March and April Orchids

There were lots of orchid blooms in the greenhouse in March and April. These are a sampling. Below is a Cymbidium. They used to have Cymbidium corsages in walmart and like stores at Mother's Day, but I did not see any this year.

I post a picture of this Epidendrum nearly every year. I have been hgrowing it in the same pot for over 30 years. It is a misnomer to say it is in a pot, but there is one somewhere down under there. Many Epidendrons have been killed with too much water, so my solution to that is no potting media at all. The roots just hand in the air. When I water in the greenhouse, I spray it, except from October til I see buds on it around February. I start watering it again then. This just says "Spring' to me!

My slipper orchids (Paphiopedilum) bloomed sporadically this year. I only had 2 or 3 blooms. I try not to let the greenhouse temperature fall below 52F but this year one night it did. This may have effected the bloom or any one of a number of other factors. But this beauty is not to be sneezed at. It is the cultivar called 'Rosy Dawn'.

 I often think the orchids bloom in spite of me, not because of me.

Cymbidium 'Crystal Spring'

I had not watered in the greenhouse for several days. There had been no need. During cold overcast days, plants in the greenhouse don't use much water. Yesterday with the sun bright I checked and then began my watering routine. That's when I saw a flash of white deep under the mounds of miniature Cymbidium foliage. This is definitely NOT a miniature. In fact, the blooms are as large as many medium sized Cattleyas. I flung my watering wand down and  rescued it before any cold water could touch the flowers (water makes dark spots of the bloom). This plant was given to me as a Christmas present in 2011. If it bloomed last year, I don't have a record of it. What a surprise, and what a delight! There are only four flowers on the stalk, but the joy I felt at seeing it could not have been greater if there had been 20!