KyushuCalanthe
Just call me Tom
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2008
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I went to an orchid show yesterday featuring mostly Cymbidium goeringii, a native of Japan, Korea, China, and Taiwan. The range of colors and forms is pretty amazing in this species. Here is just a taste of what I saw.
Standard green form in Japan (in my garden to contrast with what's to follow)
Lighter colored
Orange
Red
Yellow
Bold colors
Unusual shapes and colors
Variegated leaves
Growing this species isn't so difficult, but flowering them as well as you see here isn't straightforward. Among other cultural tricks, you have to put little opaque caps over the flower buds in fall so that green color doesn't develop in the buds during winter and obscure the oranges, reds, and yellows. You also have to be willing to part with a big chunk of money to buy the nicer ones. All the plants you see above would demand prices of certainly no less than $100 for a small clump and up to $1000 for the more unusual varieties. Moreover, you have to buy a plant in person to ensure it is a good clone since variation within one specified type can be large. To wit, this species is a tough one to handle unless you are a very serious collector.
Standard green form in Japan (in my garden to contrast with what's to follow)
Lighter colored
Orange
Red
Yellow
Bold colors
Unusual shapes and colors
Variegated leaves
Growing this species isn't so difficult, but flowering them as well as you see here isn't straightforward. Among other cultural tricks, you have to put little opaque caps over the flower buds in fall so that green color doesn't develop in the buds during winter and obscure the oranges, reds, and yellows. You also have to be willing to part with a big chunk of money to buy the nicer ones. All the plants you see above would demand prices of certainly no less than $100 for a small clump and up to $1000 for the more unusual varieties. Moreover, you have to buy a plant in person to ensure it is a good clone since variation within one specified type can be large. To wit, this species is a tough one to handle unless you are a very serious collector.