Thursday, April 28, 2016

Dendrobium Love Memory "Fizz" close up of a single flower


Dendrobium trantuanii Perner & Dang 2003


I brought this orchid about a year and a half ago.  Compared with my other Dendrobium this plant has been a slow, deliberate grower.  The cane that produced this flower is small, a bit less than six inches long.  The flower has a nice color, I suspect this is due to the fact that the plant get full sun for several hours a day.

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Ancistrochilus rothschildianus O'Brien 1907


I saw this plant at the 2016 Puerto Rico Orchid society show at the Jardin Botanico de Rio Piedras.  I have cultivated this plant in the past and I found it easy to grow and bloom in the central part of Puerto Rico at an altitude of 1000 feet over sea level.  It needed frequent fertilization to produce the husky pseudobulbs that bloom.  After the pseudobulbs matured I stopped fertilizing it.  I gave it a rest period during the local dry season.  Became a mass of bulbs but then I lost it to rot during a time when it rained daily for weeks.

Renanthera Akihito (Renanthera Red Feathers x Renanthera storiei)



This orchid was shown in the 2016 Puerto Rico orchid society show in the Jardin Botanico de Rio Piedras.

Mormodes revolutum Rolfe 1909


This plant was shown in the 2016 Puerto Rico Orchid society show.

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Phalaenopsis Ks Ever Green


This orchid was shown in the 2016 Puerto Rico orchid society show in the Jardin Botanico de Rio Piedras.

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.

Maxillaria sanguinea Rolfe 1895



I saw this orchid at the 2016 show of the Puerto Rico Orchid society.  This plant produced a clump of many growths all growing close together.   It is commonly seen and shows and occasionally one sees a specimen plant.  The flowers are smaller than those of its relative Maxillaria tenuifolia.

Monday, April 25, 2016

Grammatoheadia Boynton Leopard, my plant that has the largest flowers and inflorescences






When I brought this plant I decided to buy three plants because I wanted the see the variation of the flowers. One plant, the one on this photos, produces large inflorescences with deeply colored flowers.   Another produces smaller flowers on shorter inflorescences, the last one bloomed and then deteriorated and almost died.  All are cultivated the same way and were grown on the same spot.

Protomelas sp. "Steveni Taiwan"




Vi este pez en la exhibicion de peces y peceras de abril 23 al 24 de 2016 de la asociacion de acuaristas de Aguadilla.

Metriaclima sp. "elongatus chewere", un ciclido africano



Lo vi en la exhibición de peceras y peces de la Asociación de Acuaristas de Aguadilla de abril 23 y 24 de 2016.  Habian cinco en la pecera, este era el de color mas brillante.

Sunday, April 24, 2016

Dendrobium Love Memory 'Fizz' blooming in April in Puerto Rico


A well bloomed plant of this nobile hybrid.   It was brought to the April 10 meeting of the AOS judges in the city of Ponce, Puerto RIco.  In the last few years, large numbers of these Dendrobium hybrids have been sold in local stores.  Most succumb to neglect, unsuitable care or the usual pests that infest gardens everywhere.  But it seems a few people are being reblooming these plants successfully.  None of my plants bloom like these in my garden, what they do is produce a few large flowers near the top of the cane.  But the flowers are so delightful, I don't mind.

Paphiopedilum (Pinocchio "In Charm x In Charm White 'Cooperation)




This plant was brought to the April 10 meeting of the AOS judges on the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico.

Grammatophyllum (elegans x scriptum 'hieroglyphica')




There are a number of Grammatophyllum elegans hybrids in the market.  Most differ from each other only on minor details.   I like them all.   

Dendrobium smilliae F. Muell. 1867




I brought this plant last year.  This is its first blooming.  It grows well under my local climatic conditions and it has not presented any unusual challenges.  I lost plants of this species that I tried to grow previously because it doesn't do well in media that stays wet too long.  In my garden it prefers relatively coarse bark with plenty of air spaces between the bark pieces.  Grows best with frequent, weekly, fertilization when it is producing its canes.  It receives no fertilizer when it is not growing.

Saturday, April 23, 2016

Paphiopedilum Genevieve Booth (Mount Toro x rothschildianum)





I brought this plant as a seedling some years ago.  It has grown well in my climatic conditions and pest doesn't bother it.  This is its first blooming, 

Friday, April 22, 2016

Maxillaria tenuifolia Lindley 1837, a specimen plant



This large plant was brought to the April 10 meeting of the AOS judges in Ponce, Puerto Rico.  This plant is common in local orchid collections.  Specimen plants are not rare.  Once a saw, in the garden of a very old lady that used to sell orchids, a plant of this species that was several feet across.

Bulbophyllum Worayuth White Fang (lepidum x medusae)




This plant was brought to the April 10, 2016 meeting of the AOS judges in Ponce, Puerto Rico.  The plant was large and had an awkward shape that made taking photos of the flowers difficult.  Unfortunately all the inflorescences were slightly damaged.

Paphiopedilum Shin-Yi's Pride (Michael Koopowitz x rothschildianum)



I saw this plant at the April 10, 2016 meeting of the AOS judges in Ponce, Puerto Rico.  It was peculiar that this plant was not planted in a pot but in a large shallow dish in which three other Paphiopedilum plants were also planted.

Epicattleya Veitchii, a very old hybrid, was registered in 1890, this is a pink form, it is a cross of Epidendrum radicans and Cattleya coccinea



This plant was for sale in the 2016 Puerto Rico Orchid society show.  It is a very old hybrid, registered in 1890.  This is a different plant from the red flowered type.

Blc. Haw Yuan Rose 'NN'



This plant was brought to the April 10 meeting of the AOS judges in Ponce, Puerto Rico.  The color and shape were magnificent.

Dendrobium Pauwela Mango (Alice Noda x Brown Sugar)



This orchid was shown at the 2016 Puerto Rico Orchid Society show in the Jardin Botanico de Rio Piedras.  The flowers have a lovely color and have an interesting curly shape, the only thing I don't like is that they are a bit crowded.

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Sobralia callosa, visited by a local carpenter bee Xylocopa mordax




Because I live in the middle of a forest, when my orchid bloom they are sometimes visited by local birds and insects in search of nectar or pollen.  It is rare that I have the opportunity to take a photo of these visits.  The bee dislodged the pollen from the flowers but didn't take it.  The capenter bees, such as the one in the photo are important pollinators in the forest.