I'm lumping these species together because they aren't seen too often. All are in the Cattleya alliance.
FYI - most of my pics are washed out...I know it. I am working on getting an area set up in another room for pic taking. The lighting in the grow space is good for growing but not for pic taking.
Barkeria obovata - Got this one a bit over a year ago...easy grower. Bright light...water heavily when actively growing but little to no water after it drops it's leaves. {The leaf is on it's way out...turned purple-y a couple/few weeks ago] This one might be my easiest of the Barks I have...it's certainly the smallest. The mount it's on is barely an inch wide and the flowers a pretty small.
Barkeria cyclotella - I got this one a bit over a year ago too and while barks tend to be sprawlers...this one is my most sprawl-y. The flower color is amazing but, unfortunately, my pics don't really do it justice...they look a bit washed out. The color is a very strong/intense purple.
Same culture as the other Bark...Bright light, heavy water during active growth (green root tips), and little to no water once the root tips lose their green and it drops it's leaves. They tend to look like dried up sticks for part of the Winter.
Next up...Epidendrum Plastic Doll...a cross between Epi pseudepidendrum x Epi ilense. I'm still trying to figure out how to grow it well. I've blasted as many blooms as I've had open. So, it blooms more than once a year and the blooms do last quite awhile and while I've gotten some blooms...I'm still struggling to figure out what will keep it happy. So far I'm keeping the light on the low end of Catt light and a bit more moisture than most catts...still tweaking though. Very interesting flowers...no fragrance.
Last for this group...
Scaphyglottis imbricata (formerly Hexisea). I've really...no, make that REALLY struggled w/this plant. I got it a few years back and I have tried just about everything to get it to grow well but it's just not the prettiest of plants. I'm going to try mounting it this Spring to see if it'll like that a bit better than the current set up.
I give it bright light...and I seem to be having better luck w/lots of water but In the current set up it drains/dries fast. I'm hoping mounting will improve upon that. The pot it's in right now is a 2" pot w/cork in the bottom and a bit of sphag on top.
Again, my pics aren't really doing justice to the color...it's a good deal more intense red than the pics show. Tiny plant w/big flowers for the size of the plant.
That's it for those.
Not often seen Cattleya alliance species....
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