The Trifecta

And the wait is over. We now have all three flowers open on our baby phalaenopsis:

And all the buds have opened on the pink phal as well:

Can Spring be far away? Sure hope not! The change of seasons will be very much appreciated.

The Happy Family

This is certainly the time when orchids flower. I have four plants in bloom right now, and another four making spikes. Here is a group portrait of the ones in bloom:

The pendulant, white one is a Dendrobium Dilgry. This orchid has a fairly strong perfume; I definitely notice it when I walk past the plant. The fragrance is only apparent during the day. Once it starts getting dark out, the fragrance disappears.

Here is a close-up, showing a bit more flower detail.

And a final close-up. The flower is a cream to pale yellow color, and there is a bit of a color pattern in the center.

And here is the one we've been waiting for! The orchid, raised from seed, has fully opened two of its three flowers. The third bud is swelling, and will probably open in a week or so. The flower form is very nice, and the markings are quite distinct. I am thrilled to have been instrumental in this plant's entire life, from the initial pollination of the parent, right through flowering of the youngster.

My very first orchid is still with me, and in bloom. This is the one that started me on the road to orchid mania. It was touch and go when first I brought it home. The roots were not in great shape, but it managed to survive.

Here is a closer look at the lovely little red/brown freckles in the center of the flower.

Last, but not least, is a Paphiopedilum. This one has been a reliable bloomer, and holds it flower for months at a time. It has also split off a baby at repotting time. Baby is now making a spike, so even after this flower fades, there will be one right along to take its place.

Say ahhhh!

And here we go! The very first bloom of the orchids I started from seed!

If you've been following along, the mother plant was pollinated around the beginning of 2009, and the seeds were sown in September 2009.

Fast-forward four years, and we have our first bloom. I am totally pleased with the results, as baby has even better defined patterning than momma did. I'll post more pics as the rest of the buds open. But I wanted to get this teaser out as soon as it began to open.

Altogether, I kept 24 plants from the original culture. None of the others has started spiking yet, although a few are probably getting close. So this particular plant is definitely the most precocious of the bunch.

Buds! We have buds!

The tiny spike that I showed two months ago has been making excellent progress. In fact, we now have three well-formed buds. Given that I started from pollinating the mother plant back in early 2009, it has only been four years to get to this point.

Reminds me of a quote from "Duck Soup" by the Marx Brothers.

Treasury Secretary: "Sir, you try my patience!"
Firefly: "Don't mind if I do. You must try mine sometime."

Anyway... Here is a photo of the plant as of today:

Here is a picture that shows the underside of one of the leaves. The reddish color tells me that it is getting enough light. It also shows the label - the date indicates the last time it was repotted (October 2012).

In the next picture, you can see that I don't directly clip the spike to its support. I've damaged a few that way, so now I use some blue plastic (non-adhesive) tape along with a spring clip. The tape is specifically sold for tying up plants.

In this last picture, we simply have a close-up of the buds. They look very healthy to me. Hopefully, by next month we should get to see what they look like. I can't wait!

The "Pepper" Orchid

I call this plant my "pepper" orchid, because the flowers have a subtle fragrance of black pepper. I don't know much about this plant, except that the seller said it was an Oncidium. It has a code number, but no name or parentage. I guess that it is a proprietary orchid hybrid. I have been gravitating to orchids with fragrance lately, so I was quite pleased to find one with such an unusual scent.

Now We're Getting Somewhere

The phalaenopsis that I started from seed have continued to grow very nicely. In fact, one of them has actually started making a spike! So in about a month I should see what the results of this experiment will produce. Here is a picture of the plant, with the spike circled in yellow:

 
And here is a close-up of the spike. We have a long way to go before flowering, but I am very excited to see all the preparation and work paying off.

A miniature orchid - Neofinetia falcata

I am now growing a miniature orchid, called Neofinetia falcata. Here is a photo (as always, click on the photo to zoom in):

The fascinating thing to me is that the flowers have a long curved spur that is larger than the flower petals themselves. Notice the curved white tubes that come off the flowers and appear to go into the potting bark.
Here is another photo, with a US quarter in the picture to give a sense of scale. These guys are quite tiny. I'm impressed that they can bloom while so small:

One final picture, that shows the structure of the flowers a bit better:

I decided to do some close-ups of a few of the phalaenopsis that are in bloom right now. These are all unnamed hybrids. First, a spotted yellow phal:

The following one was sold as a blue phalaenopsis, which as far as is known does not exist in nature. The seller had injected blue dye into the stem, and the flowers did in fact appear blue when I bought the plant last year. This year, the flowers showed up in their correct natural color, namely white:

And finally, an extreme close up of a pink phal. I love the tiny red spots on the center of the flower.