Prostechea cochleataAh, drum roll please! It is time for this years’ Prostechea cochleata flowering. The first bud just opened and there is one more not far behind, plus another set on deck. This particular orchid usually has a few flowers open at once, and when one set is done a new set is ready to open, which makes for very long flowering periods. Last year, this one bloomed for 8 months straight. It is a lovely species, very easy to grow I think. I grow mine intermediate on the windowsill in semi-hydro culture (volcanic rocks).

The common name for it is the clamshell or cockle shell orchid (or octopus orchid as we call in it Sweden). But for some reason this orchid makes me think of chocolate… I do not know why. Clamshell chocolate anyone?