Orchids in Puerto Rico Summer 2016

[Cindy Adair]

Here are a few to start. So easy here compared with my greenhouse management of orchids in pots in Virginia!

Many are palm jewelry like the first but they will grow well on many different trees here.

[Silas_Sancona]

As always, love seeing what orchids are in bloom around the Farm. thanks for the Mid summer treat Cindy.

Agree that they look very happy hanging out in the trees Vs. in Pots in a Greenhouse.

[Mandrew968]

4th picture is insane! love it, Cindy!

[Cindy Adair]

Here are ones I photographed today. First several miniatures, some with my finger for scale. I have a corridor between my front door and my car where most of these are attached in the shade.

 

 

[Cindy Adair]

And that's all the orchids I saw on my stroll of a small part of my jungle today. Nature is watering them for me right now! 

[Tracy]

Very nice, such great color it adds to your garden/farm!   Some of my terrestrial orchids in the garden are blooming, primarily Sobralia species, but the beginnings of a flower spike is starting to form on one of my Aussie Dendrobium's as well.  While I'm not looking forward to Autumn yet, I am looking forward to several Laelia's which are forming flower spikes now.  I only have one of the Laelia's mounted on a palm, most are mounted on pieces of wood, so I can hang them from palms.

[Silas_Sancona]

2 hours ago, Cindy Adair said:

And that's all the orchids I saw on my stroll of a small part of my jungle today. Nature is watering them for me right now! 

Outstanding Encyclia alata (first two pictures) specimen Cindy!  One of the best of the Genus, imo.

[Cindy Adair]

Tracy your Sobralia is very nice! I think mine may need a little more sun as they don't bloom as often as they used to.

Thanks Silas! That Encyclia is in lots of sun and seems happy on a tree fern.

[Mandrew968]

Wow! I am in love with your orchids. Are there a lot of natives, or is there a good nursery on the Island, or did you accrue those while back up north?

[Cindy Adair]

Thank you Andrew! I have been growing orchids longer than palms, originally of course in a greenhouse in VA. Most of my orchids were purchased little by little and eventually moved to PR. All legal after inspection.

However there certainly are native orchids in PR, nothing like in some other areas such as Costa Rica. 

And yes, there are several active orchid societies here with some nurseries and shows, but I am still learning about them.

I continue to go to orchid nurseries and shows including in Florida whenever I travel if I can!

[Mandrew968]

23 hours ago, Cindy Adair said:

Thank you Andrew! I have been growing orchids longer than palms, originally of course in a greenhouse in VA. Most of my orchids were purchased little by little and eventually moved to PR. All legal after inspection.

However there certainly are native orchids in PR, nothing like in some other areas such as Costa Rica. 

And yes, there are several active orchid societies here with some nurseries and shows, but I am still learning about them.

I continue to go to orchid nurseries and shows including in Florida whenever I travel if I can!

With bringing orchids and with plants having to be bare root, this must be a rewarding group of plants to collect, as bare root, shouldn't be a problem!

[Cindy Adair]

The tropical epiphytic orchids are so easy here!

[Mandrew968]

How about staghorns? do you grow any Platycerium species, Cindy?

[Rusty on Pine Is.]

Very nice plants, Cindy!  I stopped re-potting long ago, and all my orchids are now growing epiphytically......it doesn't hurt that i work for a fair sized orchid and bromeliad nursery.   Yours look great!

BTW, have you installed  any bromeliads in your trees?

[Cindy Adair]

On August 11, 2016 at 7:00:31 AM, Mandrew968 said:

How about staghorns? do you grow any Platycerium species, Cindy?

I only have one staghorn which was planted by the previous owner. It is doing very well and I would love to add others.

[Cindy Adair]

On August 14, 2016 at 6:06:59 PM, Rusty on Pine Is. said:

Very nice plants, Cindy!  I stopped re-potting long ago, and all my orchids are now growing epiphytically......it doesn't hurt that i work for a fair sized orchid and bromeliad nursery.   Yours look great!

BTW, have you installed  any bromeliads in your trees?

Thanks Rusty. Does the nursery you work for allow visitors or just wholesale? I plan to be in the Tampa area a few days next month. PM me please if you have any suggestions of places to visit.

Yes I do have some broms scattered about and would enjoy more. As I clear many new walkable areas there will be many more spots for all of these palm accessories!

[Cindy Adair]

I like the orange and purple nearby. I had not noticed the buds on either one of these so a nice surprise!

[Ben1]

As every time your orchids are a real treat for our eyes. Thanks a lot Cindy!

seeing them in a natural environment is even better!

 

 

[Cedric]

Love em! Its so sad when a tree dies or falls you have to relocate all the orchids you've been carefully collecting over the years. Happend to me this month with a palm trunk smothered in gorgeous robust frilly white Hawaiian Wedding Song cattleyas.....grrrrrrrrr @@##!!!! typhoons. Never have to spray feed or do anything for a tremendous show, best way to grow orchids. Oops meant to say/add its difficult for me at least finding the exact same lighting conditions growing conditions they thrived under before in my garden of many micro climates. Still sitting with a heap of Hawaiian Wedding songs!

I also love the fourth one in the first set of pictures its a terrific colour for one of these.....er do you know its name?

Edited August 30, 2016 by Cedric

[Cindy Adair]

Thanks to all!

Cedric I am not close by at the moment to check the name tag so will have to get back to you on that question.

Yes your "wedding song" is a lovely Catt and I hope it will recover quickly in its new home.

I sometimes have orchids become loose even if they are blooming and I need to retie them or move them. 

Like rearranging furniture it can be fun to try a new spot of color elsewhere with most orchids quick to adapt!

Of course I much prefer when it is my choice and when they are not in bloom! Sorry about the typhoon damage!

 

[Ben1]

Hey Cindy,

here are some pics of orchids that I saw on a display in a botanical garden in Germany this year. 

 

Im really not an expert, but the most of them seemed to me quite unusual. Especially the spots where some of the flowers grew or the formation the grew in were pretty interesting to me. 

 

Hope you don't mind that I posted them here?!?! (The few pics weren't worth to start a new thread)

Edited September 1, 2016 by Ben1

[Ben1]

[Cedric]

Oh yes coincidentally Cindy's #4 looks to be possibly the same species, cultivar, hybrid...as Ben's #2!

Talking of typhoons super-typhoon Maranti is bearing down in the area, no one seems quite sure which direction its heading right now, 50/50 if it comes our way or up to Fujian Province in China.

Cindy they are very nice, even exceptional Cat 'Hawaiian Wedding Song virgin', part of a very well known quite old but still highly rated hybridising. A selection of Angel Bells x Claesiana. Angel bells has a historic lineage itself. I got mine by accident, someone bought it as a gift for me in Florida, it was tiny in a test tube, sold as a keyring type gift at one of Florida's theme parks! After five years it proved so easy and floriferous and so extremely attractive I tried getting more as I didn't want to divide the specimen plant it had become, growing happily on a palm. I found it impossible. Its been around a long time and unfortunately its propagation has been mainly meristem culture through the years, divisions are almost impossible to find of the original anymore. As a result of the repeated meristem culture undesirable changes have crept in along the way, like greenish tinges and marked yellow throat, flower shape, substance changes, general weakening of the strain etc etc. I couldn't find divisions of the original so mine which appears to be by pure chance the same is very much treasured. Could've come from a new culture but from the original in the 90's as it was definitely a meristem. Never had a disease in its life, no rot nothing, wind and rain, exceptional vigourous hybrid. Managed to get some from a grower in Boston but they turned out different as did the ones I got from Taiwan, Japan and Thailand. A Japanese grower was doing them fittingly on Hawaii itself but stopped few years back and seems to have lost the stock plants.

It started life on a large manic clump of Roystonia, five planted in one hole. Flowered nicely 3x a year, each a three flowered stem (they almost always do). Those Roystonia had to be taken down as they were struck by lightening, once one was removed they became unstable. So "wedding song" was moved to a large fat Dypsis which I always meant to find out what species it was but never quite got the energy. That was topped by a typhoon! It had already become quite a large specimen plant by then so I divided in three trying different spots but it never did as well except for one clump which survived and took off. That palm in turn was badly damaged by a typhoon and rot and borer got in somehow and the whole head blew off recently in another typhoon.  Now they're all in a pile on the bench. Im going to divide again but finding suitable bright enough spots is proving difficult, its always on my mind when Im out there in the garden. I dont want to lose it, absolutely not. 

Many of my orchids have a similar history, changing landscapes etc. Nothing as transient as a typhoon garden. Years and years can go by then bam! All rather hectic.

Here is a picture of it, I can't remember exactly when this was but that palm is no longer. It's one of the very best garden orchids IMO and Im still looking for divisions of the original so if anyone might have a lead.........always good to have an insurance policy on something so wonderful. They do look outstanding in the tropics, that clean, slightly ruffled, thick textured, crystalline, delightfully scented not too large sized white flower is a must, it positively glows in the dark rainy season. I meant to put this out earlier but I was away in India......love a thread on good tried and tested garden worthy orchids.

[Cindy Adair]

Lovely photos and interesting commentary Ben and Cedric! Thanks so much.

Cedric, I finally remembered to read my tag on the orchid you had asked about awhile back. It is 

Cirrhopetalum (Bulbophyllum)

Species:curtisii (pulchellum)

Indigenous to:Thailand

It took me a few minutes to figure out where I had planted it since I don't have an up to date orchid list much less location map. I could see from the photo it is on a tree fern but since I have many over 7 acres that didn't narrow it down much. Happily I love having any excuse to hike around and it was the second place I checked. Of course I was photographing spices too so continued to enjoy the afternoon excursion. 

I continue to be amazed how much changes here in a single day (good-new flowers/fruit and bad-fallen limbs/trees and vine attacks).

 

 

[Margaret]

Cindy,

I wanted to suggest that you check out the Website of the NY Botanical Gardens.  They have a virtual tour of their orchid show.  The photography could be better, but it's fun to watch.   When Corona quarantine is over, I'd like to come visit you.  It would be fun for me try to grow orchids on our palms.

Best wishes,

Margaret