Updated wish list

I think I grew out of the time when you buy any orchid you can get your hand on.
I don't want any more catts, they just don't look nice to me when not in bloom and, well, most of the time they are not in bloom in my case.
I don't want any more very small miniatures - too much effort for too little of display. Oncidiums and dendrobiums don't wow me.
I am sticking with vandas, phals and paphs for sure. Masdies and dracs are still at the try out stage, but might join in too.
My wish list was totally wiped out, renewed and now is a "very-hard-to-get-into" place.
 Another thing - no more seedlings, unless it is something very rare, totally not accessible or ridiculously expensive blooming sized(good example - Paph sanderianum).

Paphiopedilum Fumi's Delight

Paph. Fumi's delight is a cross between micranthum and armeniacum. It is a small seedling that came from Clouds Orchids. Unpotted it demonstrated quite healthy roots:

I potted it back into slightly smaller pot:

New telephoto lens

We bought a new lens for our camera today. It is NIKON AF-S 70-200 F2.8 VR II LENS. Of course there is still a lot to learn, but here are the first attempts. Obviously the objects were at the very long distance.
Yes, we have deers walking in the middle of the city.

Masdevallia decumana

This is just an update on a bud. It is still here, not blasted. I also found at least three new leaves started to grow in the different parts of the plant. They are leaning towards the light. I should probably move it from the bookcase to a brighter location. I didn't dare to stake a spike because it looks too thin and fragile, but put a small piece of packing peanut under it to create a soft cushion where it touches the pot edge.

Phalaenopsis cornu-cervi 'red'

I got this beautiful specimen of Phal. cornucervi 'red' from Crystal Star Orchids too. I must say their established plants are the best I ever got from anywhere.
It came with 4 spikes and three growing buds, one of the buds already shows red color. Plant grew out of the pot and needed repotting. When unpotted, I was impressed by fat and healthy roots filling all the space.
Taking moss out was quite easy and I didn't have to trim anything. I tried to not disturb plant and didn't even uncurled the roots so they are still in shape of old pot. I put some packing peanuts in the hollow space under the base:



I decided to keep it in plastic pot with moss since that's how it was potted before. I arranged the long aerial roots on the top of the media all around the plant:



Picture of the bud with dark red color showing through:

Paphopedilum bellatulum

Paphiopedilum bellatulum blooms. Although I am not sure if it is fully opened yet, or will progress some more.




Flower close up:



Plant from the side:

Phalaenopsis I-Hsin George flower

Rotted bud and opening bud

Well, I sort of expected this to happen, because I sprayed miticide all over my paphs including the buds. Bellatulum and malipoense are a bit further ahead and buds already came out on the longer spikes - they are fine. Paph emersonii bud was still very low and probably got too much miticide in the base.
Here is the result - rotting bud:



It is very disappointing considering how long it takes for a new growth to mature enough to flower. I think I will never see its flowers. :(

Bellatulum was sprayed too but it didn't matter for the bud. It is starting to open now. Probably tomorrow or the day after it will be in full bloom. This is just a preview (looks kind of funny, doesn't it?):

Phalaenopsis Tsay's Evergreen II

Phal Tsay's Evergreen II came in better conditions than the first one, it also has two spikes and even one flower open.



There is nothing green about the bloom, it is rather buttery yellow, so I have no idea why the "Evergreen" came up.
I bought some doubles of the phal hybrids because want to experiment with mounting on the tree fern slabs. I saw many pictures of Mervin's phals on the orchidboard and really like how they look. Of course our conditions are totally different and most likely I will kill my plants, but that's why I got doubles.
This plant has nice healthy leaves, some good roots, but I also cut some rotted ones when re-potting.



I will wait for both of them to start growing new roots and then will mount one.

Update: Turns out that Evergreen has nothing to do with the actual color. It is the name of the originator who registered this cross in 1995. The parents are Sheba's Elf and Yungho Princess Gelb.

Paphiopedilum Dick Wagner

Paph. Dick Wagner is a cross between Paph. bellatulum and Paph. Fanaticum. I never saw one in the real life, but pictures found on the web made me order a small seedling when I came across one at the Clouds orchids website.
The medium in a pot looked ok, but I wanted to check on roots, so I unpotted it:



Well, not many roots but whatever there is - looks healthy and happy. From what I see - usually parvis don't have that much roots.
I decided to take a bit smaller pot, but used the same media because - a) it still looks good; b)I don't have media that fine to fit small seedlings, my bark pieces are prety large.
Repotted Paph. Dick Wagner:

Phalaenopsis I-Hsin George

Phal. I-Hsin George came from Crystal Star Orchids.



Large specimen with 4 spikes and several blooms - it has overgrown the plastic pot and needed repotting.
Here is what the inside of the pot looked like:



It took some while before all the old moss was cleaned out and some rotted roots were trimmed. Then plant had a nice warm bath in the kitchen sink:



I debated with myself on the choice of the pot and medium for some time, but then, since it seems that plant liked to be in the plastic pot with moss, I decided to keep it that way too. I stuck couple packing peanuts under the base in the middle for just in case. All repotted:

Ottawa orchid show 2012 pictures third batch

Vanda suavis



Dendrobium Queen Cobra



Paphiopedilum niveum



Phal. Shan Lin's flavorous



Phal. Gan Lin Sunshine



Paph. LimelightxSalen

Ottawa orchid show 2012 pictures second batch

Bulb. guttulatum



Lc. C.G.Roebling



Phal.tetraspis



Epidendrum



Paph. Pathfinder Norm

Ottawa orchid show 2012 pictures

Coelogyne Bird In Flight



Sedirea japonica



This one was actually labeled "Phal Lost Tag", but it is pretty anyway



Dendrobium spectabile



And its flowers close up (I think I want one now)



Paph. esquirolei



Vscostylis Thai Sky



Paph. lowii

Phalaenopsis Brother Gelblienosa

Actually the label reads Phal. Gelblieber x Phal. venosa, but international orchid register states that this cross was registered in 1997 by Brother and its name is Phal. Brother Gelblienosa, so I will go with the name because, well, it is less writing.





P. Gelblieber = P. amboinensis x P. micholitzii.
It means that my phal has 50% of venosa and 25% of each - amboinensis and micholitzii. I suppose it could be fragrant too then.

Masdevallia constricta

Yet one more purchase from Ecuagenera - Masdevallia constricta looks the bushiest from all the masdies I now have:



They all come bare root from Ecuador. I have potted it into net pot with fresh sphagnum moss and then placed it into clay pot.
It lives in the basement too.
Hope it will survive.

Phalaenopsis Equalacea (coerulea)

This is Phalaenopsis violacea coerulea x Phalaenopsis equestris coerulea (that's what was written on the label), so I guess it makes it Phal. Equalacea coerulea, right?




It has incredibly shiny new leaves(enhanced by the stupid camera flash) and start of the little spike:



Can't wait for the blooms(if they ever appear).

Masdevallia decumana - bud?

I logged here Masdevallia decumana just recently and when taking picture - didn't notice anything unusual. I mean there was some fresh green growth starting, but I though it was just a new leaf. Then I noticed that it started to grow pretty rapidly and lean down away from the bush.
Now I think maybe it is a flower bud?




Closer view of the thing:



Would be thrilling to see it bloom!

Phalaenopsis Cassandra

Phalaenopsis Cassandra is a very old hybrid between equestris and stuartiana. It was registered back in 1896.



Mottled leaves sure look different, although I don't find the pattern very atttractive(comparing to the mottled leaves of some paphs for example), to me looks like it was sprayed with something and then wasn't properly cleaned. I really like the blooms though.

My Cassandra is a mature plant - there is a trace of an old spike.



According to the web, flowers should be fragrant.