The first dozen you would keep if you had to chose.

[Sun rm.N.E.]

I would find it interesting to hear the first dozen of your orchids you would chose to take with you in a car if you were moving across the country?

That is the game I have been playing for the past few months. Of course, the real minis are no problem so I don't have to count them.

I already gave away most of my collection. The remaining orchids seem to bloom like never before and play an part in making the choices, like this Blc Keowee. It was on the give-away list because old timers complained that every time it was repotted it produced inferior blooms the next year. Well, this baby was transplanted less than a year ago and earned its place in the ARK for producing 2 delightful flowers, just in time. The fragrance is exquisite too and so far remained quite compact. Maybe the S/H type culture is responsible for the lack of setback.

Here is the current list.

Brassavola Grand Stars, Brassavola Kiliani Stars for night fragrance along with the African minis and Brassavola.

Blc Keowee, Blc Cooper Queen, Lc Angel Heart
Lc. Mari's Glory, Dendrobium kingianum alba and Onc. Sharry Baby for day-time fragrance.

Dendrobium junceum, Howeara Lava Burst, Darwinara Charm, all compact and attractive specimen plants.

And the only one without fragrance, Dendrobium Nora Tokunaga for blooming all through the 3 darkest months of the year in a small vase.

[Call_Me_Bob]

urr, thats a hard one!!

i think id keep

noid phal my mom bought me

my first noid den.

Lc secret love var. alba

alcra pacific nova 'pacific heights'

laelia anceps

neofinetia falcata 'setsu-zan'

phal H-Isin sunflower

maxillaria teniufolia

phalaenopsis pixie red

reed stem epidendrum

another centimetal noid phal

and my box of seedlings

[marydaniellesantos]

My first chid, Noid Phal
Gift from friend Noid Vanda
Aganax Eva's Blue Amazon
Phal equestris
Phal aphrodite
Aerides odorata
First Dend. (Noid)
Phal violacea var. Maylasia
Oncidium 'Sharry Baby'
Maxillaria tenuifolia
Dendrobium kingianum
Cattleya intermedia var. aquinii

Tough one. LOL.

[Call_Me_Bob]

good list, it was tough! and i only have around 40!

[Eyebabe]

Lc Eva Robinson 'Ingham'
Toshie Aoki 'Pizazz'
Bonanza 'Panamint'
Port of Paradise 'Emerald Isle'
Phal Fuller's Gold Stripe
Pagan Lovesong 'Shiela'
George King 'Serendipity'
Dan O'Neill
L. Latona
C. percivaliana 'Ondine'
C. Bob Betts 'White Lightning'
Pamela Hetherington 'Coronation'

and then there is the other dozen my husband will have in his car as he follows me on the hypothetical journey across the country

[marydaniellesantos]

Originally Posted by help

good list, it was tough! and i only have around 40!

Thats still eliminating 28! even if I had just 13, it would be difficult to pick the 12.

[Call_Me_Bob]

it was super hard! haha if i wasnt allowed to take a box of seedlings, idk what id do!

[elitebettas]

Omg lol, hmm

Grammatophyllum elegans
Vanda corulea
Cattleya amethystoglossa
Oncidium Sharry Baby
Darwinara Charm Blue Star
Rhynchostylis orange
Vanda denisoniana X Vanda merrilli
Cattleya Dowiana X L. Tenebrosa
2 noid cattleyas

[Angurek]

Tough call. But mine would have to be:

1) Den. Burana stripe (this was my very first plant, and it has never disappointed me).
2) Vanda Bronze Butterfly (A surprisingly tough, hardy little plant)
3) V. (Mimi Palmer "Teo Boon Hian" x coerulea)(Gorgeous, forgiving, and free-flowering. Need I say more?)
4) V. (Mimi Palmer "Teo Boon Hian" x Fuchs Delight)(See #3. Best impulse purchase I've ever made).
5) Bollea violacea (I love this plant)
6) Bollea lawrenceana (Survived a terrible fungal infection and sunburn, and still has the will to live. Anything this tenacious is a keeper in my book)
7) NoID Cattleya (Neat plant)
8) Pescatorea cerina (One of the most forgiving pesc's ever)
9) Pescatorea dayana (See #8)
10) Zygo. (Blue Blazes x Blue Blazes)(AKA Colonel Mustard)
11) Zns. Cynosure "Blue Bird" (My collection would be incomplete without it)
12) Propetalum (Z. Artur elle x Promenaea xanthina) (very vigorous)
13) Galeopetalum Giant "Rhein Moonlight"

(I'd go for a Baker's Dozen LOL)

And of course, my paphs. But they're small, so they'd come anyway.

Still, I'd hate to leave behind any plants. All of my plants, even the problem ones, are special to me.

[Sun rm.N.E.]

Such love of orchids! Cheers!

The first two collections I gave away was much harder. I did not feel anyone understood. Only one of them survived, Onc. Sharry Baby, in the care or a guy who casually mentioned to me 5 years later that all his plants died when he was away except an orchid I once gave him.

Thanks for playing along. Games are a good break from stress. Comes naturally to most children and can help them through the worst. For us it is an art form.