new guy from California

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Originally Posted by Imperial_Exotics

Heh heh... yeah. A buddy of mine made a crack about growing flowers and got smacked for it

Originally Posted by Imperial_Exotics

I like stuff that looks weird or alien, so you are probably not going to see me participating in some of the categories here, just not my thing.

Species orchids are unique for sure!

Some hybrids can be overdone. But I can see why people would be into them too.

Originally Posted by Imperial_Exotics

As I'm really planning on specializing heavily on Jewel Orchid species, I don't really expect to have too large a collection of anything else.... but you never know what will happen later.

It's always good to broaden the horizon. Some of us do have collections where certain kinds of orchids predominate - but for the most part there are other kinds of orchids in the mix too.

Just gotta find out what speaks to you...

Originally Posted by Imperial_Exotics

Last week I picked up some Maxillaria Tenufolia, pretty cool, alien looking orchids that smell like coconuts.

Max. tenuifolia is a nice species (btw, I'm a stickler for proper scientific name grammar, it makes researching and knowing what you're talking about easier; as you go along, you'll find that certain hybrids will have grex or cultivar names that look like species names). The smell of coconuts is absolutely mesmerizing. This is a plant where I don't consider the flower itself all that attractive relative to other Maxillarias, but it has a place in my heart.

There are many more Maxillarias that have relatively more attractively unique and exotic looking flowers that are much rarer in the trade.

Originally Posted by Imperial_Exotics

Forgot to mention my other "flowering" plants are Gesneriads. The weird looking ones of course, Aeschynanthus, Colmnea and Kohleria.

Nice. I'm sure you'll find other members here who are into Gesneriads too.

You're amongst people with the same interests. There is no judgement here.

Welcome to the OB.