A walk through the greenhouse

After seeing all of your fabulous flowers doing their things I went into my greenhouse that is more of a cooling house these days as weather is topping 100 degrees every day now. Two swamp coolers, a wet pad, and an air conditioner along with mist and I'm keeping it cool, but our power bills are insane...lol. Looking into photovoltaics to install on the roof this coming winter. I've got to slow that meter down or either me or the orchids will be homeless....lol.

Laelia purpurata var 'Flamea' with L. purpurata var. 'Delicata' behind

Encyclia adenocaula (nemorale) doing it's thing.

Schoenorchris sp. (gemata type) from Cambodia. It's one of Pam's favorites. It's really dainty.

Brassia verrucosa dancing over the table. I have to stop putting tequila in the fertilizer injector.

And now for my little pride and joys..

Masdevallia veitchiana

Masdevallia floribunda 'Pink'. It's one of my favorites from Mexico

Masdevallia exquisita

Promenaea xanthina...I really like this one and hope to pot it up so it creates a little ball of color.

Scaphosepalum swertiifolium. I discovered this genus browsing on the internet and Andy sold me my first one back in May. I love their little sombreros..lol

Dracula vinacea. Of course I, who lives where water is garbage and heat is dry and hostile would pick humidity junkies that won't survive without pure, clean water. No accounting for brains...lol.

Dracula sodiroi ssp (Erythrocodon)

An unnamed Odont I think. It was a gift from one of the attendees of the southern California roundup we hosted here at the ranch back in June.

You all inspire the heck out of me with your huge, mature plants that are doing so well. This is just my first year with the upper elevation orchids and I am so grateful for the knowledge you've shared in order for me to enjoy my enthusiasm for them.

best to all,
don

Don,
Thanks for the nice quick walk through your greenhouse. Lots of neat stuff. Draculas surrounded by cacti beyond the windows!
Raymond.

Wow... they are so healthy and pretty, I wish my plants can be like these. Thanks for sharing the photos.

Don,
very nice and interesting collection. Thanks for showing!
What I find amazing is the timing of the Laelia purpuratas in flower. West coast, east coast and mid west all flowering about the same time. Yours are beautiful. I am glad you have lots of room? They will need it in no time flat!
I like the Scaphosephalum, the flower is really neat! And so are the Draculas. These are so hard to grow for me. I still have my Dracula bella, but it is slowly but surely declining. You do great with them and that at 100 degr outside.
Pretty stuff !
Ursula

thanks for the kind words everyone, You guys are the reason for my obsession growing these wonderful plants. After taking a few hours touring the marvellous collection in RUK's "cage" and the surprises huiray is always showing from his collection, I have just fallen in love with a variety of these amazing plants. I also am intrigued by the fact that L. purpurata seems to bloom for all of us at the same time. My L. gouldiana, anceps, anceps 'Guererro', and lucasiana are all in bud right now. RUK, I've looked for Masdevallia herradurae and can't seem to find it. Is there an East Coast source for these? My Dracula bella seems a little touchier than the others and I have to keep it cooler than the others. Back in May, Andy showed me a blooming specimen of D. vampirae which is just incredible. I've got it on my 'list', which grows and grows while my wallet seems to shrink....lol.

Don,
Andy lists Masdevallia herradurae, is he out of them? I checked the catalogs of J&L in CT) and also Hoosier Orchids, I didn't see it. Countryside orchids has it listed, but none available.


Your L anceps are way ahead of my plant, mine is just putting on new growth.

Fun!

RUK and Don,
Yes, the L purpurata timing is indeed interesting. RUK's microclimate/plant treatment and mine for the purpuratas are similar, but Don's is arguably different yet their 'inner clock' seems to kick in....
From var. alba to var. flamea - it seems to span no more than a month.
Raymond.

I'm wondering if they might be phototropic and their response is strictly a daylength thing. It's just assumption on my part.

A couple of more decided to open up during this heat spell. Here's a pic of Laelia lucasiana

A closeup of this flower. Andy had them growing directly on rocks. I hope that in a few years this one will be big enough to mount a cutting onto a stone. It would be fun to do a mount on a lovely piece of Mexican jade if the minerals aren't wrong.

Encyclia radiata, the flower isn't showy but the fragrance is intoxicating.

Dracula chestertonii, not fully open but kind of interesting.

Another of Pam's old world plants opening; Dendrobium bensoniae. It was my initial thought to just collect 'new world' orchids and kind of graduate to some of the others, but for my wife it's all about the flower...lol. I guess honesty with one's tastes rather than a hemispheric bias is good too...lol.

Don,

Your orchids seems very happy in your wonderful green house:) You must be good at developing favorable environments for orchids. I'm impressed with your effort and talent. I love Masdevallia. Yours are very beautiful!! Thank you for sharing.

hiya goldenfish,

Nice to see you again. I don't know about having any talent, but my enthusiasm for these marvellous plants probably makes up for my lack of experience and skill. All one needs to do is visit this forum to see that there is no shortage of real talent among the many orchid growers here and glean inspiration and emulate their successes in the best possible way.

hope you are well,
don

your Dracula vinacea is probably the healthiest i've ever seen. Not that i'm surprised or anything lol

Don,
they are all nice.The Dendrobium bensoniae is very pretty!
I am really impressed that you got the Dracula chestertonii to flower, this is such a neat one and I found it very difficult to grow and flower. ( Mine didn't live long enough to grow another leaf.) It is supposed to trick a fungus-fly by mimicry into pollination.The lip looks and smells like the typical mushroom cap they normally lay their eggs in. In the process of doing that they pollinate the flowers. Did you sniff it? Does it smell like a mushroom?
Maybe I should give it another try since I now use rainwater.

hiya RUK,

The flower has little fragrance (one of the first things I check for...lol) but the plant itself has a musty odor that could under certain circumstances be mistaken for a mycological being...lol. It didn't last long in this heat we are experiencing. The greenhouse got up to 90 today despite all of my efforts to keep temps down. So I wish I could give you some better information and am also fascinated by your insights into this species and the genus in general. To quote Joan Rivers.....can we talk?...lol. I'm so new at this and so doggone ignorant it is a phenomenon that I can make any of them come to flower. My research so far has been wanting for explanations as to why I've been able to bring some of these genera to bloom. All I've been doing so far is following instructions that are wrote....the fertilization changes might have something to do with it....but I'm skeptical of organics being the answer here. I'm thinking that the combination of daylength and fluctuating temperatures may have something to do with it. Next year Pam and I have a vacation planned to S.A. where I'll get a chance to do some "in situ" hobby studies between cocktails...lol. Maybe I'll get a clue then.

best to you,
Don

Don, your mystery Odont hybrid looks like Colmanara Wildcat 'White Lip'..I have the same one, having bought it at a Home Depot here.

Your Laelia lucasiana is exquisite!

hiya Todd,

great to see you. Thanks for the kind words about L. lucasiana and a huge thanks for the ID on the Colmanara. I do believe the person that gave it to me as a gift got it at the HD as well, so that could make some sense as well. It's held it's flowers nicely.

I've seen the photos you took of the ones blooming in your collection now, but the Acer you've got blew my socks off. That's quite a maple amigo, superb colors. Wish I had just a touch more humidity so I could have a dissectum, but alas 'Bloodgood' is about as far as I can go in this climate.

Don,
Of all the plants you show I am most taken with the D. bensoniae. A very nice show from a relatively rare plant. I see you got it from Andy's. I got one from him this year, too, and mine flowered not so long ago but not as superbly as yours. Well done!! I've had a few others before - the first one from Orchid Art back in the 80's - but gradually lost the early ones over the years. Bright light, cool temps, no water in winter - which particularly suited my conditions at that time!!
Raymond.