The Coconut Orchid-- Maxillaria tenuifolia

An orchid to look for, the Maxillaria tenuifolia has interesting foliage and colorful blooms, but it is not the primary reason people purchase this plant. This Maxillaria is widely sought after due to its strong fragrance, and can fill a home with the smell of sweet coconuts for the entirety of its blooming period.

The warm-loving tenuifolia ranges from Mexico to Nicaragua, an epiphyte growing in forests at low elevations. It prefers medium-high light, good moisture and warm temperatures. In the home, the plant needs some of those conditions replicated if it is to bloom and thrive.

Therefore, I place it in a south facing window, and with its long slender leaves it does very well hanging in a clay pot. Metal hangers for clay pots can be found at many garden center and conservatory shops. Some growers with greenhouses mount this plant onto cork oak or tree fern bark, but keeping this orchid moist when mounted would be a lot of work for the indoor grower- so pot it in either a mix of coconut husks & sphagnum or medium bark & sphagnum. With that mix, I'd recommend watering 2 times per week- more during the hottest and driest days of summer.

If treated properly, the tenuifolia will bloom every year in spring/early summer and should continue blooming for a couple of months. And the blooms are a treat; as I previously mentioned, they smell of sweet coconut and can fill a room as well as any candle.

Paphiopedilum Pinocchio - a multifloral Paph

What do we mean when we say multi-floral? Well, when referencing slipper orchids, it means that you will enjoy blooms for a long time. The multifloral Paphs bloom sequentially, with a new bloom developing behind the current flower, with flowers lasting for many months.

The Paph Pinocchio is a great example of the multi-floral Paphs, and is a cross between two species, Paph glaucophyllum and Paph primulinum. With proper care it just blooms and blooms, a new slipper opening days before the old one falls off the spike. It is easy to care for, needs medium-low light and a fairly moist environment.

A starter plant.... Degarmoara Flying High

Want an orchid/blooming plant that is easy to grow indoors? That is tolerant of varying light conditions, watering habits, and can handle a large temperature range? Look no further than the Degarmoara Flying High.

This modern intergeneric hybrid  is an orchid well suited for anyone just stepping into caring for plants. It is generally tolerant, willing to forgive of a myriad of abuses and churn out several different spikes of flowers each year. It comes in a range of cultivars, the most commonly grown being Degarmoara Flying High '"Stars n' Bars" -- which is inexpensive and widely available from a range of online nurseries and larger greenhouses.

Just put this orchid in any east or west facing window, as it needs medium light. Mine gets direct sunlight for no more than a couple hours a day. Indoor temperatures seem to suit in wonderfully. This orchid can be potted in any store bought orchid mix, and although it is not picky whatsoever, seems to do best in a mixture of medium and fine orchid bark. If you have it potted this way, you'll need to water it about twice a week. (Just pay attention to the psuedobulbs, if they begin to seriously shrivel up, increase watering a bit.) Fertilize sparingly, just follow the label directions on any orchid fertilizer. 

To rehash, care is pretty darn simple:
1) East or west window
2) Any bark mix
3) Water twice a week
4) Watch it bloom

If anyone has one, or ends up getting one, let me know how its doing for you and what you think of the Deg. Flying High.

Microterangis hariotiana

The Microterangis hariotiana is a miniature orchid that hails from the Comoros Islands. The Comoros are a set of islands off of Africa, very near toMadagascar and similar in climate and fauna. The species in the genus Microterangis are monopodial, with an upright growth habit and appearance similar to that of the easily found Phalaenopsis.

As the picture shows, this orchid is mounted on a piece of cork-oak bark; placed on a bed of moss and wrapped with fishing line until it is firmly in place. Many African miniatures (all part of the Angraecoid family) enjoy this culture, and can be mounted on cork bark or tree fern that you can get at specialty nurseries. For North America, I highly recommend the even more sustainable and easily obtainable grapevine, which you can get at any pet store; also blueberry branches, which can be found by speaking to a local fruit farm.

The size of this plant is amazingly small,with the individual leaves only measuring about 3 inches long. The flower spikes are pendulous, and the longest only measures 1.5-2 inches from the base of the plant to the tip. I have read that the flower spikes can get 8-10 inches long in subsequent bloomings, which would be quite a site.

Since this plant requires a high humidity but good air flow, mounting is the way to have gone with it; however, this presents some more stringent care requirements for the windowsill gardener. I've been playing with both the sunlight, temperature and watering schedule of this plant since I received it, but recently settled on specifics.

I started only watering the Microterangis every other day, but found it didn't seem quite happy So to keep the humidity up, I am heavily watering it every day, instead of the more common light daily misting and weekly soak that most mounted orchids get. This keeps the plant wet a lot longer, but it still nearly dries out before the next days watering. . I've got it in medium-high light right now sitting in the back row of plants on a Southern exposure, but have been considering moving it to an East or West facing window to reduce the direct sunlight a little. Temperature should be in the normal house range, it should thrive in the mainly 70 degree household, and this guy reportedly can handle anything from the 60s to the mid 80s as long as the humidity is kept up.

I think the Microterangis is a great genus for indoor/windowsill cultivation, as long as it is mounted and it is watered on a daily basis or more.

Stopping at a show....

Here's a brief look in pictures at why dropping in at a local orchid show, even for a brief moment, can be a cool experience.

The light hits a Psychopsis Mariposa just right

An Aerangis rhodostica in great form

A Habenaria Medusa, something I had never seen in person

You'll definitely get a chance to see some tropicals that you've never seen, and probably get a chance to talk about care of the ones you already have. I know I picked up a few very hard to find species at the last orchid show I went to, the one these pics came from. Click here to goto the American Orchid Societies' affiliate page to see what might be happening in your area. The shows I've been to have certainly been worth my time.

Wilsonara Tigersette 'Wild Court'

I wrote briefly last week about how budding orchids can be a beautiful display; while promising an update when the orchid I pictured finally bloomed. Well, it has graced me with a wonderful spray of flowers, showcasing the purple coloring and spots that were clearly visible while it was in bud.

 The Wilsonara genus is a man-made one, an intergeneric hybrid that combines Cochlioda, Odontoglossum and Oncidium. I have a few different examples of them, with the Wilsonara Tigersette 'Wild Court' as my most frequent and prolific bloomer.

Because of their varied parentage they come in a variety of shapes and colors, although a search through them shows that many have the star shape seen in my picture. Most Wilsonaras should hold up well to the temperate conditions of a house, 65-80F. In the northern hemisphere they do well in west and east facing windows, and should be shaded if in a south facing window. One important lesson I have learned from them is that they like to be kept a little more moist than other commonly sold Oncidiinae and Intergenerics. I accomplish this by adding about 40% sphagnum moss into the bark chip mix I pot them in, which keeps my watering schedules for all my plants intact, but you could also water them one extra time every week or so. I would suggest a pebble humidity tray for any indoor Wilsonara as well.

Plants in bud...

Here's a short post about something I quite enjoy about flowering plants- the buds. Its difficult not to appreciate the spikes of colorful, individualistic buds- each one hinting at the future appearance of the flowers that are developing within. The ones in the photo are from a Wilsonara Tigersette, which has been in spike for quite a while now. As it seems from the appearance of the buds, the flowers are purple spotted and quite nice. When it blooms, I will post some pictures of it and talk a little bit about its care.

Maxillaria friedrichsthalii

Here's something a little different than the hybrids that I have been sharing with you. It is a species orchid that grows wild from Central to South America with a unique growing habit and very small blooms. The blooms are about the size of the eraser on a pencil, maybe a bit bigger, and have a wonderfully fragrant scent. In the picture the bloom is as open as it gets, it never opens fully like many others.

I potted this guy completely in sphagnum moss, and have it in a medium-high light area (similar to how I light Cattleya and Schomburgkia- it gets a couple hours of direct light each day). I water it when the moss gets between almost dry-completely dry to the touch, and it sits on a pebble tray for a little extra humidity.

It has, as I mentioned, a unique growing habit and will nearly climb out of the pot, growing and leaning heavily towards a light source.This is the first time I've seen flowers on this orchid, so hopefully it continues to bloom for quite a while.