Stanhopea Ronsard
 

These are the first blooms from my one and only Stanhopea. She was purchased last September and is a wardii, oculata hybrid. Her blossoms lasted about 5 days and had an intense vanilla/coconut fragrance.:biggrin:
DSCN7977_Medium_ - Orchid Board Galleries
DSCN8034_Medium_ - Orchid Board Galleries

Beautiful, well done. Maybe you need more stans???:evil: Love your out door shade house/arbour.

Thank you. More stans...hmmm... I don't know cause they can get rather large and have the potential to become space hogs. I do love this one though.

It's kind of funny. Thinking about space to grow was something I never used to consider. It was about 5 years ago when I made a few baggy purchases and began to experiment with noid rescues. They were my first victims and I just wanted to keep them alive and healthy so they'd bloom. It never occurred to me that they might get large one day.

Last summer my husband was standing on the back porch and as he looked around he remarked that I needed to stop purchasing so many orchids. In reality there had been very few new additions. For the most part he was observing growth and divisions from my existing plants. During the next few months I began coaxing him to build me a shade structure, and then one day he just surprised me with a truck full of shade house building materials and the rest is history. :biggrin:

My story is similar, starting with the 14$ costco phals my collection has grown from 2 or 3 phals to 350 ish various orchids. (I say 350ish cause I'm scared to count):rofl: UNLIKE you, the majority of my collection has not grown due to divisions and growth of existing...I just keep buying. Time to really slow down though, guess that is what we all say.

During our summers - May till approx. end of Sept I keep about 1/2 of my collection in my arbour near our pond (similar to yours in structure - will send a pic if I can find easily) so it's just winters where I really feel that things are way too crowded.

I love your growing space and seem to remember a photo you posted some time ago. I believe you were getting ready for winter and your arbor was emptied of it's contents, but still impressive. At the time I was looking for shade house ideas and your picture inspired me.

About 80 percent of my orchid collection originated from discounted/sick noids, baggy/bare roots, noid gifts, or cuttings. In the beginning they were my learning tools. I gained knowledge of cultivation by caring for them, but spikes, buds, and blooms were things I only dreamed of for a very long time. Along the way I've managed to muster a little bit of knowledge and some degree of confidence. At this stage I've pretty much sworn off noids (cause I have so many of them) and have become more selective in my choices of hybrids and species. :)

Nice pics! The coloration seems to favor the oculata with the red spots.

Thank you. I was very pleased with the color, pattern, texture, and fragrance of these blooms.

Thank you. I stepped out of my noid comfort zone with this one, and I'm very pleased with the results.:biggrin:

Wowza! What a beauty! Five days sounds like a lot for a stanhopea, too.