add one bit of advice to Elaine's excellent post. Most of those store pots have no drain holes. I had one orchid rot due to standing water in the pot. I have learned to either repot them in something that drains, or simply pour off the excess water after each thorough soaking.

I think my Den. Hawaii Spectacular has 8 spikes on it this time around...usually it's been a stingy bloomer. I hope they are open for the annual Tampa Bay Orchid Society Show next month.
Great detective work Ursula, now you don't have to go look for a tag in the cage ( the squirrels have probably made off with it by now anyway!)

If some graduate student needs an idea for a thesis they should research why squirrels love to make off with plant tags so much.

So true, Alice. My squirrels even sneak into the cage and the tags disappear. I found the tear in the screening where they're currently getting in and out, finally. Need to have the screen doctor come and replace a few more panels pretty soon!