growing laelias outside year round in California?
 

Where I live the temperatures outside are 90-105 F on summer days, 35-45 F on winter nights; up to 110 F and down to 25-30 F at the extremes. The air humidity is very low all summer long, higher in winter. I thought naively that no self-respecting orchid would tolerate those conditions. However, having now read the recent thread on rupicolous Laelias, I wonder if I can try to grow any Laelia or Cattleya species outside year-round. Is it possible? I'll probably have to move them indoors on the nights when it's below freezing, but otherwise can it be done? What are the species that can best tolerate the hot dry summer? Thanks in advance!

The folks at the Santa Barbara Orchid Estate are big fans of and experts at growing orchids outdoors in California. The link to their website is sborchid.com.

They are very helpful over the phone and want their customers to have the right growing conditions and be successful.

don't know what part of Cal you are in - I'm in San Jose - I have some Laelias (anceps, an anceps hybrid), C intermedia, and various Catt alliance intergenerics that are outside. The intergenerics go into the garage if forecast for overnight lows is mid 30s, to be safe. The anceps and intermedia are fine for short periods a bit below freezing.
The Santa Barbara Orchid Estate suggestion is great - I use their website to check out what might have cold tolerance. I also have the book Botanica's Orchids which has about 1200 species, and lists hardiness zones!

Other orchids that are known to take both heat and some cold:
most Cyms - tho some species may be more particular, but all my hybrids take everything the weather throws at them just fine
Den kingianum (I also grow Den victoria-reginae outside all year)
Neofinetia falcata

I have a number of orchids that are outside all year, just mostly due to lack of space inside! Most, I'm probably really pushing low temps, but watch for low temps getting to mid 30s, when they go into the garage. Fortunately we haven't had any freakishly cold weather since I've been doing this - guess if we do get some, my house will be wall to wall orchids for a few days!

I live in the north Los Angeles area, Sunland to be more precise. I have been growing orchids outside for over 30 years and there are many types that do very well, as long as you can provide them with lots of water and humidity. Here are some pics of my setup.

I have a laelia purpurata and oncidiums that have been outside in freezing cold to extreme heat and flower and grow as they are supposed to.

If you live nearby you can always come by and see my yard.

try Laelia anceps or Laelia speciosa for starters. (Most species from the dry oak forests of Mexico do fairly well in those conditons.) I believe the rupicolous Laelias are from Brazil, and require warmer winter temperatures.
Just about anything from the Cattleya alliance will do well in the summer, as long as they're watered frequently, but you'll have to bring most of them inside when temperatures start dropping into the 40s.

As WhiteRabbit mentioned, there are a bunch of other orchids that do well in those conditions. you might want to try these ones too:
Ascocentrum miniatum
Dendrobium speciosum
Calanthe triplicata
Neofinetia falcata

You may also want to consider joining your local orchid society. There's probably several people with experience growing orchids in conditions just like yours.

Orchidbyte, Dima was looking for plants that do well in hot & dry conditions, not hot & humid conditions. Sunland has humidity levels above 68% for most of the year, which is ideal for a wide variety of orchids. Compare that to Fresno, where the humidity levels average 24% for much of the summer. Providing plants with lots of humidity is simply not an option for some of us, particularly when we want to grow plants outside.

Thank you all for the great advices! Laelia anceps (or one of its hybrids) sounds great. Too bad I only have money to buy one :( . I am a member of Sacramento Orchid Society, so it may really be a good idea to ask the veterans there what they grow outside, too. Thanks again!

the humidity where I live in summer is around 15 - 30 percent on a good summer day, most of the time it is much lower. It is hot a d dry here. Even on days when the thunder head clouds are over the mountains our H factor is still low.

I suspect there's not a lot of people growing outside, but I'm sure you'll find a few in your society.
talk to Curtis Gean. I believe he grows all of his orchids in a greenhouse, but he knows quite a bit about Laelias. He's generally in town for the AOS judging during your monthly meetings

Wow, the site I checked for humidity levels showed 68% average for the summer months. I guess they were using the same data for the whole LA area.
what do you do to keep your humidity levels up?