Yes, it's really called a "gay rabbit." The first person to register a name for a certain hybrid gets to make that name permanent. And somebody must have thought this thing had rabbit ears and, well, I dunno. Anyway, a friend gave me this several years back, it never grew a lick for her, so I took it, and now, several years later, it finally has flowers. And very cool flowers at that. The stem is probably a good foot and a half high, and the flowers are lightly scented. I grow this in semi-hydro, like my other orchids (basically, the roots grow in a very open baked clay pellet medium that ends up being moist by airy). I'm pretty pleased with this one. Enjoy :-) JOHN
This is a funny one. I bought it an orchid show a few years ago because I liked the big oversized yellow flowers on the demo plant. I think the flower spike (the long stalk that the flowers grow on) was maybe 2 feet, or possibly 3. I thought it was kind of cool being that long, so I bought it. It's been a few years, no flowers, a bout of rot, and finally, again with the new lights, the plant started to take off. I noticed several months ago - we might be talking 4 months ago or even more - that it was starting to develop a flower spike. Cool, I thought. And the months passed, the spike grew longer, and no flowers. I kept moving the plant farther and farther away from the curtains, so it wouldn't hit the window (it grows towards the light, and then the things started branching off into more spikes, but still no flowers. Finally, a few weeks ago, the flowers starting, and the damn thing just kept growing. It stills lots more flowers to go - I counted around 45 to 50, but more keep growing at the tips. As you can see in the photo to the left, it's now taller than me, and I'm around 5-10. Check out how small the actual plant is. Oh, and this is the first time it's bloomed. That generally means, it's going to be far more spectacular in future blooms. The funny thing is, I'm not even sure if I like it anymore! That's a problem with orchids, they tend to stick around a while, the flowers do, so after a while you're like, okay, enough already. Anyway, it's kind of funny how big this thing has gotten, and is still getting. So, enjoy.
I got this guy as a freebie baby plant from someone after another plant they sent me didn't do so well. I looked it up online and kind of yawned. Little did I know that I either looked up the wrong plant, or this plant has a lot of variation in it. The red is pretty striking, it's actually almost a purple-red, and it has a very very very slight scent, almost a bit citrusy (like many orchids, at least I've found). The flowers tend to bloom sequentially, one comes out for a few weeks, then drops off in perfect shape and another blooms, and on and on for 4 or more flowers over a few months. Seems to be a hardy grower, for me at least, so it's a keeper. Enjoy.
I'm actually quite proud of this one. We're now getting into the realm of orchids that are a bit harder to grow, and flower, than your usual run of the mill phal (the moth orchids, which I often tend to kill), though this guy has a reputation of being pretty easy (well, that's orchid easy). This guy has been growing for a few years and just recently bloomed. The flower has been open for a good couple of weeks so far. The supposedly sometimes smell like pine. Mine doesn't. But it's still pretty cool, and a good size too - about 3 3/4 inches at its widest.
It's pretty cool, I have a number of plants either flowering or getting ready to flower. I got some hideous compact fluorescent lights last winter or so, and while the set up looks like a home-grown pot garden (most of the home orchid folks get their advice on home garden lighting from the pot people, who are apparently experts at it), and I have to wear an eye mask so they don't wake me up at 6am when the lights go on, it's done wonders for the plants. Heck, that one plant I mentioned a few weeks ago, the spike (the flower stem) is getting close to 6 feet long, with about 30 flowers on it. It hasn't fully bloomed, but when it does I'll take a picture. The reason they're doing so well is that they're finally getting the light they need - a simple sunlight window isn't enough for some species of orchids. So yeah, my apartment is bright, but hey, how many people have flowering plants indoors in February, and an added bonus, at least I won't be getting that cabin fever depression they get in Alaska!
This is a flower that was only discovered about 20 years ago. The red is incredibly vivid, the photo does not do it justice. I find this one not too hard to grow, it needs good light, and decent water. And for me at least it blooms every winter. It's a small thing, maybe 1.75 inches across. And the petals glimmer in the sunlight. It's quite a cool little flower. Enjoy.
Below are the two parents of this flower, so you can get a sense of the breeding that goes on here - I don't own the parents:
This is a Paphiopedilum Freckles 'Pinkie' crossed with an Amanda 'Joyance.' It's a first bloom from this rather young plant, and is showing great potential. It's a cute little thing, under 2 inches across, and if I can keep the plant alive, it should be even better next year time it blooms (which may not be until next winter). This is the season for a lot of orchids of this type, paphs, to bloom, so I'm looking forward to several of mine opening up any day now. I also have another plant that I can't wait to show you. It's rather insane. It's throwing a spike, as we call it, the long thin shoot that the flowers will eventually be on, but the damn spike is five feet long and growing. The spike was maybe 2.5 feet long when I bought the plant a few years ago - this is the first time it's bloomed since, and boy what a whopper. I can't wait for this thing to bloom, then to get pictures to show you, with me standing next to it so you'll get the full sense of it. Plants really can be amazing sometimes. They're not Carmela the wonderdog, but still, they're pretty cool. Enjoy.
I'm quite proud of this one. I nursed it back to health from near death about 3 or 4 years ago. It finally bloomed a week ago. I love this plant. It's quite an ordinary orchid, among orchid growers, but it's such a beauty. I mean look at this thing - it looks like, well, a wild cat. Enjoy.
Took these photos at Al's Orchid Greenhouse a few weeks back, out in Virginia (Leesburg, I think). Great place. I honestly don't know what this is, though I think it might be a variation on Doritis pulcherimma. Anyway, it's nothing special, but at the same, there's something captivating about it. Meaning, I wouldn't want to own it, but looking at the photos is still kind of breathtaking. Enjoy.
This is an enormous oncidium at a local orchid greenhouse in Virgnia - Al's Orchid Exchange. Al is great, and we really like his stuff. I cropped the pic of my friend, since I didn't get his permission to post his pic, but you can get a sense of how huge the plant is - Al started this thing only a few years ago with a few bulbs. If you look carefully, you'll see the plant is actually the very long leaves to the right - those are smaller other plants in front of it. Pretty amazing. And pretty insane. But also pretty damn cool, if you've got the space for it. And if you don't, you just cut the damn thing in half every time you repot and give half away.
Okay, these are the latest photos of the Paph Temptation that I've been showing you the past several weeks. It's now almost fully open - four of the five flowers are open - and now you get a sense of the majesty of the plant in full bloom. Simply amazing.
When we last left my Paph Temptation, it was just beginning to throw out a spike. Now, one week later, you can see the first flower opening up nicely, but still a ways to go. You can also see another three (I think four actually), flowers starting to slowly open. Eventually there should be five flowers open simultaneously, and it should be quite a site. Enjoy.
This one is just starting to spike, as we say - meaning, it's just beginning to bloom, but the flower hasn't started to open yet. This is a huge plant, and it tends to throw out a lot of flowers - like 5 to 7 at a time on a long long long stem. I got this from a friend last fall. I thought it might be interesting to show it before it fully blooms - next week, I suspect, at least one flower might be open. And if you want a sense of what this could look like in full bloom, check out this link. Enjoy.
Just a regular old phalaenopsis orchid from a recent show I went to in Virginia. But it is lovely. I have zip to add. Have some sourdough bread baking in the oven - just wanted to try it. I bought some starter in Alaska back in 1991 or so, used it once and it didn't work, so gave up on it. Found the packet in my shelf earlier this week, got online and did more research, and figured I'd try again. Well, the starter worked, after like 16 years - kind of creepy actually. Anyway, bread's in the oven, so stay tuned.
Remember last week's flower? It's opened up fully now. This is the same one. Nice, eh? I'd actually like the petals to be longer, and the pouch is a bit warty, but still, it is pretty, and pretty amazing that this is a flower. Enjoy. JOHN
As a follow-on to last night's orchid blogging, I wanted to show you just how far the flower has progressed since last night. It's still not open completely, and will probably take several days for the petals to lengthen, but you can see a dramatic difference already since last night. Compare the same flower in the two current pictures below below to last night.
Today is a fun one: Paphiopedilum Lady Isabel 'Naepu' x Angel Hair 'North'
This is one I just got, and it's a multi-floral, meaning many blooms at once. It's totally cool. Basically, the flower unfurls much like the monster in Alien opens up, the head rises slowly, the legs or arms or whatever slowly unfold from within the pouch. I swear someone with that movie was inspired by multi-floral paphs. They're totally creepy, but quite striking once they're finally fully open.
These are a few pictures taken just today, you can see how already the flower is progressing quite a lot in just the past day.
Those petals, if all goes well, will be long and beautiful. Below are 3 examples of how this cross has turned out in the past - I don't own these plants. You get a sense of the variation possible, just like the possible combinations amongst brothers and sisters. Should be fun to see the final product, I'll keep you informed. JOHN
Colmanara Wildcat (now called Odontocidium Wildcat - ridiculous new name)
This is a relative, kind of, of the plant I showed you last week, the Sharry Baby. They're both oncidium type orchids, grow long spikes with lots of flowers. I just love Colmanara Wildcat, but it doesn't love me, or rather it didn't. Until I got some grow lights, the poor thing just died, and finally it's coming back. Hopefully mine will bloom in a year or so. This picture, I think, is from mine when I first got it (though it might be someone else's, I can't recall now!). Anyway, it's a gorgeous plant, supposedly not hard to grow, but that's not my story. You can see another picture I found online that shows more of the flowers and some of the plant here. There are a number of different types of Colmanara Wildcats, I think mine is Carmela (like the wonderdog), but not sure.
