Haraella retrocalla first bloom

[MJG]

First bloom of a new mini! The pot is on a teacup for perspective -- itty bitty.

I love the little hairy beard. That's probably not the technical term.

[vegetalmatter]

So cute!!!!! Wondering if you detect any fragrance on this one and what you would describe it as?

Mine just bloomed last week and the smell is just bizarre to me. I get only a very light hint of citrus..but mostly like used dryer sheets or burnt bread..not in a great away. Hard to describe but pretty distinct. Apparently it does a great job at seducing beetles.

[MJG]

Oh my lord, used dryer sheets.

I just smelled mine and there's zero scent. Today is the first day it's fully open though. I'll have to sniff it again as the flower matures. Will be sure to report back!! Your description has me intrigued.

[SouthPark]

That one is super cute! I think that one is a must-have!

I don't think we have that type in Australia!!!!!!!! That is a very nice one indeed - colour, shape and all. Very nice.

[DirtyCoconuts]

The hairy beard is the lip....and should be henceforth called the beard

[MJG]

Originally Posted by DirtyCoconuts

The hairy beard is the lip....and should be henceforth called the beard

Lol, thank you for both the clarification and the declaration! Beard it will be.

[Leafmite]

These are very cute. The first one I ever acquired smelled like lemon pledge (cleaning product) but I lost that one after several years. So far, the replacements haven't had a fragrance. I currently have two new ones from two different places and am waiting for these to bloom for the first time with hopes of that lemon pledge fragrance.

[Roberta]

It may be fragrant only at certain parts of the day... I think mid day, when it is warm, is when mine is most fragrant. "Lemon pledge" is very close. One of the cool things about this species is that you can get several flowers sequentially on a spike, and it will spike and bloom several times a year.

[camille1585]

So cute! It's one of my favorite minis. I've gone through 3 in 10+ years of growing, and all 3 smelled differently. The first one was the best, it smelled of freshly squeezed lemons. The second one smelled like artificial lemon scent, and the third had only a mild fragrance, similar to the second one. So there seems to be a ton of variability in fragrance, both in intensity and type of fragrance.

[MJG]

All of you who commented on the scent, that is very interesting!!!

I'm wondering too -- there seems to be lots of growing experience here -- how do you grow yours? Mine arrived in that tiny plastic pot. The moss and media it's packed in stay very wet when it's watered. I also have it in a terrarium and am afraid I'll drown or rot it.