Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Growing Orchids in Vietnam
http://images.vietnamnet.vn/dataimages/200802/original/images1497903_Ochid.jpg
Enjoy,
Steve Peralta
1888Orchids
Monday, February 25, 2008
Sobralia orchids
Rogers has been raising, hybridizing and decorating with orchids for morethan 25 years, but it's the Sobralias(sew- BRAIL-eyah [Well, EnglishLatin...]) that have captured his heart...
at next weekend's Pacific Orchid Exposition... He will bring manyexamples... which he says will thrive in California gardens....[Bruce said :] it was love at first sight. I had little glimpses of themfrom afar, illustrations from books and magazines. My first encounter witha blooming plant left me speechless... Years ago, I was asked to decorate alarge urn as a backdrop for a statue unveiling. I used a large eight-footSobralia rogersiana in full bloom, and stood aside ready to receive praiseand compliments. No one there had ever seen a Sobralia before. Peoplethought I had tied Cattleya orchid flowers onto a bamboo plant so well thatthe wires could not be seen. No one believed it was a real plant!...Sobralias... grow very well here and can be found in older gardens andestates...the flowering season lasts all summer and into the fall. They can be grownboth in pots and in the ground, in sun or shade, rain or shine. There areSobralias for every microclimate that occurs in our area, from the warmerareas to the cooler spots. Sobralia macrantha seems the most adaptable withblooming plants reported from the top of the Santa Cruz mountains to theflats of Fresno, the hills of Marin to Santa Rosa and everywhere south....The scarcity of Sobralias has kept them from the public eye. While theyhave been in private and civic gardens for many years, availability hasalways been a problem, as they are difficult to raise from seed and takefrom four to eight years to raise to flowering size. Sobralias only have asmall window for dividing, which also hinders propagation.
After working with several local laboratories with little success, my...friend Terry Root and I decided to form a nursery business specializingonly in Sobralias... after much work we now have production numbers thatcan begin to satisfy demand....Once established, Sobralias are as tough as a jade plant or any othergarden plant. They can take dirty water and dirty air. The only thing fussyabout them is they can only be divided or repotted when showing both newgrowth and new roots...
There is no other orchid genus that is so diversified in terms of size [?],from Sobralia elegans, which grows less than a foot tall to Sobraliaaltissima, which is over 40 feet tall. The most popular group, the fieldtype with species such as xantholuca, macrantha veitchii and their hybridsgrow from 2 to 6 feet tall. There are new hybrids, which grow from 2 to 4feet, making them ideal for patios and gardens....I often tell people that Sobralia flowers are so big, you can use them towrap gifts, as tablecloths, or as clothing for small children. The modernSobralia field types have huge Cattleya-looking flowers from one to 10inches across, with some species such as Sob. rosea and Sob. rogersianahaving flowers as large as dinner plates. When you read orchid reports fromVictorian times, you read about even larger Sobralia flowers and onewonders what is now extinct in the wild [in the literature / smile...]....Sobralia flowers and plants are divided into two groups: the ephemeralgroup, where the flower lasts only one day, and in some cases just amorning, and the field group, where the flower lasts from three to 10 days.With both types, the individual canes carry many flowers that are displayedsingularly, so the overall display lasts for many months with a matureplant carrying multiple canes. Some ephemeral species such as Sob.klotzscheana carry 20-plus flowers and bloom for over a year, although thejasmine scented flowers last only a day. The longest lasting flowers in thefield group are probably Sob. undatocarinata and Sob. pulcherrima, with10-day flowers, with five to seven flowers per stem, which give you twomonths of heaven. We are breeding for flower longevity also, and speciessuch as these are very intriguing building blocks....Although I have seen them grown beautifully in full sun, I prefer morningsun or filtered shady afternoon sun. Water drainage must be perfect.Sobralias love water and when in active growth, it is hard to over-water.They also love fresh air....When... grown outside, pests leave these alone except when they are inflower. Snails and slugs will travel miles and lie, cheat and steal to getto the flowers... Either use a safe product like Sluggo, or take a littlecopper garden tape and wrap the stem below the buds or new growth. Whengrown inside as a house plant in dry conditions, one must watch for mites,but this is seldom a problem in California....with Sobralias it's all about the roots. A strong root system is key forsuccess. You might hear from old garden talk that they need to be pot-boundto bloom well, but that is because usually a pot-bound plant will have agood root system. They do not have to be pot-bound, they just need goodroots. If growing outside, plant Sobralias in raised beds and pre-checkyour drainage....Sobralias are like women [and men...], there are many kinds... To pick asingle one as a favorite is impossible, so here are my three favorites.Sobralia fimbriata is an ephemeral type with beautiful dark green pleatedleaves. The 2- to 3-foot plant blooms twice a year with pastel flowers witha beautiful fimbriated (fringed) lip. The fragrance is incredible andunique. It is the only orchid flower that I will pick and carry with methrough the day just for the fragrance. Sobralia rogersiana var. Bolin ismy obsession. Sobralia callosa is my favorite miniature. Perfect littleflower, perfect little plant. It is truly a jewel of nature....I was not bitten by the orchid bug. I was assaulted by the orchid bug many,many moons ago. I've been growing, hybridizing and decorating with orchidsfor over 25 years. I began my professional career in the late 1970s whenthe city of Atlanta Parks Department hired me to work with its orchids inthe greenhouses in Piedmont Park. Returning home to the Bay Area, I washired by the Rod McLellan Co. as the head grower for the boardingdepartment and to hybridize Vanda orchids. In the early 1980s, I left tostart Bruce Rogers Orchids, an orchid consulting and management companybased in San Francisco. In 2002, I joined Terry Root of the Orchid Zone andco-founded OzGardens, a business devoted exclusively to hybridizing andgrowing Sobralias...
They will be available at the Pacific Orchid Exposition from severalvendors and at the San Francisco Orchid Society sale table. This isprobably the best venue in the world for Sobralias right now with speciesand hybrids, ephemeral and field types and both mature plants andseedlings. Sobralias can be found at nurseries such as BerkeleyHorticulture Nursery, Flora Grubb Nursery and Sloat Nurseries in Marin andSan Francisco. Large specimens can also be found at Living Green in SanFrancisco. In San Jose, Serene Orchids has Sobralia seedlings... expect topay around $15 for a seedling in a three- to four-inch pot...
in the entrance exhibit. We will have a few of the giants like Sob.calloglossa and Sob. cattleya and a few of the miniature and mid-sizedhybrids. Elleanthus is a close relative to Sobralia, with identicalfoliage, but pine cone-shaped flowers, and they should have flowers (butthe really big flowers don't come along until summer)...
Growing orchids is one of the few socially acceptable art forms that mencan get involved in and their masculinity is never questioned [except by...]."
URL : http://www.mercurynews.com/lifeandstyleheadlines/ci_8342105
photo : ["Sobralia mirabilis"]
http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site568/2008/0223/20080223__orchids23~1_Gallery.JPG
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Lady's Slipper Orchid
The unmistaken physical characteristic of this tropical orchid is the slipper or moccasin shape of the lip (largest of the three flower petals). These exotic flowers do not resemble any others of the vast orchid clan.
It is not to be confused with the native wildflower Yellow Lady's Slipper Orchid, Cypripedium calceolus, which grows in wetlands, woodlands and swampy areas throughout
Lady's Slipper is a terrestrial orchid with handsome, compact foliage. This orchid thrives in bright, indirect light with day temperatures in the 70s and night readings in the 60s.
An east window would be ideal, but a south or west window is a good location if a sheer curtain is used to soften the light. If the leaves begin to turn a pale green color, the plant is getting too much light.
Keep the soil mix moist, but not wet. Water once or twice a week, depending on the season. Less water is better than too much. Humidity levels of 50 percent or more are ideal. Misting is not suggested as a method of raising the humidity. This may cause the terminal growth to rot.
Repot the plants annually in the spring following bloom. Fertilize every month, using a balanced fertilizer at half strength.
During the summer, this orchid can vacation on the patio or deck in the shade. Just remember, the vacation is over when night temperatures go below 50 degrees.
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080223/COLUMNISTS18/802230312/1007/LIVING
Enjoy,
Steve Peralta
1888Orchids.com
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Moth Orchid - Phalaenopsis
-- Dave Brigner Franklin Park Conservatory
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/home_garden/stories/2008/02/03/plant03x_ART_02-03-08_I7_B99795S.html?type=rss&cat=&sid=101
Steve Peralta
1888Orchids.com
Friday, February 22, 2008
Singapore Will Be The Theme of the New York Botanical Garden's annual orchid show
"the
The theme of this year's show is
...
The major design elements of the exhibition... inspired by the classical parks and gardens of
pond, as well as a lane of trees arching overhead, covered with flowers.
Of the 4,000 or 5,000 plants that will be on display over the course of the show, a majority come from the Garden's own collection... Others by necessity are purchased from nurseries around the country...
The Garden has around 8,000 plants in its collection, many of them rare species and some over 100 years old. The Garden is also a federally
designated rescue center for plants confiscated by the Department of Agriculture. In 2005, for instance, 1,100 wild orchids were confiscated at
The plants were sent to the Garden... dehydrated, shriveled, and torn ? and the gardeners... immediately went to work to save as many as possible. In the end, around 80% of the plants survived... Some will be on display in
this year's exhibition.
...
The first known hybrid was created in 1856 by John Dominy, a grower for the English nursery of James Veitch & Sons.
...
orchid collectors... The most famous... was Benedict Roezl, a Czech botanist who worked for an English importer and commercial grower of orchids, Frederick Sander. Roezl, who traveled throughout North, Central, and
adept at prying orchids out of trees."
URL: http://www.nysun.com/article
photo : [caption : "Gardener Gary Bendykowski installs orchids for the upcoming orchid show at the
http://www.nysun.com/pics
"
The sixth annual orchid exhibition... fills the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory and much of the LuEsther T. Mertz Library building, will run from Feb. 23
to April 6...
The exhibition... will feature miniature orchids... and a gallery devoted to the orchids of
worldwide supply. The library will feature more orchid plants and displays about the garden's efforts to save rare plants, scientific studies involving
orchids, and 18th- and 19th-century botanical illustrations."
URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02
"the
This... show will be the biggest scheduled in
producing its annual International Orchid Show for the first time in 27 years. For the past six years, that show was held at
...
No date for resumption of the show has been proposed. "
URL:
http://www.nj.com/living
"The New York Botanical Garden Orchid Show, Feb. 23-April 6, Bronx, N.Y.,
www.nybg.org
Atlanta Botanical Garden "Orchid Daze, Gargoyles & Grace," through March 30,
www.atlantabotanicalgarden.org
URL: http://www.usatoday.com/travel
Wild Orchids of Alberta Canada on Display at the MacEwan College's South Campus
Enjoy,
Steve Peralta
1888Orchids.com
Thursday, February 21, 2008
OrchidSpecies.com now has 7902 species
Because of the expenditure I am in need of new funds so if your subscription has run out please renew or if you use the site and you have not subscribed please consider doing so. I have a set of Dunstervilles Orchids of Venezuela 5 vol set aside at 600.00, Hoehne's Brazilian flora and many other's awaiting purchase.
Thanks for your time
Jay Pfahl
OrchidSpecies.com
Friday, February 15, 2008
South Africa will host the World Orchid Conference (WOC) in 2014
This...will be confirmed at the next conference, to be held in Singapore in
2011.
... the Thebe Exhibitions and Events Group... with Thebe Conferences will
manage the event on behalf of the South African Orchid Society...
Approximately 3 000 delegates, many of them with spouses, are expected to
attend the September 2014 event at the Sandton Convention Centre in
Johannesburg, with some 80 exhibitors. The event will extend over five or
six days and include meetings of several international bodies, including
the International Orchid Commission.
The first WOC was held in St Louis, Missouri in 1954. Ever since it's been
held every three years, each time in a different city [two times in Miami /
1984 and 2008]... It was held in Durban in 1981.
...
Displays at the WOC include plants by amateur orchid societies and
professional and commercial growers, educational and scientific displays
and illustrations and fine, applied and decorative arts featuring orchids,
including photography, jewellery, ceramics and postage stamps."
URL : http://www.bizcommunity.com
Steve
1888Orchids.com