Stanhopea Great Expectations

Here is an interesting stanhopea cross from my collection - it's a hybrid between stanhopea nigroviolacea and stanhopea hernandezii, registered under the name Great Expectations by D Hartley of England in 2007.

It flowers with beautifu, flamboyant blooms and one can see both parents in the structure of flowers. It always producing flower spike with two flowers, just like hernandezii and it's always showing very clearly hernandezii lip structure, but the petals of the flowers inherited nigraviolacea coloring. The scent isvery sweet vanilla with herbal undertones, very strong and penetrating.

Stanhopea Great Expectations is another attractive addition to any stanhopea collection.                                                                                                                                                                  

  

Stanhopea panamensis

This beautiful stanhopea bloomed right at the end ouf flowering season and it's stanhopea panamensis. Its native to Panama and it appears to be only growing in the area of the Cerro Campana, approx 50 km southwest of Panama City in high altitude of wet rainforests.

It was first mentioned in one of the orchids publications in 1988 and to date number of colored plants been discovered from pure white to heavy spotted varieties however all of them have stretched hypochil, flat and long.

My panamensis orchid have light coloring with a few spots on the petals, very interesting combination and it flowered with the most magical scent, layered with many tones to it. One can smell top floral tones followed by musk followed by herbal mixture - pure delight!

This specie well worth growing for any stanhopea collector, it's unusual and sometimes temperamental in cultivation - some years it appears to be just resting and then suddenly decides to reward patient stanhopea grower with beautiful blooms.

Stanhopea bucephalus var roezlii

One of my beautiful and rather rare stanhopea's finished it's flowering not long ago - it;s stanhopea bucephalus var roezlii, very nice and special orchid native only to small area of sourthern Ecuador that was discovered in 1830's. In it's native habitat it grows in the altitude of 1500m in the very wet montain forest.

It have very decorative flamboyant looking sculptured flowers of yellow/white tones with many purple dots all over the blooms and the scent is very strong sweet and fruity with a touch of cinnamon in the background. The plant itself is of medium size and the flowers are large, of generous proportions.

This is stunning and rare stanhopea to have in one's collection and I am always delighted in seeing this beauty in blooms.

Stanhopea Gary Baker

This is another beautiful stanhopea from my collection. It's stanhopea Gary Baker, very handsome cross of stanhopea Assidensis x jenishiana. Techically, of course, it's a 2nd generation cross since stanhopea Assiensis is a hybrid between tigrina x wardii. It was registered in early 1990's by Baker & Chantry, well known orchids vendors in US.

Stanhopea Gary Baker is one of the crossess that delights any stanhopea grower and collector - it's very vigorous plant, sending many many flower spikes during blooming season, it's large plant with many sculptured large leaves and it seems to do very well in our climate. The flowers are large, numerous on each flower spike and when they unfolding the background color is whitish, yet in a day or two the background color starts changing to pastel lemon and then deeper as the flower matures. There are many bright pink markings on the petals and the flowers are large and full.

The scent initally very strong cinnamon, penetrating and pungent and then secondary scent of herbs, also very powerful. There is no sweetness in the scent - just sharp, piercing smell that lingers for a very long time.

Stanhopea Gary Baker is another special stanhopea for anyone who loves these superior, exceptional orchids.

Stanhopea Assidensis

This handsome orchid just finished it's flowering season. It's stanhopea Assidensis very nice hybrid between stanhopea tigrina x stanhopea wardii. It's one of the earlier crossess registered by Goldchmidt of Royal Horticultural Society in 1922.

The flowers of this cross are large and full, pale pink color with many darker pink spots and blotches with dark burgundy eyes, the scent is very fragrant vanilla/ marchmallow combination, strong and penetrating and lasts a very long time. It's very generous cross, producing many flower spikes during growing season.

It's another distinct orchid that will delight any stanhopea grower.

Stanhopea inodora “Belize”

This beautiful variety of inodora just finished its flowering season – its var “Belize” and it’s very handsome variety of inodora to have in one’s collection.

It flowers with large, sculptured lime-green color blooms with a few red specks on the petals displaying full, showy blooms with red “eyes” and golden color middle. The scent is very strong herbal/spicy/medicinal with many undertones to it and it’s very stable, lasting a long time.

Most of the inodora’s stanhopeas native to wet mountain forests of Mexico and Nicaragua, displaying white-colored, unscented blooms, however this variety from Belize have different coloring and smell, making it another desired stanhopea for a collection.

It needs slightly different cultivation techniques to bring it to flower – it prefers drier and warmer winter situation and a lot of watering during active growing season. It’s very generous and fast growing stanhopea, sending many flower spikes during blooming time.

Stanhopea inodora “Belize” is another special and beautiful stanhopea to love and to admire.

Stanhopea haselowiana

Being discovered by famous orchid collector, Joseph Warscewicz, a Lithuanian of Polish descent, who made several expeditions into Central and South America during period 1840 to 1850, stanhopea haselowiana to this day remains one of the beautiful and special desired stanhopea’s for any collector of these magical orchids. It was found by Warscewicz on the eastern slopes of the Andes, in wet mountain forests of Peru and as far as I know, for many many years stanhopea haselowiana was classified as nomen obscurum, i.e. no one could correctly classify it, since no more plants were collected of this specie for a very long time.

These days, stanhopea haselowiana seems to be seldom in cultivation and to see one in bloom gives me great enjoyment and delight.

My plant just finished its flowering season, this year it developed couple of flower spikes with four stunning flowers each. The flowers are very large in size, much larger than other stanhopea’s, pastel, very pale pink color with many darker shade pink spots and blotches all over the blooms and the scent is very complicated with many tones to it. The initial scent is a sweet, herbal mixture and then very strong, pleasant and penetrating smell of myrrh – an absolute delight!

Another gorgeous stanhopea to love and to admire and to marvel at Nature for creating such magical and special orchid.

Stanhopea embreei

This stanhopea orchid one of the first one’s to flower this season in my collection and it’s another beautiful stanhopea to admire.

Stanhopea embreei native to Ecuador, mostly from the western slopes of Andes. It’s relatively new specie, only been discovered in 1960’s and documented in 1980’s and becoming very popular with collectors.

The color of the the blooms mostly white with yellow centre and darker eyes, with very faint spots on the petals. The flowers are large with distinct fruity and spicy scent that is very strong and lingers for a long time. It’s quite vigorous plant, very generous in developing many new shoots and flower spikes during growing season, thus quickly maturing.

We are right in the middle of summer in our part of the world and hot humid days follow tropical rains and storms, just what these beautiful, special orchids love. New growth everywhere, many of my orchids developing flower spikes at the moment and I’ll be featuring many more of the wonderful varieties, crosses and species of stanhopea’s later on in this blog.

Stanhopea’s – another growing season

Its first month of Spring in our part of the world and fabulous stanhopea orchids started waking up from their rest. As usual, there is a lot of anticipation on my part, being able to see again their beautiful blooms soon.

Each stanhopea growing season brings its own reward for me and again I am looking forward seeing old-favorites in blooms as well as new for me varieties and species. My own collection steadily increasing and I am hopping to feature some more of these magical orchids in this blog.

A lot of my plants started developing flowering spikes already and many of them very busy at the moment growing new leaves and pushing their roots through the planters – one can see new growth everywhere. So, the waiting game begins again…

How does one describe stanhopea orchid’s essence – bold, spectacular, rare, unusual, fascinating, astonishing, beautiful, amazing, majestic, primeval, frustrating, temperamental, capricious, unchanged, uncompromising and confident? But once they start flowering everything is forgotten – just this deep appreciation and honor to be able to share their unique vibrations and the magic of the new flowering season.

Stanhopea Tigrina var nigroviolacea var “Eddon” FCC/AOS

This beautiful stanhopea is one of the special tigrina/nigroviolacea crosses and its variety Eddon”, another late blooming stanhopea orchid for our climate. It finished flowering right at the end of autumn, and with its special blooms extending stanhopea’s flowering season just a little bit further.

It’s a beautiful orchid with large special flowers, its petals are a bit relaxed and free flowing and it’s usually carry two large flowers on each flower spike, concentrating its growing energy in the size and scent of the blooms. It has all the markings of tigrina/nigroviolacea cross with heavenly sweet vanilla/chocolate scent that lingers for a very long time. “Eddon” variety is another stanhopea that delights with its distinctive blooms.

Stanhopea Ronsard

This attractive stanhopea from my collection finished flowering not long ago – it’s one of the showy and striking stanhopea hybrids loved and admired by stanhopea collectors and lovers all over the world. Its stanhopea Ronsard and it was crossed by M Lecoufle of France in late 1980’s.

This handsome cross is of wardii x oculata producing intensely fragrant large flowers of beautiful shape, size and color. The blooms are strong yellow color with many maroon spots and large maroon eyes. The scent is very strong, penetrating, sweet and spicy with many pleasant undertones to it.

Another special stanhopea to love and to admire and for stanhopea collector one more majestic orchid to adore.

Stanhopea ruckeri var speciosa

This orchid is another new addition to my collection and this season was the first time that I’ve seen its flowers. Its stanhopea ruckeri var speciosa – very old and rare variety, its discovery in Honduras humid forests goes back to 1850’s. It’s not often seen in cultivation or stanhopea collections and another handsome plant to see and to admire.

The plant and flowers is of the medium size and the flowers have this lime green color with just a touch of yellow in the centre. The flowers have very light scent that’s difficult to describe, its smells of “freshness” – clean, crisp and bright. The blooms appear very delicate but actually quite tough and waxy.

Here in AU we are at the end of stanhopea flowering season. There are still a few of my plants that will be flowering shortly, but a majority of them finished it’s flowering and very busy with growing new growth. Our weather is rather hot, humid and rainy at the moment – just what these beautiful plants prefer and they are all showing tremendous growth in preparation for the next season.

Stanhopea costaricensis “Patsy”

This stanhopea is one of the rare stunning orchids in the stanhopea range and I have been waiting for a while to see its special and beautiful blooms.

Its stanhopea costaricensis var “Patsy” from my collection and it’s finished flowering not long ago. It’s native to Costa Rica and it grows in shady, clouded, evergreen tropical forests and it flowering with these spectacular flowers.

The plant is of the medium size, yet the flowers are quite large and full. The main color is pristine white with many violet color spots all over the flower and huge very dark violet color “eyes”. The scent is very strong sweet floral, fruity, and slightly spicy with undertones of bergamot - extremely striking and pleasing to the eye and senses combination!

This is another stanhopea with “an attitude” – that’s how I describe plant that to me seems to have this bold, ancient energy that survived unchanged, uncompromised and confident. And it’s an absolute honor to be able to share its unique vibrations and to glimpse at its magnificence and its magic.

Stanhopea Tigrina var Red Devil

This spectacular stanhopea Tigrina var Red Devil been around since 1980’s, however not many plants of this variety seen in cultivation. They are rather rare and it’s unfortunate, since it’s really beautiful and special stanhopea orchid.

It produces one of the biggest size flowers in the stanhopea orchids range and as you can see from the picture, the flowers are full and of generous size, measuring over 26 cm across. The flower spike usually carry only a couple of flowers and my plant developed only one spike with these two huge flowers, almost as if concentrating all of it’s energy on production of these magical blooms.

The color of the flower is pristine white with dark burgundy spots and splashes and the scent is strong, penetrating and heady vanilla that is unmistaken of the tigrina’s range.

This variety is one of the stunning orchids in stanhopea’s world and another variety to love and to admire.

Stanhopea Bellarensis x Inodora

This one is one of the new stanhopea’s crosses and only been released not long ago. It’s flowering first time this season in my collection and it’s another new introduction for me.

Stanhopea Bellarensis x Inodora quite vigorous plant and very generous with flowers, sending out many spikes during flowering season.

The flowers are quite large, very pleasing light orange color with many purple specs all over the flower, with dark orange centre.

The flowers quite interesting – they have one pair of eyes on the outside of the flower and two pairs of eyes on the inside, making it very unusual feature for a stanhopea orchid. The scent is also interesting, like a combination of light vanilla mixed with herbs, very strong and penetrating and it lingers for a long time.

It’s an absolute delight to see this abundance of beautiful flowers and to watch and to experience magic of another wonderful stanhopea orchid.

Stanhopea graveolens var aurata

Here is an introduction to one of the stanhopea’s in my collection – stanhopea graveolens var aurata. It’s one of the oldest recorded graveolens’s varieties, discovered in 1850’s in Guatemala and unfortunately, not many plants of this variety currently in cultivation.

What’s interesting about this variety is that flowers change colors as they mature – when flower unfolds, the color is while/ pale yellow with dark yellow centre and a few spots, but as the flower gets older, in a couple of days, it changes into deep dark, rich apricot hue. The scent is very strong and spicy, rather complicated, with many pungent undertones of clove, cinnamon, and all spice. The flowers appear delicate and light, but actually quite tough and waxy.

It’s one of the rare varieties in the stanhopea world and a beautiful and special orchid to have and to admire.

Stanhopea flower spikes - new season

Another wonderful stanhopea’s growing season is upon us here in AU and many of my orchids started sending their flowering spikes. The anticipation of seeing their beautiful flowers once more been growing stronger each day.

Our weather been a bit temperamental lately – very hot few days followed by cooler temperatures and rains, but it’s not stopping this wonderful, much awaited blooming cycle. Earlier flowering varieties started developing flower spikes and mid-season and later flowering varieties very busy at the moment growing new leaves and bulbs.

As usual, nothing can stop the flowering spike in its way – on the photo I’ve captured development of one of flower spike – as it was growing, it was hitting the side of the planter, so it’s simply turned above it.

Another plant’s flowering spike was growing against planter, so it found opening between the slates to continue its growth.

Many people tell me that they afraid that when flowering spike hits any object it will stop growing – my personal experience is different, I love this shear determination of life force of stanhopea orchids to flower and to produce its magical blooms each season.

Stanhopea wardii var citrina

It’s only first week of spring in our part of the world, but one of my earlier flowering stanhopea plants already in flower – it’s stanhopea wardii var citrina. This variety is from Colombia and relatively new in my collection. About few weeks ago, right in the middle of our winter I’ve noticed this plant started growing flower spikes which were very unusual, since we still had cold weather and I’ve been watching them grow since then.

This morning flowers opened up and I’ve captured them in this picture. The plant is of medium size and so are the flowers, however there are quite an abundance of them – one spike currently carry 11 flowers and another one developed 10, making it quite a beautiful flowering spectacle.

The flowers are of light mustard color, darker in the middle, with specks and eyes and the scent is distinct sweet citrus, like a combination of lemon and orange, all in one. This one is really beautiful and special stanhopea variety for a collector of these magical plants.

Stanhopea Wardii x Assidensis

This orchid is recent addition to my ever-expanding stanhopea collection – it’s a beautiful cross of stanhopea Wardii x Assidensis. The flowers are huge white/ yellow with many specks through the flowers and the flowers have this pastel luminous effect. The scent heavenly marshmallow, strong and penetrating. The plant is very vigorous and sends many flower spikes during growing season.

Majority of my stanhopea’s finished its flowering season, but we will have another couple of months of good growing weather and all of my plants at the moment growing with increased rate, many more leaves and bulbs developing and forming in preparation for the next magic stanhopea’s growing season.

Stanhopea embreei x wardii

This beautiful stanhopea is another lovely cross from my collection. I’ve acquired it quite a few years ago and every year it flowers when all other stanhopea’s finished its flowering season.

It’s quite vigorous grower and consistently sends multiple flower spikes every season with 4 or 5 flowers on every spike. The coloring is pastel yellow/white with pale yellow centre and dark small eyes with tiny spots. The scent is mild vanilla that lingers about for a long time.

Here in Sydney we are at the end of stanhopea’s flowering season and all of my plants busy at the moment with developing new growth and new leaf’s.