Another fabulous purple beauty, Ursula. The Neos are just sweet, too. Wish we could smell them!

This is the Vanda 'Sunlight Orange' and one of my Blc. Greenwich 'Elmhurst' AM/AOS. The 'Elmhurst' is my most dependable bloomer and blooms at least twice a year, sometimes three times. It is very fragrant. The Vanda bloomed this June and the old stem is still there, so I don't know what's going on with this plant. It has never bloomed twice a year before.


The Vanda a few days ago. Today

Both are very nice, Ken!!

Thanks Elaine and Melanie!

Thank you Ursula. The 'Elmhurst' along with 'Emerald Isle' are my oldest orchids, a decade old. I have divided them numerous times but have let the 'Emerald Isle' get to specimen size again. I need to divide her after this blooming but I would love to get her back to the size of four years ago when she had 34 flowers. I don't know if I will or not though. She is getting awfully heavy.

Wow, Ken that Vanda really did pop open in a rush didn't it! Beautiful color.

The Elmhurst is very elegant, too.

Y'all's blooms put mine to shame! I'm hoping that with the new GH, I'll get better conditions. Here is Stanhopea embreei fully open this morning.

And just for kicks, the lone Cattleya with the missing tag. I have gone through my tags, my journal, my photo inventory, and my database. After racking my brain, I can only think that this must be Rth. Orquidacea's Little Fortune 'Dancing Girl'. I picked it up at Whole Foods years ago and I must have pulled the tag out to research the correct name as the clonal was not in 'quotes'. I guess I never put it back in the bag and somehow my tag fell off in the transition from mount to basket. I'll know when it blooms for sure.

Trudged the forest and the heaths today looking for what orchids are flowering. Large Tongue Orchid is starting Cryptostylis subulata. Wonderfully, I found some extensive patches of Helmet Orchids Corybas spp. I won't know which until they flower. These are terrestrial with a single leaf about 1' across.

Glen, how exciting!! It can't be easy to spot something like that, and so tiny too!
Hopefully you will catch them in bloom one of these days for us! They are such interesting Orchids

Melissa, I love the Stanhopea embreei! Beautiful crazy flying birds/insects.
Regarding your missing tag/Cattleya - Isn't it amazing how one can pick up some really beautiful plants at certain supermarkets nowadays?

I just came across this beautiful post
The thread "Another Orchid today." in Wildflowers forum

Ursula said:Glen, how exciting!! It can't be easy to spot something like that, and so tiny too!
Hopefully you will catch them in bloom one of these days for us! They are such interesting Orchids

Melissa, I love the Stanhopea embreei! Beautiful crazy flying birds/insects.
Regarding your missing tag/Cattleya - Isn't it amazing how one can pick up some really beautiful plants at certain supermarkets nowadays?

I agree. I don't get to see "in situ" orchids much.

Ursula, yes until recently we could still get decent tagged plants at Whole Foods and Lowes (Better Gro). Now unfortunately they are more difficult to find as the injected dye Phals are more popular. Why anyone would want one of those is beyond me. Orchids already have such beautiful colors without the need for dyes. In fact, my first ever awarded orchid was a Better Gro baggie from Lowes for $7.

Mau. Queen Adelia 'Kilaani' HCC/AOS (now Louiscappeara). It was one of the orchids that caught the scale from overwintering a friend's orchid in the shade house. It took a hard beating and is just now bouncing back this year. I'm hopeful that I can save it as I wanted to grow it into a specimen plant. Original award photo and this year's bloom.

The Stanhopeas are just magnificent, Melissa. I really like the pretty Queen Adelia above, too.

Six flowers are now open on my tiny native Epi. magnoliae, but boy, is it ever hard to get a good picture of those tiny flowers. Will try later with the flash. I really need a better macro lens.

Very cute, Elaine! I can see the blooms fine.

Good looking Queen Adelia!! Btw, I find that certain Encyclias/their hybrids can be Scale magnets!
Trader Joe's Orchids look pretty good....They don't seem to be in the blue Phal business, as seen at other places.
Talking about Scale - I am experimenting with Bayer's Rose and FLower Care pellets on a few of my Orchids now too, finding the stuff great for growing out clean C&S for a couple of years now.
And, here is my Caulocattleya Judy Congdon. I have to dig out some pictures from its Winter blooming, I don't quite remember it like that.

And Neofinetia falcata Suikaden. If you look closely, you might see some greenish tips on those blooms.

I love the Bayer formula. I'll have to check out the pellets.

MJ, love your Trichoglottis Philippines. I'm going to look for one of those.

Ursula, I miss my Sansai Blue. It was my first Vanda and bloomed twice a year for me. Those were the days. The Caulocattleya Judy Congdon is another beauty.

Melissa, I don't see anyone putting your orchids to shame. You are posting some very nice flowers here. The Stanhopea is just wonderful. Also, I looked up your Queen Adelia and found it to now be called Lou. Queen Adelia just as you thought. I've never heard of that genera before. Pretty flower.

Glen, thanks for showing those Australian terrestrials. Quite a treat for us over here.

Ken, very nice color on your 'Sunlight Orange' Vanda. Also nice Rlc. Greenwich.

Elaine, where did you find that tiny Epi. magnolia? That's one of the smallest flowers I've seen.

Rainy day here with some serious downpours. I wish I could send some of this to Ted and Carol. By the way, what happened to Ted? Also Bree??

Now for an update on the OC plants. Mostly just new spikes on previous bloomers but nice nonetheless.

Look at the difference between the old and new flowers on Stlma. Kelly 'Lea'.


New spike on Enc. atropene, var. alba 'Jim' X Bepi. Bradly's Judy 'Spots'


Chz. Haleahi Sunbow 'Bow Wow' X Pot. Haleahi Jewels 'Ruby Tangerine' has a new spike.


Switching to the Oncidium Alliance, Aliceara Sunday Best X Rst. bictoniense has put on new flowers.


The second of my two Brassolaelia Memoria Bernice Foster orchids has taken up where the first left off.


Epi. Pacific Rivalry just keeps right on blooming.


Jim

Wow, fantastic show, Jim. Can't pick a favorite, they're all gorgeous. I got the little Epi. magnoliae from Mj. She has acreage in DeLand with lots of oak trees and says she finds them on the ground all the time. She and I trade plants from time to time.

Hey, the first time we went shopping in Apopka, (Feb. 2012 ?) I'm pretty sure you bought another Sansai Blue, didn't you? I recall that I was hesitating over those huge racks of Vandas, and you were saying it was one of your favorites, and you'd lost one recently.

I may have 'fixed' my flower thrips problem, I hope. Big NOID catt has one more spike getting ready to open, and the last two spikes were pretty much ruined.

You may be right, Elaine, I'll have to go out there and read Vanda tags.

Jim

Jim, I'm really missing Ted and Bree too! I'm feeling like a real outsider here. Maybe this should be called the East Coast orchid forum.
Maybe "global warming" or whatever, nothing much going on here worth posting. Got a few whimpy blooms, but lost a bunch too. Just spent a bunch getting windows installed on the orchid shack, and have an extra show coming up this month, but ....

Bree's probably outside growing her beautiful irises, (wasn't it?) and enjoying 'winter' down under.

Sure hope Ted is ok, and just too busy to check in.

We do have more rain than California over on this side of the continent, at least this year. I mean, even in Utah where my kids are they've had more rain than you. It's a miracle you can grow orchids at all, but I'm sure your new windows will help you keep the humidity up, Carol. Show us pictures - in the 'growing area' thread - when it's all done?

Well, I can tell you that no one here views you as an outsider, Carol. You've been one of us for years. Besides, we have Glen from Australia and Melissa from Memphis who have joined us. Also, Melanie, Elaine and I are from the west coast of Florida. I remember Todd from Canada was here when I started. And where is Ken? I'm sad that Kathy moved on and of course, Laurel. Memories

Jim

What is that talk about outsider??? not in my book!!
Yes, sometimes we look at older threads and wonder where these nice posters are! Hopefully they are fine, but I miss them too.

Jim, I seem to rembember that you picked up recently a very nice Trichoglottis philippinensis var brachiata?
A very beautiful Show here!! Every single one is nice in its own right.