I have seen magnificent orchids growing in the wild and photographs of hundreds more via AOS. Oh they get fertilizer, just very low dosages. No insecticides or fungicides for sure.

I have seen both, magnificent and "chewed up, spit out" Orchids in the wild.
Walking through the jungle in Brazil in August 1992 getting drenched by a deluge, we were told that it rains every day during dry season and everyday all day during the wet season.
It rained everyday in Ecuador in July!
Even during really dry conditions there is considerable dew in the morning!
Right now - all my Orchids are still in the greenhouse, it is simply too chilly at night this year around here to get them outside. But if the sun comes out and the heat still kicks in on some nights, everything dries up so fast under that glass ceiling and the Cattleyas get actually somewhat desiccated if I don't flood everything daily!!
It's all in the individual environment!
I think my cool growers will go out in the next few days.

You are about a month behind me, Ursula, at least in getting your cool-growers outside. The greenhouse that gets the majority of sun during the afternoon has now been getting really hot. When the ambient temperature is 85F, the greenhouse temperature is 110F. The "Orchid" greenhouse gets more mid to late afternoon shading, so it is only getting 95F so far. Other than some staghorn seedlings, a couple of large bowls of succulents, and vegetable seed-starting, nothing is in either greenhouse.

My Blc Hawaiian Green Valley x Rhyncholaelia digbyana 'Laura' opened a nice bloom today, and it looks like there is a second bloom trying to emerge from this sheath.
Despite the big name, it looks like a regular digbyana to me, except perhaps for the second bloom.
Outside in afternoon sun

and in the greenhouse

I like most of the digbyana orchid varieties, Ursula. I like this one of yours.

Beautuful! I have two Digbyanas , but neither has bloomed yet.

My regular digbyana blooms in Summer, when it does....
This hybrid is blooming on schedule, it seems to settle on Spring. In my hands this one blooms easier than the digbyana species.

I have one also, but just got it in February so I guess I can't expect much just yet. I just love those big, fringe-y flowers.

I'll cross my fingers for this summer...if and when summer gets here. We're doing our May grey/June gloom season now high Temps have been around 70 for weeks now.

I love that one, Ursula. No blooms on mine yet.

Jim

That is so cool, Ursula
Carol, where do you keep yours. In the shed?

Thanks all!
Now I hope my regular digbyana says peep....

Ted, if you mean the orchid shack, yes. I really don't have many options.

Couple of repeats here, and new buds on my Thunderstorm orchid - Den crumenatum - which I've got to say is the bloomingest little thing! We did have a great storm a week ago, and it usually doesn't take quite this long to put out buds. There must be 100 or so, ready to pop tomorrow. I was trying out my wide-angle lens on my cell phone so excuse the slightly weird pictures here.



Maybe Yellow Bird got in the way of the camera, what a coincidence! Color is softening to orange already.


Here's my new Appleblossom with its second spike opening a nicely colored flower, through the fisheye lens, then with the wide-angle. (I think the fisheye is not for taking flower pictures . . )

Oh, a very pink Appleblossom! The fish eye lens pic is kinda interesting!
The Den crumenatum is fun!!
How do you like those clamp-on lenses in general? My granddaughters borrowed my set to take crystal pictures for their science fair.

So far they're fine for what they do - I use the macro one the most, for seeds and tiny bugs and such but the wide angle is going to be good for general garden pictures and groups of people, I think.

not bad at all!

Elaine, that is a really pretty Appleblossom. The flowers on my Appleblossom 'Woodlands' opened a pale pink/lavender and turned a nice yellow as it aged. I hope you will share pics as these flowers mature. I have a better picture on my phone but it is not speaking to the laptop this week. There is always such drama with the devices in this house.

Love the colors on yours, too Alice. The mature flowers on my plant are what I remember from my original Appleblossom but I don't recall them opening that rich, darker color you can see on the two immature flowers.

I have a shower of sweet little white flowers on the Thunderstorm orchid today, but as of this evening, they're already fading. Hot, dry day did them in, I guess. They lasted about 3 days in the cool of winter. Might try to move it into the shade of the oak tree next time it blooms, see if that preserves the blooms.