Arachnis flos-aeris

This is an orchid that likes to climb. It can grow very long and this plant was bought from MH nursery many years ago. I tied it the a soursop tree and over the years it has grown into a large plant with 4 growing branches. Recently 2 of the branches started to flower. The first one was so high up that its quite impossible for me to take a picture. This one is lower so I managed to get a close-up shot of the flower spike. 

This orchid can really grow quite messy due to its rambling habit. I decided to grow it for nostalgic reason: my grandfather used to grow them when our old house was at Jalan Hock Chye. It would climb on top of the front gate and was very free flowering.  

An interesting encounter this morning

This bird was spotted behind my house today perched upon a branch. Its the Large-tailed Nightjar(Caprimulgus macrurus), which is most often heard at night. It makes a call which resembles a loud "knocking" sound which can be heard from quite a distance. 

Globba species (not an orchid)

This plant is a member of the Ginger family and produces beautiful small flowers. Theres a common type G. leucantha ( white flowers) which can be found in the Bukit Timah nature reserve park.

This particular specimen was collected near a waterfall in Penang's Balik Pulau area.

Coelogyne celebensis

The beautiful flower of C. celebensis is once again present on the plant. It was attacked by a squirrel which chewed through parts of the plant's pseudobulb, weakening it and it took a long time to recover.

Phalaenopsis amboinensis flava

This is one of two plants of recently purchased P. amboinensis flava. This batch of amboinensis came from Taiwan and is reasonably priced compared to twenty years ago when the flava form could sell for $2000 per plant. 

Vanda merrillii

This is a Vanda bought from OSEA's booth at Hort Park a couple of years ago. Almost forgotten until it flowered recently.

The flowers are thick, waxy and has a very strong fragrance almost similar to jasmine.

Phalaenopsis sumatrana

This phalaenopsis's name seems to suggest that it is found only in Sumatra but in fact according to some websites it can also be found in Borneo, Peninsula Malaysia, as well as the Philippines.