What to do Den delicatum and Red emperor....

[smweaver]

I think Cymbidiums do like high humidity. It's the heat that they're not overly fond of (at least the standard varieties that have a lot of the cooler growing species in their backgrounds: traceyanum, lowianum, etc.). While I've been able to grow the standards in this climate, they tend not to flower for me. The madidums, on the other hand, react favorably to the continuous warmth. I do think--from what I've read--that canaliculatum can take full sun. The canaliculatum hybrid I have takes full sun, and it's a primary cross of canaliculatum and madidum (which, I think, means that it's probably less tolerant, thanks to the madidum parent, of glaring sunlight than a full canaliculatum is). Have you ordered from Royale Orchids before? Kevin (can't remember his last name, but he's the guy who runs the place) sent me a few pictures a couple of years ago of the canaliculatums he sells, and they were beautiful plants growing in nothing but granite. I wanted so badly to order one, but in the end I chickened out for fear of what crazy nightmare might be entailed for importing orchids to the US in these exciting times we live in. I bet he'd be a good source for you if you wanted to get a canaliculatum. And good luck with your falcorostrum. The pictures I've seen of that species have been impressive, and I've read that the flowers are highly fragrant. There's a commercial grower in California who carries this dendrobium. So I might have to experiment with it next summer to see how tolerant it is. If it can handle the occasional climb to 40 C in your climate, there might be hope for it here.

In answer to your question, I don't grow any orchids outdoors all year long here. Our winters drop down to -23 C. All of my orchids, however, go outside during the spring, summer and early fall. It's at those times of year when I get fairly carried away and start acquiring lots of plants. And it's at this time of year that my optimism usually comes back to haunt me as I scramble to rearrange furniture and piss off my partner in an effort to find space in the house to accommodate all of the orchids (turning your home into something that looks like an unkempt version of Costa Rica for five months of the year isn't a great idea for endearing yourself to a non-plant enamored significant other ).

[Undergrounder]

Hehehe i think we all know what it means to be sticking orchids on any space that remains vacant for too long. I think i have orchids sitting on the toilet, hanging from the shower, hanging from the eaves of the roof... on a table in the lounge, on the balcony...

It's amazing the canaliculatum growing in granite.. I'm having a bit of trouble with settling on a good mix for a few of my 'chids and i've been looking at pebbles to drain the mix a bit better.

I have been up to Royale a few times, the place is amazing and Kevin is great. Most of the plants that i bought new i've bought off him. His plants are slightly more expensive i guess but they're always the best quality. Just check out some of these pics i took the last time i was up there, the place is huge! - Check out that multi-hybrid Den in the last pic!

[smweaver]

That dendrobium's beautiful! And yes, it does look like Royale's is a huge nursery. They import plants several times per year to the Santa Barbara Orchid Estate in California. So I might send Kevin an email to see if he could ship one of his large canaliculatums here next spring. The variety sparkesii (dark red flowers) is the popular version of canaliculatum over here. But I prefer the typical kind with the yellow and brown (or maybe it's green) flowers. And that one, oddly enough, is the hard variety to get hold of in the US.

Now that you mention it, I'll have to remember that the bathroom shower curtain would make an excellent area to hang plants from! As if my friends and family didn't already think my hobby had gotten out of hand...