Just for fun, what is the focus of your orchid collection?

[The Mutant]

My main focus with my collection has started to appear, at first I didn't have one, but now, with 70 orchids at home, I do.

I only want two genera; Paphs and Phals. For the Paphs I prefer the barbata group, but a helenae, a gratrixianum, and a villosum are also part of the crowd, plus one multiflora, roebelenii, and I plan to get a roth and a Koopowitz. With Paphs, it seems I prefer species actually.

For the Phals I want mainly equestris and equestris hybrids. I'm trying to weed out the NoID:s, but some of them will stay (they're simply too gorgeous to give away). I avoid striped ones, don't like them, and I also don't like the waxy flowered ones, none of those will enter my home. I love the species with mottled leaves and have all I want to have now (schilleriana, stuartiana, lindenii, celebensis, philipinense). I also love hybrids with mottled leaves so if I come across one of those, it'll follow me home. Also, I prefer small blooming Phals, fragrance or no fragrance doesn't matter. If they are fragrant, that's just a bonus.

Oh, and I LOVE orange/peach coloured and/or yellow Phals. If I come across one of those that I like, it'll follow me home.

[ACK2]

Stephanie, what a great topic. I didn't have a focus for a long time, my focus was just to learn how to not kill Phals and then how to bloom them properly. That was quite a learning experience in itself.

But then I started really reading and studying and I found that I am drawn to the very unusual. Bulbo and Pleuro primarily.

But before I really honed my interests into a specific area, I had aquired a mixture. Phals, Paphs, terrestials. The Onc. Mendenhall 'hildos' has been opening up ever so slowly over the last few days. Fascinating to watch and the stem is a good two feet high.

For me, I had to try my hand at a number of orchids to see what was really interesting. What my lighting and temps were best for. And at the end of the day what I found the most delight in.

I was given recently, Gems of the Orchid World and I love the Mas. and Pleuro. Such amazing flower form.

Thank you for bringing this topic up.

[Floridian]

I didn't realize I had a focus until you brought it up... But actually, while I have a variety of types, I have more Cattleya Alliance orchids than anything else. And I really like fragrance, so I seek that trait out specifically. Also, my orchids need to be warm growing to thrive in South Florida. And for some reason I'm not that whacky about slipper orchids, so I don't have any of those. I do have all sorts of cattleyas, encyclias etc, along with dendrobiums and Oncidium alliance, plus a few phals and some one offs like a lycaste, chysis, zygos etc. My favorite plant is whatever happens to be in bloom :-)

[magicatt]

Thank you all. It fascinates me what makes a persons collection tick. People all have different collections, no two collections are ever the same and being the voyeur that I am, I like to peek inside what everyone else is doing.

What is the next phase of your collections?

[FairyInTheFlowers]

Originally Posted by magicatt

What is the next phase of your collections?

I might start off by selling all of my non-Phals to make room for more Phals, and to use that and the money I earn to buy some really high end stem props of select clones to use in breeding. I do enjoy some other genera, but none hold as much as an allure for me as do Phals, so it's hard to keep them around when I know that I could have Phals in their places. . . that's one reason I like this place, if I need to sell orchids, I will know the buyer pretty well enough to know that they will survive in their care.

[magicatt]

oh room for more phals. They really are satisfying orchids aren't they? Big beautiful sprays of blooms...I have a phal sogo grape that smells ever so faintly of perfume. It is my current favorite.

[fotofashion]

Focus? Focus? Wha' dat? I see it, I like it, I buy it. Kidding aside, I do have to be a bit careful not to buy the thin leaved varieties. My weather just does them in. I do not buy Phals. and several others but if it will survive here, I'll consider it.
Beverly A.

[NYCorchidman]

I agree with Beverly A.

I buy whatever I find atrractive.
So my collection may look like a bunch of mess sometimes, but after all, I bought them all because I loved them when I saw them first.

I do have preference though and they are fragrance and flower longevity. So I was never a fan of cattleyas. but I have four catts, one of which was brought home just today!
They are pretty enough to make up for a short lived flower (my mini is an exception, it had been in flower for two months! all others barely over a month or less) and many of them smell soooooo nice!

Now I'm focusing on minis as I am space-challenged at the moment. Thing is I don't find many of them minis attractive. Size matters!

[magicatt]

AAAHH, mini's!! There you go, more orchids in the same space...I don't have any mini's YET. Don't you have to water them more frequently because of the pot size?

I'm a lazy waterer. Everything of mine is in semi-hydro. They get watered once a week. Takes me one hour and I'm done.

I couldn't stand the thought of hours of watering....eeech, makes my skin crawl just thinking of it. I want maximum bloom with minimum care.

[Bud]

Beauty, fragrance, color, texture, form and white fragrant flowers...are my focus...the flower has to be proportionate to the plant( I dont like flowers that open below the leaves altho I like the flowers that open under the netpot) ...no particular specie or hybrid...just as long as I find it beautiful then I will grow it...thats why I have a crazy list of orchids in my collection