Joe's Cyps for 2010

[parvi_17]

The Cyp season has just started in my garden, at least 2 weeks behind other parts of the globe (as usual).

First up is Cyp Sebastian (parviflorum x montanum). This has not grown at all since last year. It was planted in the fall of 2008. It still looks very cute though! Reminds me more of x andrewsii than montanum. I must apologize for the quality of my photos; it's hard to get at the plants. I also have lots of weeds as I haven't had the time to work in my garden...







Cyp Emil (parviflorum x calceolus), looking better than in previous years; both blooms have a nice round pouch with red speckles, and deep chocolate sepals and petals. They are also the biggest they've ever been. Hopefully the dorsals will flatten a bit more though; I'll take more photos if they do. This was planted in the fall of 2007, and that year was a single shoot with one flower. In 2008, it had 5 shoots and three flowers (one shoot had two), and last year it went down to three shoots with just one flower. This year, it has three shoots with two flowers.





There will be more to come; my Aki Pastel is almost open and looks to be very promising, and there will be lots of parviflorums, and hopefully montanum and reginae as well. My montanum, which was glorious last year, has taken a huge beating. Those things are really touchy! It doesn't look like either of my Ullas will flower this year , or my passerinum. The Ullas seem to react the same way as reginae to being moved. Every time I move a reginae it doesn't bloom for 1-2 years. As one of my Ullas is new and the other was moved in fall of 2008, that may be the issue. Anyway, stay tuned!

 

[John M]

Beautiful! Keep the photos coming, Joe!

 

[Dido]

Beautifull pictures thanks for sharing.

 

[KyushuCalanthe]

Very beautiful sepal/petal color on those crosses. I love montanum, but what a plant to try to grow! I'm surprised about your Ullas though. Keep the pics coming!

 

[smartie2000]

nice chots, I like them both!

my reginae has not opened its first leaf yet, seems so late!

 

[cnycharles]

very interesting collection!

 

[Jorch]

Can't wait to see the pictures of the other cyps! :clap:

 

[parvi_17]

my reginae has not opened its first leaf yet, seems so late!

They are really late - mine are only about 2" tall at the moment.

 

[SlipperFan]

Exciting time of the year!

 

[goldenrose]

:clap: :drool: :clap: :drool: Keep up the good work!

 

[SlipperKing]

good stuff!

 

[parvi_17]

Here is Cyp Aki Pastel (macranthos x pubescens). It turned out exactly the way I had hoped. The pouch is around the size of a young reginae, and I imagine the flower will get bigger in future bloomings (they are supposed to be HUGE). It's got a nice fragrance too. I'll probably get more shots of it tomorrow, along with better ones of my Emil now that the flowers are fully opened.






Here's another one of Emil (more tomorrow):

 

[Dido]

Really nice pictures thanks for posting

 

[KyushuCalanthe]

Thanks for posting these Joe. Keep 'em coming!

 

[goldenrose]

Oh yeah!!! :clap::clap: :drool::drool:

 

[parvi_17]

Here's the first of my pubescens to bloom, a seedling with 2 buds. This is among a number of small plants I got from work last year for dirt cheap (on the sale table) that I bought to experiment with different soils, fertilizers, etc.



My oldest Cyp and oldest orchid is just opening up. I bought it in 2001 as a single shoot with a single flower. It was planted in almost full shade under a tree that is aginst my garage. For years it grew there, always coming up as a single shoot, with a single, but big flower. In 2008 I moved it to a brighter spot, and last year it produced two shoots but still just one flower. This year it has three shoots and three flowers. The flowers are bigger than any of my other pubescens, and have always had a more golden pouch. It's one of my favorite plants. I can only imagine what it would look like had it been planted properly in the first place!



Here's a photo showing, from left to right, Sebastian, the pubescens pictured above, and Emil. The pubescens has the biggest flower. They are all growing in front of a lilac.



The next photo shows the pubescens and Emil. I wish the spot they are in looked prettier...

 

[smartie2000]

I love the deep colour of your oldest parviflorum

Awesome collection of blooms! Aki Pastel will be stunning when it gets larger

 

[fundulopanchax]

Very nice! I wish montanum would do well here in Connecticut but we are just too warm in the summer.

Ron

 

[parvi_17]

Today I'd like to share this little pubescens clump, which has 10 flowers on 14 shoots. This is a petite plant that only gets 22cm (8.5") tall. The flowers are 8cm (3.15") across, with a lip that is 4cm long x 2.5cm wide (about 1.5" x 1"). By contrast, my largest flowering pubescens grows to 38cm (15") tall and has flowers which are 10cm (4") across, with a lip that is 4.5cm x 3.25cm (1.75" x 1.25"). I have seen other pubescens that are up to 2 feet tall and have yet bigger flowers before. It's a variable taxon!

Though this is no monster, I still like the dainty look of it.








I'll also show a couple photos of a pale form of montanum I recently bought:







I still have some reginaes coming. My Ulla Silkens, Giselas, passerinum, and montanum are all acting up on me this year.

I'll throw in a photo of one of my Platanthera rotundifolia (a.k.a. Amerorchis rotundifolia). As I continue to get emails from multiple people requesting seeds and/or divisions of these plants, I will say publicly that I do not plan on selling, trading, or otherwise releasing them in the foreseeable future. I'm not even sure that these are settled in to my garden yet, and I don't like the idea of disturbing them the second they are! I did not get as many flowers as I did last year.

For those who don't know the story, I got these on a plant rescue mission with the Edmonton Naturalization Group back in 2008. They were growing in a cleared lot in the Acheson Industrial Area to the west of Edmonton, and we were given permission to go in and remove any important native plants before they started construction. This was the only orchid species we found. They grow by the thousands in that area, but they won't for long if they keep expanding that industrial park!

 

[parvi_17]

Oh, and here's an updated photo of my oldest and largest flowering pubescens: