Stanhopea oculata x self (Brazil)

Stanhopea oculata x self (Brazil)

This specie is one of the largest in the whole stanhopea tribe with so many variations and probably in the future should be split into many sub-groups.
The native growing area encompasses from Mexico through Central America to Colombia, Venezuela and Brazil. Due to such a vast area of native growing oculata orchids can differ immensely in colors, size, fragrance,  even pollinators. If one adds to it natural hybrids, native back-crosses etc - oculata specie as it stands now always showing very high degree of variability.

This stanhopea oculata plant came to me some years ago labeled oculata x self ( Brazil )  and I’ve been very interested seeing it’s flowers. This season it bloomed and I love the coloring and the structure of the flowers.  The scent is very sweet with a lot of cinnamon in the background and the plant itself is of the medium size.

Brazilian oculata is rather rare and it gives me great pleasure to see this beauty in blooms this season.

Stanhopea impressa

Stanhopea impressa1

Stanhopea impressa2

Stanhopea impressa3

 

Not long ago one of my stanhopea impressa plants decided to bloom, I’ve been waiting for a while to see it’s beautiful flowers.
It’s first was described and documented in 1898 by Rolfe, It’s native to a few selective areas of western slopes of the Andes of Ecuador and in a small area of southern Colombia and grows in a very wet forests.

Flowers are large and full , white/yellow color with many red spots on the petals and the scent is strong herbal/ spicy with smell of basil and rosemary and many other strong herbs. Piercing kind of smell, without any sweetness to it.

The plant is strong and robust and grows quite quickly providing it’s watering requirements met, otherwise it refusing to flower - it likes copious amount of water during it’s growing season.

Another beautiful stanhopea for anyone who appreciates these special orchids.

Beautiful stanhopea’s blooms

Incredible flowers, complex intricate structure, heady strong complicated scents - may only flower for a few days but they more interesting in that short time than many other orchids that last for weeks. Nature’s special creations…

Stanhopea tigrina var nigro var "Eddon" 1

Stanhopea embreei1

 

Stanhopea Wetley Secret1

Stanhopea Wetley Secret2

Stanhopea embreei 2

 

 

Stanhopea tigrina var nigro var "Eddon" 2

 

 

 

 

Stanhopea ruckeri x nigroviolacea

Stanhopea ruckeri x nigroviolacea1

Stanhopea ruckeri x nigroviolacea

Some time ago a dear friend of ours crossed these two stanhopea orchids - (ruckeri x nigroviolacea) and gave us a few small seedlings. They been growing and maturing, getting stronger and bigger last number of years and finally they flowered this season.

It’s a beautiful cross with large showy flowers, very strong, robust plant that produced number of flower spikes with three blooms on each spike. The background colour is creamy/white with many many dark burgundy spots and marks with darker middle. The scent is very complicated with initial vanilla and then strong perfume of herbs and spices takes over.

Because of our hot and humid weather at the time of flowering, most of my pictures were taken very early in the morning, as the flowers were unfolding.

We are very grateful to him for creating such beautiful cross that will be welcomed in any stanhopea collection by many stanhopea growers and anyone who appreciate these magical orchids.

Flowering stanhopea’s this week

So many flowers, so little time to enjoy them all...

Stanhopea Hidden Agenda 1

Stanhopea tigrina1

Stanhopea tigrina 2

Stanhopea tigrina Glory of Mexico 1

Stanhopea tigrina Glory of Mexico 2

 

New stanhopea flowering season started.

Here we are right in the middle of new stanhopea flowering season now. Many of my orchids have flower spikes bringing anticipation of seeing beautiful and majestic flowers soon. Every flowering season is different and brings a lot of surprises - colours, scents, textures. Some of the early flowering stanhopea’s already in bloom and it’s so nice seeing them again in all their glory. 

Here are the plants that flowered first this season - 

Stanhopea Mem Paul Allen1

Stanhopea Mem Paul Allen 2

Stanhopea Great Expectations 1

Stanhopea Great Expectations 2

Syanhopea Bellarensis x Inodora 1

Stanhopea Bellarensis x Inodora 2

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.

New growing season in full swing

My beautiful stanhopea orchids flowering at the moment - many already showcasing their special, majestic blooms and many sending out new flower spikes to bloom later in the season. This year our weather is rather trying here in Sydney - very very hot and very very humid conditions making the major task watering and misting of all of my plants making sure they all receive the attention they require.

If you been growing stanhopea's for a while you will know that every growing season is different, each presenting different challenges and one learns to adapt to Nature because it's flowering time for stanhopea's.
Of course, in this heat the blooms don't last as long as one wants and pictures have to be taken very early in the morning as flowers just opening up and there are many other small adjustments required to bring the plants to it's optimum flowering stage, but all of them really just for one goal - after full year to see beautiful stanhopea's bloom once again, to greet old time favorites, to welcome new species and varieties and to experience and to glimpse at the Essence of Stanhopea's orchids.

Stanhopea Memoria Paul Allen

Stanhopea Tigrina var nigroviolacea var “Eddon” FCC/AOS

 

 

Stanhopea costaricensis “Patsy”

Stanhopea devoniensis x Assidensis

Some of my flowering stanhopea's

Stanhopea Wetley Secret

 

Stanhopea Wardii Clear

Stanhopea Spindleriana

My stanhopea flowering season continues with many of my orchids putting up spectacular show.
Our weather is hot and humid at the moment and it's a race for me to take as many pictures as I can of my beloved stanhopea's while the flowers are fresh at their opening stage. Watering and misting of plants during this time is of paramount importance and after that - just enjoyment of beautiful scented blooms.

Stanhopea Hidden Agenda

Stanhopea Hidden Agenda1

 

Stanhopea Hidden Agenda2

 

 

This beautiful orchid just finished it's flowering season and it's stanhopea Hidden Agenda - rather special and interesting cross of stanhopea insignis and stanhopea posadae. it was registered in 2004 by D Pulley of California and it's extraordinary, unusual looking stanhopea.

I've been patiently waiting to see it bloom for a while and this season it decided to flower, it did not disappoint - bold, mysterious, unique, dramatic - hybrid created with huge respect to both parents by one of the leading orchid's experts. One can see an intelligently planned design in this cross with tremendous affection for stanhopea's.

 The plant is of medium size and the blooms of bright yellow with many burgundy color markings. The scent is just as mysterious as the flowers -   strong, heady with many layers of spices and herbs - sharp and penetrating. 

Hidden Agenda is a special stanhopea that will be much welcomed by any collector and grower of these beautiful orchids.

Stanhopea's New 2014 blooming season started!

Well, it's been a long weit for me, but finally new stanhopea flowering season is upon us here in Australia. For a dedicated "stanhopea lover" like me a few months without fabolous flowers at times difficult to endure, yet while logically I understand that one can not harry-up Nature, good luck explaining THAT concept to the heart...

What helps me during cold winter months is going over many many stanhopea pictures that I take during blooming seasons, remebering scents and smells, reading and learning more about natural envirnoment of some of the species, trying to replicate at least some of them in cultivation and collecting more of these beautiful plants. As with any stanhopea collector, it all comes down to patience - these orchids have way of testing it like no others...

And of course when one finally discovers some flower spikes pushing through the planters - everything is forgotten - just huge anticipation from seeing old friends in bloom again and meeting and discover new for me varieties and species.

 

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 saccata "Rene"

This orchid is another recent addition to my collection and it's just finished it's flowering - it's stanhopea saccata "Rene" and it's beautiful, flamboyant looking stanhopea.

The plant itself is of the smallish size with thin-looking leaves, but the flowers quite large and showy with many beautiful bright colors and tones. Deep yellow, lime green, white and many purple dots sprinckled all over the blooms, giving kind of luminous appearance to the flowers.

The scent is very interesting , a bit difficult to describe and to me flowers smell a bit like fresh-cut apple, crisp and subtle - very unusual.

Stanhopea saccata "Rene" is very pretty variety and I am sure it will be welcome addition in any stanhopea collection.

Stanhopea devoniensis x Assidensis

This interesting cross just finished its flowering – its stanhopea devoniensis x Assidensis, very old hybrid of two popular stanhopea’s. Technically it’s of course is a triple cross, since stanhopea Assidensis also a cross between stanhopea Tigrina x stanhopea wardii.

Stanhopea devoniensis is very old name for stanhopea hernandezii that was used until early 1900’s and this plant have a lot of characteristics of all of its parents. It’s rather slow growing orchid and it takes it’s time to flower, I’ve had it for a number of years and was looking forward to see it in bloom for a while.

The flowers are large, pale apricot color with a bit darker in the middle with many dark burgundy color spots all over the blooms. The scent is very fruity, sweet and spicy that is very strong and stable and lasts a long time. It’s a beautiful stanhopea to have in one’s collection.