Dendrobium discolor Lindley 1841, 'Karlo Javy' AM/AOS, this plant has a particularly nice color. It was awarded last March in Puerto Rico

Dendrobium discolor Lindley 1841, a beautifully colored clone

This orchid was shown on the 2016 Puerto Rico orchid society show in the Jardin Botanico de Rio Piedras.  I loved the delightful color of this orchid.  I find the very curly whimsical shape of this clone particularly nice.

Ludisia discolor [Ker-Gawl.] A. Rich. 1825, a specimen plant

I saw this plant of Ludisia discolor in 2007 at a meeting of the Mayaguez Orchid Society.  It was a beautiful plant with many growing points.  This orchid is very easy to grow if you give it the humidity it needs.  My own plant grows very well with the same care I give my houseplants.  The flowers are a nice bonus.

Dendrobium MacPerson, the first of my plants to have flowers in 2015

Dendrobium Alex MacPherson is the hybrid of Dendrobium Salak and Dendrobium helix.  Den. Salak is a hybrid of Den. stratiotes and Den. discolor.   In this particular plant the strength of the heritage of the Den. helix parent can be noted in the color of the flower.  The flowers of this hybrid resemble mainly the flowers of the Den. helix parent, although they are smaller and more numerous in the inflorescence than the flowers of my plant of Den. helix.

In this particular plant the flowers are crowded in the inflorescence which makes it difficult to take good photos of individual flowers.  I cut some flowers from the inflorescence so I could show the variation on petal orientation between different flowers.  There is also some very slight variation of color between individual flowers.

A few years back I brought a number of plants of this species because they were labeled Den. helix.  As they bloom during the year I document the differences between the different clones.  In this one the pink is confined to the sepals while the petals are orange.  Some flowers show a bit of orange color on the sepals.  

Dendrobium Burana Sunshine x Dendrobium discolor

The influence of Dendrobium discolor is unmistakable in this hybrid.  Unlike Den. discolor, this plant blooms in a relatively small plant.  I love the color and the ease of culture of this orchid.  I grow it outside, under saran shade cloth.  The local climate is hot, not warm, and during the dry season the plants experience much drier conditions than normal.  However this plant takes it all in stride and grows well without any special care.  It is in a terracota pot with very clean and hard bark.  It has been my experience that these orchids resent mightly any kind of media that stays soggy for a long time, this usually results in the loss of roots.

Ludisia discolor [Ker-Gawl.] A. Rich. 1825, a jewel orchid that is very easy to grow in Puerto Rico

Last year a friend gave me a cutting of this jewel orchid.  The initial piece spent a year growing comparatively slowly and producing offshoots.  During this year dry season the plant hardly grew.  But when the rainy season arrived this plant really went into overdrive.  It produced bigger stems with larger leaves than ever before.  It thrived in the oppressive humidity, constant rain and warm temperatures of the wet season.  Right now we are near the peak of the local rainy season and the plant is at its best.  Judging from its vigorous growth in the last few months it is possible that in less than a year it will outgrow its pot.