a good outdoor orchid rec for southern spain climate?

[tmoney]

hey all,

as the title says, i am hoping for a recommendation for an orchid that would grow outside year round in the typical conditions near the southern coast of spain. a zone map has the exact locale as around a zone 9, as it is slightly up in elevation and on a south facing slope a half hour drive from the coast. lots of palm trees around, so really nice here and today it’s around 24 with sun (the usual), but winters can be a little chilly, even approaching 0.

i was hoping for some things that we could put around the farm and her dad would not need to mess with too much, as he is a huge plant guy but likes cacti and succulents, if you catch my drift. but, he doesn’t have any orchids and i intend to change that.

even though i am not a huge fan of dendrobiums so far, i was thinking those might be just the thing for his place. tons of palms to hang in and lots of columns with wire and gratings and such. lots of natural orchid habitat is what im trying to say.

so, keeping in mind the low humidity generally here (avg 62 ish thru the year), what might be some good species to try out on the farm? thanks for any recs!!

[Dusty Ol' Man]

I was going to suggest phal type dens until you said 0°. I bring mine in when the temps fall below 10°.

[Fairorchids]

Laelia anceps should do fine.

Den kingianum and Den speciosum too (unless it rains a lot from Oct to Dec).

All 3 are fine in either full sun or lightly mottled shade.

Den nobile is a candidate for a lightly shaded location.

[Roberta]

Cymbidiums - they laugh at 0 C (good down to -2 or even -3), they laugh at 40 (with just a little shade) They need warm days and cool nights in the fall to set spikes. Flowers that can easily last 6 weeks, blooming in the fall-winter-early spring when little else is showing.

[estación seca]

If you're willing to bring in a pot on frosty nights... my late friend John Lavranos lived in Portugal at quite some distance from the sea but in view of it. He recommended I try Sobennikoffia robusta outdoors all year. He said his was in a low, wide clay dish with pumice for potting medium, and a layer of leaf litter over the pumice. He kept it moist. It was on his front porch and got late afternoon western sun, with summer temperatures often over 40C/104 F.

I've been looking for one for a while. They sold out before I could buy one. But I recently bought one from Louisiana Orchid Connection, and potted it as John recommended. Let's see how it does.

[Fuerte Rav]

ES - that's beautiful and it sounds like it could be a good one for me!

[rbarata]

My climate is almost like the one you described (maybe a little hotter and, in summer, much more dry than avg 60's...let's say <20%.
Do you want to share where it is your spanish location? I'm asking this because, from your description, it's a mild climate comparing with the typical south spanish conditions near the sea. Are you near Sierra Nevada?

Anyway, under my conditions (far from the sea) I grow Cymbs and Laelia anceps without any special care from my side. In fact I neglect them more than other orchids I have.
But I will make one more sugestion that might be ok: Ansellia africana. I almost got one last year but when I decided to buy it, it sold out.

[tmoney]

Originally Posted by rbarata

My climate is almost like the one you described (maybe a little hotter and, in summer, much more dry than avg 60's...let's say <20%.
Do you want to share where it is your spanish location? I'm asking this because, from your description, it's a mild climate comparing with the typical south spanish conditions near the sea. Are you near Sierra Nevada?

Anyway, under my conditions (far from the sea) I grow Cymbs and Laelia anceps without any special care from my side. In fact I neglect them more than other orchids I have.
But I will make one more sugestion that might be ok: Ansellia africana. I almost got one last year but when I decided to buy it, it sold out.

si, its near murcia, so yes, the sierras. but it’s not our place, it’s my girlfriends dads farm i want to plant some around, and neglect of stuff other than the grapes is what he’s good at! hahahah, so yes, i am looking for things that would be mostly at home so he doesn’t have to fuss over them, which he won’t!

also, this is not a hurry situation, just starting to look and think now so we can start accumulating some orchids or source them and have delivery the next time we come visit

thanks for all the suggestions so far

[Roberta]

Things that I can think of to make it totally easy... automate the watering, cover the area with some shade cloth (maybe 50%) That's the basic formula for my outdoor growing, southern California is pretty similar, to quote a friend who is a superb outdoor grower near me, just add water and subtract sunlight. (You don't have to subtract very much sunlight for the various suggestions that you have received, but the middle of summer can get a bit toasty for even the most robust plants)

[estación seca]

Originally Posted by tmoney

si, its near murcia, so yes, the sierras....

It's a warm Mediterranean climate. Most orchids might struggle planted in the landscape or trees unless you give regular summer water.