Paphiopedilum callosum

Finally, a member of the barbata group flowered.  I bought this Paph at the recent Singapore Garden Festival at Gardens By The Bay from one of the Thai booths at the market place.  I was initially reluctant to buy them because i have no confidence in growing Paphs in the barbata group.  The seller was however very sure that his plants are able to grow in Singapore since he is growing them in similar climate conditions in Bangkok.  The plants were grown in Seramis clay granules with a Compost type potting mix.  Not long after, the roots started to appear and then a flower spike.  I was still not sure whether the bud will suffer bud blast like so many similar plants i had before so i did not really take pictures of the bud as it was developing.  However, to my surprise, the bud developed successfully and is now fully open.

It is not the best color or shape by callosum standard but nonetheless it is the first successful bloom of P.callosum in my collection.

I believe this is a variety called Paphiopedilum callosum var. thailandense.  Found in southern Thailand and is very closely related to the Malaysian species P.barbatum.  It seems to me that the very brightly colored flowers are usually found growing in higher altitudes.  Maybe cooler conditions tend to produce plants with more brightly colored flowers.  But then i may be wrong.

Paphiopedilum godefroyae var. alba 'White'

This plant came from a breeder in Thailand about 2 years ago.  According to him the albino plants of P. godefroyae comes in two forms; the white and the yellow.  This plant is grown in 50% shade in the open and given no fertilizer for a long time.  It gets its nutrients from the pine bark and compost in the potting mixture.

这棵兜兰是两年前从泰囯买进的。有黄白两种。

Together with this plant, i bought another plant labelled as P. leucochilum var. alba.  It is also flowering now with the bud just about to open this morning.

The godefroyae/leucochilum plants are subject of much debate too.  Some consider P. leucochilum as as a variety of godefroyae and label them as P. godefroyae var. leucochilum.  Others consider them separate and classify those with pure white pouches as P. leucochilum.

Phalaenopsis amboinensis var common

Phalaenopsis amboinensis has two main forms, a yellow and a white (common) form.  The common form has a white background with cinnamon colored bars or blotches.  The particular plant has very dense and dark patches of cinnamon.  It was purchased in one of the orchid shows a few years ago.  I mounted it onto a piece of fern bark and it took quite a long time to get used to its new environment. The plant is now in active growth mode so hopefully i can get a new growth from it.

Interesting Plant of Paph. glaucophyllum

This plant of Paph. glaucophyllum has flowers with an interesting pattern on its dorsal sepal.  Instead of the usual green patch with lines this one has scattered dots.  I grow my glaucophyllums and liemianums in the same medium and under the same conditions - bark, charcoal chips, limestone chips, clay pellets and some peat moss.

Close-up of the dorsal sepal

Paphiopedilum liemianum

This is the second flower on a new flower spike produced by this plant.  The plant is grown exposed to sun and rain, in moderate shade under my Phalaenopsis plants.  The flower is most beautiful on the first few days when the petals are still quite straight.  They will curve back a little in a couple of days.

This is the flower yesterday morning:

This is the flower this morning:

It is fully open and the petal has a slight twist.

Paphiopedilum concolor

If there is a Paph that's easy to flower in Singapore, i would say it has to be P.concolor.  It can tolerate our warm climate and when grown outdoors, it should be given a good shading of about 50%.  My plants are shaded more because i hang my Phalaenopsis above the Paphs.  Sometimes i think my Paphs are not getting enough light.

This is another plant of concolor which flowered recently.  The plant is very robust and is now carrying two flowers at the same time.

Phalaenopsis violacea var blue

It has been raining almost everyday recently so i guess the increased humidity coupled with cooler weather must have triggered the flowering of these blue violaceas.  Two of them are the violacea indigo variety while the other one was from MH nursery a few years ago.  These violaceas require almost the same care as regular violaceas.  However they generally grow slower and mortality rate among young plants is rather high.

Violacea blue

Violacea indigo #1

Violacea indigo #2

Coelogyne trinervis

This orchid flowered again recently.  It is an easy plant to take care of and flowers very frequently.  Every new shoot starts off as a flower spike and then when the flowers wither away, leaves would start to appear at the base of the flower spike.  These would grow longer and eventually the base would swell into a bulb.

This particular plant was mounted onto a large piece of fern bark and grown in 50% shade.  The bulbs are about 4-5 inches long and leaves are about 15-16 inches long.  It is a rather big plant.

Paphiopedilums Flowering

Paphiopedilum wenshanense
This plant was bought in April 2012 and began flowering again recently.  It is found naturally in Yunnan China and has thick leaves which are dark tessellated-green on top and purplish below.  Paph. wenshanense is thought by some to be actually a natural hybrid between concolor and bellatullum and it does have characteristics from both plants.  Those plants which are man-made crossings of the two are named Paphiopedilum conco-bellatulum.  A beautiful flower nevertheless, man-made or otherwise.

The green spots on the staminode may indicate that this plant is not actually wenshanense but probably S.Gratrix instead.  Another case of sellers mis-labelling their plants.

Paphiopedilum concolor
This is the second flower on the same plant that flowered recently.  The flower is smaller than the first but still quite a nice one.  The plant is getting stronger now with larger, thicker leaves and two new growths are produced.  Hope it would fill the pot soon so i can divide the plant.  Of the Brachypetalum section of Paphiopedilums, concolor seems to be most easily adaptable to our climate.

Paphiopedilum glaucophyllum
This plant is found naturally in Sumatra and Java.  The flowers open one at a time on a long flower spike so flowering can last a long long time ( usually for months ). It can be grown in Singapore but i observed that it can be sensitive to moving around so once it is happily growing in a location, i try not to shift it too much.

Another Paphiopedilum concolor

This flower just opened a few days ago.  It has a large rounded dorsal sepal as well as very cup-shaped petals.  The plant has excellent form and should be an award winning specimen.

Two types of Paphiopedilum concolor

Two forms of P.concolor recently flowered.

The first is the common type abundantly found in the wild.  This particular plant has very wild looking flowers and the plant is very robust and grows faster than the other nursery bred plants.

The second type can also be found in the wild and has long petals. It is called P.concolor var. longipetalum. There are some who thinks that this should be considered a different species altogether.

Paphiopedilum hybrid

This plant was recently bought from Song Orchids.  It is a hybrid of P.spicerianum and P.lowii.  The plant looks robust so hopefully it can survive our hot climate and flower again.

Paphiopedilum godefroyae var alba

The flower of this paph finally opened a couple of days ago. After surviving a weevil attack, the plant now has three growths.

Phalaenopsis Princess Kaiulani

This is a Phalaenopsis Princess Kaiulani created using the alba form of Phalaenopsis violacea and the flava form of Phalaenopsis amboinensis.  The result is a beautiful greenish yellow flower with a spicy fragrance.

Some flowers have darker yellow bars inherited from P.amboinensis but this plant has pure-colored flowers.

Paphiopedilum glaucophyllum

A new flower appeared on the flower stalk of P.glaucophyllum a few days ago.

On another plant, the flower bud is just about to open this morning.

A Few Paphs Getting Ready

Flower buds have begun to appear on a few Paphs, 

P.Wellesleyanum

P. godefroyae 'alba'

P. concolor

This plant was bought from one of the Garden Festivals in SunTec City. It survived a bacteria attack and is now stronger than ever.  The thing about bacteria attack is to act fast, cut deep and drench with Physan.  Then pray.

P. Honey

P. Honey is a hybrid between P.primulinum and P.philippinense. I have two plants and so far i am not having major problems growing them.  The plants came with flowers when i bought them from Song Orchids a few months ago.  

This plant actually tried flowering after the orginal flowers withered but the flower spike was mal-formed and it did not succeed.  The most recent flower spike looks normal and hopefully we will be seeing some flowers soon.  

Paphiopedilum lowii

This is a species of  Paph found from Malaysia, Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi and Borneo.  It is warm to hot growing so it can be successfully grown in Singapore.  I bought this plant from Woon Leng nursery about 2 years ago as a mature plant.  It finally began flowering a few weeks ago and today, the first flower is fully open.  It resembles its close relative Paphiopedilum haynaldianum from the Philippines.  Major differences include the shorter hairs on the flower stalk and the lack of spots on the dorsal sepal.

Dendrobium sulcatum

This is a medium sized Dendrobium found in Assam, eastern Himalayas, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and south central China at altitudes of 500 to 1000 meters.  I bought this plant from Woon Leng orchid nursery about a year ago and recently, it started blooming.  The plant has pseudobulbs which are flattened but yet quite plumb and the plant itself has a kind of rigid feel which is very unlike the similarly flattened Dendrobium lamellatum.

Paphiopedilum praestans

This is one of a few Paphs that can be grown relatively easily in Singapore.  The plant will bloom when it reaches maturity and has about two growths.  A few cool nights helps to encourage the plant to initiate flowering.

The flower spike appeared a couple of weeks ago and i almost missed it.  Didn't notice it until it was a few inches above the plant.  The flower is fully opened now and looking all fresh and glossy.

Paphiopedilum primulinum

This is a very cute looking Paph.  This orchid has an interesting history in that the albino form of the plant was first discovered and described.  Like its close relatives P.glaucophyllum and P.liemianum this plant produces its flowers one at a time and can remain flowering for almost a year.

Two very similar Paphs

The flowers of Paphiopedilum glaucophyllum and Pahiopedilum liemianum are very similar.  The plants are however quite distinct.  The underside of the leaves of Paph liemianum is full of purple spots whereas those of Paph glaucophyllum have none at all.

These two plants happen to be flowering now so it is a good opportunity to show the comparison between them.

Flower of Paph glaucophyllum

The leaves of Paph glaucophyllum

The flower of Paph liemianum

The leaves of Paph liemianum

Paphiopedilum philippinense

The petals of this Paph. philippinense are still straight this morning so it looks like this may be the variety with untwisted petals.

Paphiopedilum Wellesleyanum var. alba and Paphiopedilum philippinense

Paphiopedilum Wellesleyanum var alba  is a hybrid between Paph. concolor var alba  and Paph. ang thong var alba. This flower has a green spot on the anther cap and the petals/sepals are light yellow in color.

This plant was purchased about 2 years ago and has not flowered since.  The recent cool spell must have triggered it together with Paphiopedilum philippinense below.

Paph. pilippinense do flower here but it is extremely seasonal so it needs the right trigger at the right time.  In nature it flowers around April but i guess in Singapore a sudden cool spell may get a dormant plant to go into flowering mode.  This particular philippinense was in a group of plants i ordered from Taiwan 2 years ago. One type is suppose to have long petals while the other is suppose to have flat petals with no twists.  Lets see how this plant turns out to be.