Dendrobium speciosum var. hillii

[smweaver]

Blooms have been open for almost two weeks and are still in good condition. I'm not really thrilled with the scent--which is similar to, but not nearly as good as the var. grandiflorums I have. But it appears to only produce the fragrance during the early morning hours.

[Paul]

Lovely flowers. Looks like a rather compact plant

[Paphluvr]

Beautiful display. Love the presentation.

[smweaver]

Originally Posted by Paul

Lovely flowers. Looks like a rather compact plant

Hello, Paul. This is actually a fairly robustly growing species. Mine is still a relatively young plant, and the tallest pseudobulb is close to thirty inches in height, with a leaf span (on the largest growth) of around eighteen inches.

[Ray]

Here's a closeup of mine, before I gave it away:

[Dollythehun]

How old is your plant and what are your conditions?

[smweaver]

Originally Posted by Dollythehun

How old is your plant and what are your conditions?

It's at least eight years old. I grow it intermediate-to-cool during the winter rest period (daytime high of 74 F and nighttime low of 42 - 45 F), and it goes outside in the warmer months on the back deck, where it's protected (sort of) by a large, open-grid pergola (each "window" between the overhead slats is approximately a foot square). The pergola provides a minimum amount of protection from the noonday sun; it gets quite a bit of light, much more than a standard cattleya hybrid could handle. I fertilize every week with MSU fertilizer in RO water (and if I'm feeling lazy, I just aim the garden hose at the plant and drench it). It gets lots of water in the summer, and I only let it dry very slightly between waterings during that time of year; in the winter it stays dry for long stretches of time (between four and five weeks, and even then the watering is light). All of the speciosums get the same treatment, basically, regardless of the variety.

---------- Post added at 04:35 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:30 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Ray

Here's a closeup of mine, before I gave it away:

Lovely flowers, Ray. But this is (was?) variety hillii? The flowers look more substantial than any other pic I've seen of hillii's flowers. The blooms look a lot like either variety speciosum or curvicaule (at least to me, and I freely admit not being an expert).

[Paul]

Originally Posted by smweaver

Hello, Paul. This is actually a fairly robustly growing species. Mine is still a relatively young plant, and the tallest pseudobulb is close to thirty inches in height, with a leaf span (on the largest growth) of around eighteen inches.

No, compact that certainly isn't. Good to know though -- that's one I will never pursue owning. Don't have space for the big'uns.

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by Paul

Lovely flowers. Looks like a rather compact plant

If it is indeed var. hillii, it can get HUGE. I recall, quite a few years back, that the "best in show" plant at the Santa Barbara Orchid show was Den speciosum var. hillii 'Don Brown', that was 9 ft (3 m) across, with about 400 inflorescences. (Pity the poor AOS clerk that had to count them!) Got a CHM of 99 points (off the charts). I think the plant was about 30 years old, had been growing in a wine barrel. Most of us can't grow it to that level of perfection... At the time, I was just getting started in orchids, had recently acquired a small Den. speciosum, and thought, "OMG, I just got a St. Bernard puppy!" Mine never grew like that, however.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by smweaver

Lovely flowers, Ray. But this is (was?) variety hillii? The flowers look more substantial than any other pic I've seen of hillii's flowers. The blooms look a lot like either variety speciosum or curvicaule (at least to me, and I freely admit not being an expert).

Your guess is as good - likely better - than mine!

The plant was given to me as a single growth in a 2" pot by Rod of the former Venger's Orchids in Colorado Springs, and was my first replacement plant after the big freeze that wiped out my entire 20-year collection in January if 1994.

I am not a fan of dendrobiums, so it received unspecialized abuse for about ten years before it bloomed, which is where these photos came from.



Being too big for me (that plant is 48" sideways in its first bloom), I gave it to a grower in Aiken SC who has since divided it into about ten, 12" baskets. It was a judge from Australia that told him it was a hillii variety.