A nicely framed Paph
 

Long story, so sorry. A bit over a year ago my sister gave me what is still my only Paph, Paph Raisin Pie. Both the plant and I have been through a less than ideal year, but somehow this plant worked some magic on me, giving me a renewed focus on my orchids overall. And, of course, recovering this poor Paph which I almost killed. It recovered as I surrounded it with mostly Phals, though it did have to go to the darkest corner of the grow window. When I set up a light area I moved Raisin Pie there and she got really happy pretty quickly, with healthy new growth and a flower.

So this evening I put a chair into the otherwise furniture-less room where I grow under lights. When I sat down I was immediately taken by how Raisin Pie was framed in among blooming Phals. The plants are as they always sit but I'd never before had a vantagepoint with this view:
http://i1361.photobucket.com/albums/...psgjtvyebm.jpg
There are 7 blooming Phals framing Raisin Pie.

Good shot!

Looks like Raisin Pie is wearing a very large crown of phal blooms! Sweet!

What a great picture! Oh, and uhhhhhhhh, gonna need you to drop off that predominantly yellow phal with the pink highlights :biggrin: Does she have a name? I think I'm on the hunt for a new phal

OK. The darker yellow is Phal. Fuller's Sunset, of which there are two. The lighter yellow is Phal Little Emperor. To the right of LE, the greenish Phal is Creme de Menthe. The pink flowers mixed in at the top are Phal World Class (BigLip). The small ones underneath the Paph are Phal. Younghome Sunset. Sadly, Little Emperor is down to three flowers, Fuller's Sunset to about a dozen, Creme de Menthe to two. World Class and Younghome Sunset are out of bloom.

You caused me to order a Creme de Menthe from Carter & Holmes. They had a weekend special.

You won't regret it! I have three, two of which have bloomed for me and a third, less mature plant. C&H potted them in sphagnum, and they're growing madly in with my other warmer-room Phals. The flowers have lasted 4 months - so far.

cute! its almost as if she (or he) leaned in to pose for a nice shot :)

I need to take C&H phals out of sphagnum immediately or they get into trouble. I just can't keep any Phals alive in sphagnum other than the minis in shotglass sized plastic liners.

Over the years I've adapted to growing in it, and have even begin using sphagnum in small basket pots. For me, a real key to sphagnum has been the air flow around the plants - and through the pots. In the basket pots I use the sphagnum dries out in 36 to 48 hours. The root growth on my plants thusly potted has been far better than those more traditionally potted. I'm more anti- those clear flimsy plastic grow pots so many growers are using than I am the sphagnum they fill them with.