December 2012

I've found that creating a post once a month works well, as most of the 'chids have been blooming rather sporadically. I have 3 new blooms to share, and all of them are first time bloomers.

Phalaenopsis equestris 'Rangiku'

This is a cute tiny flower. No fragrance on this one, but some of this species are known to be fragrant when there are many flowers. I received this little plant in a trade with a friend on the Big Leaf Forum, Rangiku, and I am very happy to have it in my collection. When the plant is mature it can carry hundreds of flowers on thin, delicate inflorescences.

 Phalaenopsis lueddemanniana

My partner and I have been looking forward to seeing this plant bloom for some time now. This is a line breed seedling from Joseph Wu, a famour hybridizer from Taiwan, by way of Krull-Smith in Florida. The breeders at Krull-Smith took their best to make this cross. It is quite fragrant, the initial fragrance is citrusy - like Fruit Loops, and the after smell reminds me of chemicals I used to smell in the salon, kinda like burnt hair... It's a very unusal scent, unlike my other Phal lueddemaniana, which has a very sweet heady fragrance.

 Phalaenopsis Germaine Vincent (violacea v indigo x speciosa 'C#1')

Example of Parents:

Phalaenopsis violacea                       Phalaenopsis speciosa 'C#1'

= Phalaenopsis Germain Vincent

I really adore this hybrid- very fragrant, and a nice mixture of both parents in terms of color and fragrance. As you can tell some random red blotches are showing through, and a nice magenta with indigo tones. The fragrance is reminscent of Phal violacea- sweet and spicy like cinnamon, with the soapy tones from Phal speciosa 'C#1'. I hope that when the plant is mature it will be loaded with flowers, already it is a strong grower- so I am hopeful for more flowers next blooming season! Since I do have both parents, I hope to remake this primary one day soon!

Today I decided to pick up a toothpick and try and set some pods. Here are the parents of the cross I am hoping takes:

 Phalaenopsis (cornu-cervi x Germaine Vincent)