Orchid blog
This blog is dormant at the moment, but it is still getting a lot of visitis so I will keep it up for you guys as a resource. My future adventures will be published on my new blog, hope to see you there!
My focus… if pressed to name favorites it would have to be orchids of the Pleurothallid Alliance. But a Paphiopedilum was the first orchid I ever fell in love with so slipper orchids will always be close to my heart, and while we are on the subject I might as well disclose a love affair with Neofinetia as well.
Restrepia muscifera
This is the first time this flashy little Restrepia is blooming for me and I have really been looking forward to it. The colors and patterns of the large fused lateral sepals, the defining character of Restrepia, can be quite stunning. Restrepia muscifera is one of the most incredible of them all. I love the distinct purple dots contrasting against the bright yellow and white - even the bud is beautiful. The leaves are amazingly colored as [...]
Time to stop and smell the roseola
I wrote about this lovely little Masdevallia roseola back in May, and I thought the bloom it was producing then was quite impressive. Oh, and it really was, but after only a brief rest late in the summer it is back at it again with double the effort. This has turned into quite the little specimen and I just adore it! The definition of a specimen plant is "a plant that can serve as a focal point all by [...]
A lovely hairy trumpet with a tricky name
Trichosalpinx (trick-oh-SAL-pinks), mmm... say that five times fast. Trichosalpinx is a genus of about 100 tropical American species closely related to Pleurothallis. What differentiates the genus is the ringed sheaths on their stems, you can see these on the second and third photos below. The generic name actually means "trumpet with hairs," and although I am not that fond of generic names they can be rather descriptive. At least dear husband thinks it sexy with all this [...]
Ascocentrum miniatum ‘Kai Gold’
This impressive little orchid practically lights up the whole room, despite its diminutive size. 'Kai Gold' is the clone name of my particular Ascocentrum miniatum and it definitely lives up to the name with its intense cluster of brilliant orange flowers and a bright orange spur. Ascocentrum miniatum is, like the name implies, a miniature from the humid forests of Southeastern Asia where it grows at elevations of 0 to 1200 meters. It is a monopodial plant [...]
Masdevallia impostor
I got this orchid from Ecuagenera at the show in Gothenburg about a month ago. It is such an impressive species and I have been wanting one for a long time. It came with two old inflorecenses and they came to life again producing new buds as soon as I got it home. The inflorecense measure about 45 cm long and keep growing as it produces several single flowers in succession. The flowers are quite narrow [...]
The great root containment project
I have been working on solving a problem, a rather nice problem I suppose... but a problem never the less. All the mounted orchids in the cool vivarium are doing really well and are growing like crazy. They are also putting out roots like crazy. A lot of them have grown straight through the EpiWeb mounts and begun to attach to the back wall. This is a wonderful sign of health of course, but I really [...]