Dendrobium pierardii

This deciduous, pendulous Dendrobium is purportedly able to have canes up to 10' long, though mine have only grown as long as 4', with mildly fragrant light pink blooms that are relatively short-lived (1 to 2 weeks). Very easily propagated with numerous keikis forming on old canes.

Dendrobium pendulum

This is another Southeast Asian deciduous dendrobe. Though a pendulous grower, the interestingly "ribbed" pseudobulbs are quite rigid.

Dendrobium gonzalesii

This easy-growing, pendulous Dendrobe flowers freely in humid, intermediate to warm temperatures.

Dendrobium cuthbertsonii

This miniature species is native to New Guinea and has flowers that seem to dwarf the plant itself. Numerous color variations exist - pink, red, white, and even some bicolor mutants!

Dendrobium crumenatum

This a very unusual Dendrobium that I picked up from a show in Honolulu a few years ago. It can bloom anytime of the year, but seems to be triggered by a specific combination of night vs. day temperatures. Club-shaped pseudobulbs taper suddenly into a long thin "stem" from which the short-lived blooms appear along the nodes. Another unusual characteristic -- blooms can appear from previously flowered nodes!

Dendrobium chrysotoxum

This upright species can be found in cool to warm conditions in the forests of Northern Thailand, Laos, and Burma.

Denrobium chrysopterum

Also known as Dendrobium subclausum, this semi-pendulous species is found in Papua New Guinea, blooming mostly in the middle of winter.

Dendrobium aggregatum (aka. Den. lindleyi)

Found in mid to high elevations of Vietnam. This exceptional specimen was displayed at the 2003 Miami International Orchid Show.

Cycnoches chlorochilon

The Cycnoches genus has some of the absolute best smelling blooms -- this specific one has a very strong, citrus scent. I once had a Cycnoches pentadactylon but can't remember what happened to it -- it had the scent of marshmallows!

Coelogyne lawrenceae

This is another Coelogyne that, along with my mooreana, wasn't too happy with the conditions I was trying to grow it in (Hawaii). The picture was taken at a SFOS show and the plant I purchased was from a nursery from Southern Cal.

Catasetum tenebrosum

This was my first plant from the Catasetum alliance -- I purchased this way back in the mid 1990's from H&R Nurseries on Oahu.

Dendrobium spectabile

I should have taken a close-up for this one to show the striking resemblance to a wasp. The Australian grower that I purchased this from refered to this as the "Wasp Orchid".

Coelogyne flacida

Here's another Coelogyne I was able to shoot at a show, once again in a cooler climate than what I had in Hawaii. I really liked this genus, but only the C. mayeriana was able to thrive.

Catasetum fimbriatum

This South American species was taken at one of the few shows I was able to visit while living in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Rare orchids found (08-Feb-2006)

I ran across this article from an Australian news agency ... anyone have a picture of this Caladenia huegelii ?

Rare orchids found

08-Feb-2006

From: AAP

A HEALTHY population of a rare and endangered native orchid species has been found in Western Australia's southwest.

The 246 grand spider orchids are in a nature reserve near Pinjarra, 89km south of Perth.

It was the third largest known population of Caladenia huegelii, the Department of Conservation and Land Management (CALM) said today.

In 1995 a single, flowering grand spider orchid was found at the same site, CALM said.

Another survey, in 2004, also found just one of the plants, about 500m from the previous sighting.

It is hoped more surveys of the reserve next year will find more of the orchids.

Coelogyne mooreana

I picked up this Coelogyne mooreana from a SFOS Show a few years ago and brought it back to Hawaii. I don't think it appreciated it too much as it seems to prefer cooler temperatures for both growing and flowering.

Coelogyne mayeriana

If you want to grow this, be prepared for it to take over an corner of your greenhouse! This is a large, sprawling (almost "vining") plant with unusually long rhizomes -- pseudobulbs on mature plants are typically 10" to 12" apart!

I have this plant growing in a large concrete pot with a 6" diameter, 4 ft. long log standing upright.

Cattleya lodigesii

This is the standard pink variety of a easy-growing, bifoliate cattleya. Identical in every other respect to the C. lodigesii var. alba in an earlier post.

Cattleya walkeriana var. coerulea

A compact, but sprawling plant, C. walkeriana is as suitable for mounting as it is for window-sill culture -- as long as you're prepared to put a bit of extra care into it.

This picture of the coerulea (blue) variety was taken at H&R Nurseries in Waimanalo -- I purchased a couple of them and could never get them to grow and bloom quite as well as these.

Cattleya dowiana

This is the grand-daddy of all the "yellow w/ red-lip" hybrids out there, most notably Blc. Toshie Aoki and the (over) abundance of progeny. I've had several of these grow to blooming size, though only a couple actually had blooms that opened fully, ie. the petals don't appear "stuck" to the lip.

Cattleya aurantiaca

Travelling to Belgium for the first time in 2003, I picked up a flask from a lab in Liege -- it was labeled Cattleya amethystoglossa. I was very excited to have the vast majority of the seedling not only survive, but thrive, growing very quickly. However, when the first blooms appeared, it was clear that the flask was mislabeled.

Checking my references, I've concluded that this is Cattleya aurantiaca -- if I am mistaken, please let me know (use the comment link below).

Cattleya granulosa

If my memory serves me correctly, this was the very first species Cattleya I had every purchased -- I picked it up from H&R Nurseries in Waimanalo about 10 years ago!

Cattleya forbesii

I took this picture at a Hilo Orchid Society Show a few years back -- I have several of these plants myself and have flowered them, but they don't seem to want to get any taller than 7 or 8".

Restrepia striata

I picked up this Pleurathallid at a show in London a few years ago and it blooms pretty regularly. Originally from mid to high elevations in Colombia, it adapted well to my mountain greenhouse on Kauai. This particular plant is easily propagated, as plantlets invariably form at the node between the stem (actually a long, slender pseudobulb) and the leaf.

Cattleya bicolor

This South American species easily grows in Hawaii -- this plant came from a batch of seedlings in a flask I had purchased back in 2001 at the Miami International Orchid Show. Growing quite quickly, the survival rate was exceptionally high.

Cattleya aclandiae

This little guy, Cattleya aclandiae from South America, has an interesting sprawling habit with very large flowers compared to plant size (3" blooms on 6" plants). I actually found them rather fussy and difficult to grow.

Cattleya amethystoglossa var. coerulea 'Malibu'

This is one of my favorites Cattleya species -- Catt. amethystoglossa var. coerulea 'Malibu'. I picked up a single plant in a 2" pot about 5 years ago from a reluctant Ben Kodama (some Japanese growers were offering BIG bucks for his entire stock) in Waianae and it just took off!

When I was in Hawaii this past Christmas, this plant was sheathing with buds just forming. It makes me just a bit sad that I will not be there when it blooms again.