Orchid Borealis

Dolly Varden Trout ( Salvelinus malma ) at Russian River We avoided traveling in summer 2020 due to the pandemic.  Taiga was really bummed because he was planning to go for Salmon fishing.  When we were deciding our vacation destination for the Independence Day weekend of 2021, Taiga was all set to go back to Klutina River for Sockeye (Red) Salmon, and Valdez for Pink Salmon, just like the trip we did in 2019 ( link ).  Salmon runs are different every year.  We checked various sources a couple days before the weekend, but salmons weren't running hot in Klutina nor Valdez.  So at the last minute, we changed the destination, and headed to Kenai peninsula.  I'm just writing down about the trip for this post before I forget. We had a late start on Sunday, July 4, but we managed to drive to Byers Lake Campground.  The last time we stayed here, it was infested with mosquitoes, but it wasn't bad this year.  We grabbed sandwich materials for dinner on the...

My orchid room gets filled with wonderful fragrance every year around May, and the fragrance intensifies in the evening.  We were away for 10 days at the end of May this year, so we missed quite a bit of this experience, but there are still some Vanda (Neofinetia) falcata blooming in the mid-June.    This variety, 高隈 (Takakuma), has white tiger variegation, and the pattern is fairy fuzzy (i.e. the borders of white and green parts are not sharply defined).  You might be wondering why this is "white" variegation since the variegation in the photo shows more yellowish patches.  But they are whiter in the new leaves and as the leaves become older, the variegation either disappears and/or becomes yellowish.  Most leaves on this plant are from last year or earlier, so you don't see the new leaves with white variegation in the photo.  Horiuchi (1995) mentioned that it would retain the beautiful variegation longer if it is grown under more shady condition, bu...

Bulbophyllum umbellatum appears to be somewhat uncommon in cultivation.  When you google it, you don't see many correctly identified photos of this species.  There is also some confusion about the name.  There used to be a species called Cirrhopetalum umbellatum .  Cirrhopetalum is now included in genus Bulbophyllum , and the current name for Cirrhopetalum umbellatum is Bulbophyllum longiflorum ( link to the photo in IOSPE ).  But some people are incorrectly calling them Bulbophyllum umbellatum . According to Flora of China , this species occurs in southern part of China, Bhutan, NE India, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, Vietnam, and Taiwan at the elevation range of 1000-2200 m. I got my plant from Troy Meyers as a seedling about 5 years ago ( 'MC411' x self ).  The seeds were from Dale Border, so my plant is likely to be the offspring of plant in IOSPE, whose photo was taken by him.  I think this is the second blooming under my cultivation.  It ...

Brassavola grandiflora is from the Pacific side of central America.  I obtained this plant from Andy's Orchids in 2017.  It is a care-free, easy growing plant, and it is relatively compact (height of 15-20cm).  It usually produces much more flowers, but this time it produced only 2 flowers.  It seems to flower more than once a year, and it seems to be aseasonal.  I keep it at a warm end of intermediate temperature; the max/min daily temperature is 29-27/21-24C (80-85/70-75F) in the summer and 18-21/16-18C (65-70/60-65F) in the winter. It is similar to B. nodosa .  Frequently, people mentions the larger flower size and wider, flatter, less terete leaf than B. nodosa as the difference.  Additonally, Withner (1998) mentioned that the different shape of the column (Fig. 5-2).   Difference in the column shape between Brassavola nodosa and B. grandiflora .  Excerpt from Fig. 5-2 of Withner (1998) Note that the lower side lobes near the ...