Mmm summer. It really feels like summer when I bring the orchids outside for a few weeks while we are on vacation. Well, I can’t bring all the orchids, but it usually amounts to the vandaceous bunch and this year was no exception. Hanging under the eve of the seaside cottage this summer is indeed mostly vandaciaous orchids, including […]
A wonderfully fragrant Phalaenopsis species from Malaysia and Sumatra where it grows at an altitude of about 150 meters. It is a warm growing pendulous epiphyte with nice waxy flowers of light violet hues on a cream base. Some say the fragrance is a mix of bubble gum and cinnamon, but I think it smells more like Lilly of the Valley with a hint of Jasmine […]
The summer is approaching. Two more weeks of work before some needed vacation time. The temperatures have been mercifully low for the season, making the cool vivarium easier to manage. This lovely Lepanthopsis floripecten is one of the lovely ochids in bloom in there at the moment. I love the long lasting flowers, looking like a delicate string of pearls glowing like gold moving […]
This is a small to miniature warm to intermediate epiphyte, and occasional lithophyte, from Western Tropical Africa to Angola and Tanzania where it grows from 750 to 1 950 meters. A beautiful fan shaped species with flowers that look almost like sheer white glass and with a prominent spur. Each short inflorescence carry several (5-20) flowers nestled within the leaves. The flowers measure about 5 mm wide and […]
I got a division of this lovely Neofinetia from a friend in September last year. It bloomed already a month later and now it is time again. I really like this cultivar. It looks just like the regular white Neofinetia falcata, except for the amazing golden yellow color. The flowers open slightly lighter and darken with time. These photographs were taken about one […]
This wonderful Vanda is now blooming again. I bought this as a seedling in 2009 and it first bloomed last September. The very best thing about this orchid is that the flowers last fo such a long time, well over two months. The pendant flowers measure about 2 cm wide presented on a one to three flowered inflorescence. It really got a boost hanging outside […]
I got a small flask of Paphiopedilum bellatulum from Equatorial Plant Co in 2008 and deflasked them in August the same year. I have since traded all the seedling but one plant that I kept for myself and it is now blooming for the very first time, 3 years and 7 months later. I am like a proud momma! You really have to be patience when you raise orchid seedlings, but in this case it was more than […]
It would seem I have made the same journey that many people make when they build vivariums… starting off with something looking very close to nature, and eventually ending up with something a little more practical. Originally I aimed to recreate a little slice of the cloud forest in my inner city apartment and the result turned out great! Vivarium was fully operational in the beginning of May 2010. Everything was thriving and I was finally […]
Neofinetia falcata was the only species in this very small genus until 1996 when Neofinetia richardsiana was added, followed by N. xichangensis in 2004. The two new discoveries are limited to specific regions within China. Neofinetia falcata has a slightly broader distribution area, from China to Temperate East Asia, and it is also the one of the three that has found its way into cultivation. Even though we are […]
Masdevallia ayabacana, or Regalia ayabacana according to Luer, is from the impressive section Durae which hold impressive Masdevallia relatives such as princeps for example. The section (or genus if you want) is characterized by large thick leaves and large, fleshy, long-lasting flowers with thick callous petals and most with extremely long sepaline tails. The sepals are also connate, meaning the two lower sepals are fused together. The flowers of Masdevallia ayabacana are customarily […]
