Winter courtyard 2018/19
 

Winter is here, greenhouse is up, long johns are de rigueur, and things are starting to bloom. Lots more coming soon. I have several Cattleya walkerianas that are spiking now so I am expecting an explosion of overwhelming fragrance over the next few months please.gif

First is my Sophronitis (Cattleya) cernua purchased from H&R summer of ‘17. I mounted this little guy in the spring when it became too hard to handle in a pot. It didn’t send out any growths till July and buds appeared right before the new pseudobulb matured. I’ve been keeping it fairly bright throughout the year with daily water in the summer and every other day or two in the winter.
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The always lovely Cycnodes Wine Delight ‘Jem’. All of my fall blooming catasetums are running behind this year. This is the first of my late bloomers to make an appearance

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Dendrobium lamellatum. I was thrilled when this bloomed for the first time a few months ago with 5 flowers. Apparently that was a practice run. In early November it popped out about 30 flowers. The blooms are tiny, don’t open up fully, and only last for a few days but it’s still a very cool looking plant and it re-blooms off of old canes. You can see my Brassavola nodosa still blooming in the last pic. It’s never bloomed this late before and there are 3 more buds getting ready to open. It must be confused
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Epidendrum porpax. BUGS! That’s what these little cuties look like to me. This thing is loaded with long lasting, blink and you’ll miss em, bug buds that have been opening over the past month. It seems lo like it a bit on the shady side with high humidity
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Maxtho. Bryon Rinke from Sunset Valley. This zygo type hybrid is amazing. Went through months of 100 degree heat this summer with nary a single spot or streak on its leaves. I just kept it Orchiata bark, grew it with my Latouria type Dens and watered it frequently. Oh, and it smells like roses and daffodils
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Bulbophyllum Daisy Chain. Free flowering summer through fall and definitely the easiest of my bulbos to bloom
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Ceratostylis rubra, probably my most glittery flowers and a total pain to photograph. This is new this year and I’ve been keeping it hanging under my Cattleyas that are in baskets.
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And finally, some new arrivals from Andy’s! The Holcoglossum wangii has been on my wish list for some time and, lucky for me, it was sent in bud. I love it. The throat is so much more vibrant than I was expecting. The other two in the last pic are not in spike but they are too adorable not to share. Left is Macroclinium junctum and right, Schoenorchis tixieri
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Very impressive, SaraJean! Hmmm, maybe I shouldn't post my pics. Lol

Beautiful plants, and well done! Bravo!:bowing

Ah you have multiple orchids I've been seriously considering. I almost purchased the cycnoches wine delight but decided to hold off until i have all my current orchids stable and happy. I also keep waffling on the wangii but your beautiful photos had me move it to the must have list. I have a holcoglossum kimballianum which appears to prefer growing upright that i'm absolutely in love with. I purchased a holco hybrid after my kimballianum because i love the leaves and compact size so much. I couldn't find another holc species that really called to me but the wangii was close and now i can see i need one. Good thing they're fairly easy to find.

Very nice - I want them all - the Ceratostylis though is gorgeous - great job in capturing the crystalline texture. It looks a lovely grow space too.

Wow! The Bryon Rinke is gorgeous! I wish I lived somewhere hot enough to grow outdoors. Jealous doesn't even cover it! :love::love::love:

Post em! I love seeing your orchids, they are always so beautifully grown

I am still kicking around getting a kinballianum. Those long arching stems are gorgeous

Thanks:) those Ceratostylis blooms sparkled in the sun like little gem stones. For being so tiny, it’s hard to miss. The grow space is a bit packed right now for winter but it works!
Thank you! The heat can be miserable for several months (both for me and my orchids). The high humidity and frequent rain helps but I added an extra fan outside this year which seemed to improve things. Less rot, less spotting and better growth all around

Wowza SaraJean!!! I second Dolly's emotions. Especially the part about now being hesitant to post my pics! :rofl::bowing

It smells as good as it looks! Takes a day or two for the fragrance to really develop but I can smell this single flower before I even get inside my greenhouse. First of my ladies to bloom this season
Cattleya walkeriana

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Beautiful, Sara Jean!

Nice growing on all of those, SaraJean! How fortunate you are to enjoy all of that beauty and fragrance daily. But long johns in New Orleans at this time of year? :scratchhead::biggrin: