Schombonia "Firefly" has lots of Spikes

[Junebug]

A little over a year ago, I divided and transferred a 5" potted Schombonia "Firefly" to 2 different grapewood mounts. Both divisions have grown well but the front division has grown exceptionally well. The larger front division has 11 long spikes and the smaller back division has 6. The buds are beginning to take form and with any luck they should be blooming in the near future.

[WhiteRabbit]

That's awesome! I can't wait to see pix of these blooming!

[natasha]

must be awesome to be in your shadehouse!

[peeweelovesbooks]

Those are gorgeous! Can't wait to see the blooms. :0

What's a schombonia?

[trdyl]

Those are two great looking plants.

Maria,

A Schombonia is an old term for Schomburgkia x Broughtonia.

[Junebug]

Thanks to everyone for the kind comments.

This will first time blooms for me, but the plant had spent spikes at the time of purchase. I'm not sure what color to expect. There were several Fireflies for sale on the day I bought mine, but just one of them had a single "vibrant pink" bloom remaining. The grower told me he couldn't be certain of my plant's bloom color, but that it would not be white. He explained by telling me that blooms vary in color just like human offspring...sort of like in one family having 2 children with brown hair, 1 red head, and one blond. So I'm guessing this plant was grown from seed which may result in variations of each individual plant's bloom color.

I followed up with some on-line research on the Schombonia "Firefly" and found only one photo of a "vibrant pink" blooming specimen. Each spike produces clusters of small flowers so I should be getting a grand display from all the spikes on my two specimens. I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself.

[Angurek]

Wow. Looks like you're in for quite the display.

[smweaver]

Very nice, June. Not to go off-subject a bit, but didn't you also recently (within, maybe, the last month) have a post about one of your schomburgkia species plants that was getting ready to bloom? I can't seem to find that one and was wondering how the spikes were progressing (of course, since I can't find the post perhaps that means that I might be hallucinating; it's very hot here today and I've been spending too much time out in the sun doing yard work :-). Congratulations on the two plants posted here. It will be very exciting to see what the blooms look like.

Steve

[Junebug]

Originally Posted by smweaver

Very nice, June. Not to go off-subject a bit, but didn't you also recently (within, maybe, the last month) have a post about one of your schomburgkia species plants that was getting ready to bloom? I can't seem to find that one and was wondering how the spikes were progressing (of course, since I can't find the post perhaps that means that I might be hallucinating; it's very hot here today and I've been spending too much time out in the sun doing yard work :-). Congratulations on the two plants posted here. It will be very exciting to see what the blooms look like.

Steve

Thank you, and thanks for asking about the Schomburgkia. She began blooming about 2 weeks ago and she's real purdy. I recently discovered that my plant was reclassified from a Schom. to a Myrmecophelia so she's listed as a Myrmecophelia thompsoniana in my gallery photos. So far I've posted 7 photos of her and I'll post updates as her remaining buds open

Myrmecophelia thompsoniana - Orchid Board Galleries

[Junebug]

Originally Posted by peeweelovesbooks

Those are gorgeous! Can't wait to see the blooms. :0

What's a schombonia?

Thanks. Both plants began spiking 2 months ago and the anticipation is killing me.

A schombonia (smbna) is a cross between a Schomburgkia and Broughtonia. I'd never heard of one till I bought mine. I love the oval shaped pseudobulbs and compact growth.

When I got them the plants were conjoined and growing over the side of a 5" pot. The portion of the plant with exposed roots looked healthier than the potted portion so I decided to divide and mount both of them. They adjusted almost immediately and have been going/growing strong ever since. Last summer a few of their leaves were blemished as a result of too much sun exposure. They've been growing in the upper level of the shade house since last fall and receive E, S, and W exposure. That's still a lot of sunlight but the slat roof provides just the right amount of dappled shade to prevent sunburn.

I've noticed that you're interested in adding schoms to your collection. If you do, and if you decide to mount them, I would suggest you get a rather large wood specimen to mount them on. They grow rapidly and can overtake a small mount in no time.