Here on the left coast when I hear bright light I will give the plant a position that it gets full morning light but only shade in the afternoon. We live in the foothills and our the back of the house faces west unobstructed. So in the afternoon, the west, north and south all get direct sun. Now the most cacti and succulents love it. We have a large Magnolia tree and a large double Hibiscus around it, so we do have some shady areas. Other than that the sun fries most orchids that I've tried that say bright to full sun

Nice, Jim. Congratulations

I know you are not particularly into the cattleya alliance orchids, but I have a first-time bloomer that begin to open up yesterday and the two blooms are fully open today. I don't know where it came from and there is no label on it. It is a compact grower, leaves/canes 8-12" and the flowers are 3-4" in diameter. There is no fragrance yet. The petals and sepals are maroon/mahogany, the back of the throat is bright yellow and the front 2/3 lip is crimson, and the anther is bright yellow. The petals and sepals glisten when lighted. Any ideas from anyone? Ken

day one, cattleya alliance NOID
day two

Ted, I just went through all of my orchid pictures and I have nothing like our NOID,

Jim

OK, I could find nothing either. It will just have to stay a NOID. Thanks for looking, Jim. Ken

I am just a bit reminded of Lc Loog Tones. I used to have the 'African Beauty', which is somewhat similar to what you are showing, but I don't remember the yellow and this one is fairly tall. But perhaps one can look at the parentage and look for a different grex in that direction?

Thanks, Ursula. That gives me something to follow-up on. Ken

Sarcoglottis sceptrodes starts up again and this one always delights me, the blooms are downright silly! But, the leaves are pretty.


And Stelis ciliaris is producing a whole bunch of these cute dangling spikes right now. The individual blooms are tiny.
It didn't look that happy this Winter and kept dropping leaves. I moved it into a sunnier spot and the leaf-dropping stopped. Hopefully that was it.

I see the hand puppet folks are back in town again and yes, mine is spiking as well. Is the Stelis ciliaris related to the gongoras?

Jim

You're right, Ursula. If that is fully opened silly is a good word Love the Stelis ciliaris. I like some of the small ones. I have Fendler's Stelis and hoping it will bloom this year.

Yup, those are fully open! Quack, quack!

I do like Stelis, they always have some cute blooms, at least the ones I had so far.
Jim, Stelis are Pleurothallids and I would stick Gongoras into the Stanhopea alliance. Now I really love Gongoras..... Ahh I think I see what you are seeing - the pendulous chains.

Hear is a shot of Findlers Stellis from last summer

So dainty! Nice!

My Sarcoglottis sceptrodes is almost open too! Love that it opens everywhere at the same time. Must be a light thing rather than temps!

Kathy (Crazy Orchid Lady) thinks my NOID is one of the Blc. Dennis Kone hybrids. I think she is right, just don't know the specific hybrid. Ken

I think Kathy nailed it! I have the clone 'Lakeview'....didn't even think about that one. Btw that one should have a really strong scent too.

And regarding the timing of the Sarcoglottis - regarding light.

I don't think mine is the 'Lakeview'. My petal and sepals appears much more maroon/mahogany, rather than red. After three days there is only the faintest of fragrance. Ken

A question for those of you that are more computer savey than me. I bought this plant at a show, from a vendor (not a grower), and when I asked for the name she pulled out her list and told me it was Zygo. psycho. According to RHS there is a Zygo. psychotic, but I haven't been able to find any pics, or more info. It looks very much like Jim's Bollopetalum. Anyone have a clue? The minor differences in color could very well be camera or cultural .
Jims appears to have a bit less green on the petals and be more red in the throat.

I'll post my Bolopetalum and a Zygo here so we can compare.

Jim

It looks more like the Bolo than the Zygo to me.

Jim

Jim, I think you got your Zygo. and Bollo. pictures mixed up. What's worse is that I used the name from your old post. (march 2) I know mine is a Zygo. I'm just not sure if it is psychotic. The Bollea X is beautiful, by the way!