Stanhopea jenischiana Carlyle

Stanhopea jenischiana Carlyle1

Stanhopea jenischiana Carlyle2

Here is very special stanhopea  jenischiana variety Carlyle from my collection that just finished it’s flowering season. It’s very beautiful jenischiana with colorful, striking appearance, it came to me as small, unflowered seedling and I’ve been waiting for a while to see it’s blooms.

For some reason, jenischiana’s have have this “difficult to bloom” reputation and over the years I’ve heard so many stories from many fellow stanhopea growers about keeping it almost bone-dry to induce flowering, not giving it fertilizer or positioning it in full sun  - none of them sat well with me for a simple reason that this specie mostly native to Cauca valley in Colombia and one small isolated population in southern Equador near Pinas where it grows in a very wet mountain forests so my plants get plenty of feed, plenty of water and shady, filtered light.

The flowers of jenischiana Carlyle have rich, striking colouring of deep, buttery orange with many many dark burgundy spots and the scent is very sweet with many herbal and spicy undertones  - one can smell clove, nutmeg, cinnamon wrapped in sweetness and it lingers around for a long time.
 It’s very special stanhopea to love and to admire and to reflect on the Nature producing this beautiful orchid.