Gift orchid: Restrepia antennifera

This is the plant that Sasha gave me to thank me for the safe delivery of the four plants I brought back for him from Toronto. There was an open bloom when he gave me the plant, and four more flowers have opened since then. There are currently no buds on the plant. I need to make sure it is happy! Here is the information about Restrepia antennifera from Jay's Orchid Species Encyclopedia and here is a link to a nicer picture than mine that was posted on Flickr! In fact all of the photos in this slideshow are gorgeous.

Mystery orchid from AOS site

Does anybody know what type of orchid this is? It's one of the beautiful pictures that the American Orchid Society uses on their web site. This flower is great - I love the "lips" especially!

One of the many helpful sections on the AOS web site is called Monthly Checklist. You can find it under Orchid Information and can read about a number of genera and tips for caring for them for September / October. If you have any strange spots or discolouration appearing on the leaves of your orchids, take a look at the Orchid Doctor section, also under Orchid Information.

Orchid conservation

BellaOnline's Orchid Editor Susan Taylor recently posted an article about orchid conservation entitled Orchid Conservation Primer. She urges orchid hobbyists to "purchase species plants from reputable dealers who guarantee that their plants are propagated from seed or tissue propagated". She also mentions that "black market sellers of native terrestrial orchid plants" have auctioned illegal plants on eBay.

Everything you ever wanted to know about Gongora

I was just doing a bit of research on Gongora culture to make sure my Gongora is getting everything it needs. It seems to be happy for now, it has two new flower shoots, one of which has two fairly big blossoms that are about to open in the next week, hopefully. There is another tiny flower spike with about 5 very tiny buds on it right now, which also offer hope of renewed flowering following the cross-country flower drop. Anyways, I just stumbled across this detailed reference sheet on the Gongora genus and decided to post it. It includes a very detailed Gongora bibliography.

Here is a lovely picture (from the Jerusalem Botanical Garden) of what my Gongora galeata does *not* look like!

Plants brought back from Toronto

Here is the list of plants we ended up bringing back!

Brassada Orange Delight Starbek Orange HCC/AOS
Cattleya forbesii
Dendrobium wellessii
Dracula vampira
Epidendrum calanthum
Encyclia alata
Gongora galeata
Miltassia Royal Robe Jerry's Pick HCO/AOS
Miltoniopsis Tristar Knight
Neofinetia falcata
Paphiopedilum niveum x 2
Phragmipedium longifolium
Psycopsis papillio
Pleurothallis phallangifera
Sedirea japonica x 2
Vanilla planifolia

That makes 18 plants, three of which were in bloom and two in spike with bud(s). The phalaenopsis bellina was not in stock, nor was the Phragmipedium sedenii.

My mom's orchid

Here is a picture of the orchid I brought back for my mom, to thank her for watching our dog while we were away. It's a Miltoniopsis Tristar Knight, and it was in spike when we bought it. On Friday morning all four flowers opened! Here is a detailed culture sheet for Miltoniopsis.

My little Sedirea japonica

This is the one plant that I got from Flora Peculia in Toronto. It seems a bit small for NBS, but oh well. It's leaf span is just under 4 inches. Hopefully with love and care it will grow quickly! This is also one of the plants I was very excited about. Here are some pictures of Sedirea japonica in bloom, as well as culture information. One interesting tidbit is that Sedirea are closely related to Aerides, and in fact the name Sedirea is the reverse of Aerides!

Meet Dracula vampira!

I'm still working on listing the plants I brought back from Toronto. However, one that I am really excited about is the Dracula vampira that I got at Orchids in our Tropics. It has a spike on it too (see bottom of plant)! I hope I am able to give it the right conditions to flower. It's currently in my bathroom and seems to be doing fine, despite the shock of leaving a lovely greenhouse and travelling by air across the country.

Meet Gongora galeata!

Although I had been interested in getting a Gongora, I was under the impression that they were quite large. However, I fell in love with this plant that was in bloom at the greenhouse, and decided to bring it back with me. By the time we arrived home, most of the flowers were finished blooming, and today they are all gone. There is, however, a spike of hope with two buds on it, but they are still very small. It is also in my bathroom. Not sure if it will stay there because I'm sure it needs more light than the Dracula, but it is the most humid place in the house, so it's there for now. Here's a close-up of the flower, which does smell apricot-y!