Orchid of the Week

12th February 2026 - Phalaenopsis ambionensis

This beautiful and fragrant phalaenopsis species is named after the Indonesian island of Ambon (part of the Muluku Islands) where it grows in warm wet evergreen forest in shade. The species has also been found in Sulawesi.

Flower are large (6cm across) waxy and long lasting. Flower spikes continue to flower for several years and so plants become floriferous as they mature into specimens.

We grow Phalaenopsis ambionensis with our other Phalaenopsis species in Ikea cabinets with grow lights in our front room where we can guarentee having species in flower (photop below)

We use our Phalaenopsis species collection for a seed source and love growing these rewarding orchids from seed as well as enjoying their attractive seed pods.

4th February 2026 - Cattleya coccinea

We are now entering the main spring flowering season for many of our cool mountain orchids. Spring is the end of the dry winter season in many cool tropical habitats in Asia and the Americas and is an ideal time for orchids to flower in evolutionary terms - the flowers will not be destroyed by wet season rains and and developing pods following pollination will develop when their are plenty of wet season resources for the plant.

Cattleya coccinea flowers transport me back to the cloud forests of Brazil where we found Cattleya coccinea growing as an epiphyte in mossy cloud forests in the Organ Mountains at around 1200m altitude. Plants were mostly growing in exposed positions where they receive good light, frequent mists, good air movement and cool temperatures. (photos 1,2,3 in our Cloud Forest Greenhouse - photos 4 and 5 in Brazil)

During our visits temperatures were around 12C at night and 22C during the day. It was very noticeable that the forest was dripping every morning from the mists and dew.

New growths have a single leaf that becomes purple in bright sunlight and the flowers are produced from immature growths. The flowers are pollinated by humming birds and are variable in size, shape and colour. Some flowers are rounder, some more angular, and some have considerable yellow on the lip and petals.

This does not seem to be the easiest plant to grow but the challenge is to replicate the plants natural conditions – Cool, wet, bright and windy. It is definitely worth the trouble and the plant flowering today in the greenhouse is growing mounted high in our Cloud Forest Greenhouse but in a spot that is easy to water so that we can soak it most days. Grown well they quickly make lovely specimens.

2nd February 2026 - Dinema polybulbon

This pretty little species is native to Central America where it grows in open forests from 600 to 3200m scrambling over the trunks and lower branches of tropical oaks.

The flowers produced singly from the tops of the most recent bulbs and are produced in profusion from this vigorous and straight forward species.

We grow our plants mounted on cork bark which allows the plant to scramble around as it does in wild plants and when it grows off the mount we encourage it to grow around the mount with little wires.

The natural range of the species accounts for its tolerance of warm and cool temperatures making this species a joy to grow. We grow plants in our cloud forest greenhouse (min 12C) where it seems very at home. As plants are mounted we spray them daily and twice a day in hot summer days.

The flowers are fragrant in the day time suggesting that the species is butterfly pollinated.

28th January 2026 - Masdevallia maxilimax

We have more than 70 species of Masdevallia in our collection but Masdevallia maxilimax is one of the most curious. The flowers may look just like a bright orange slug about to pounce on an unsuspecting orchid but are the perfect tube flower for humming bird pollination similar to many of the epiphytic Gesneriaceae (Gesneriads and similar genera) that share the Andean habitat of this Masdevallia)

Masdevallis maxilimax is endemic to Southern Ecuador where it is reported growing from 1800-2000m in cool wet forest.

We grow the species in our cloud forest greenhouse and keep plants near the floor of the greenhouse to reduce heat stress in the summer and when tghe heating is working hardest in the winter. The leaves of Masdevallia maxilimax are rather delicate and soon become desicated if plants are not well watered.

21st January 2026 - Oncidium cristatum

The winter storms are following one after another here on the South Coast with enormous waves crashing in beyond the greenhouses. (see this morning's photo). Inside the greenhouses life is much more serene and the Himalayas (our greenhouse for seasonally cool orchids) is looking wonderful as it always does through the spring months (January counts as spring if you have a cool greenhouse)

A real star at the moment is Oncidium cristatum with long arching sprays of gorgeous flowers. Our largest plant (shown here) has seven spikes each with 12 to 20 flowers.

Odontoglossum cristatum is native to Ecuador and Colombia where it is found in cloud forest from 1500-2600 m altitude and although this is a cloudforest habitat we find that plants do better in our Himalays Greenhouse grown a cooler and brighter perhaps suggesting that plants grow more exposed than the Masdevallias and Pleurothallis species that love our cloud forests greenhouse.

We have always known this plant as Odontoglossum cristatum but odontoglossum species have been included in Oncidium on the basis of molecular studies and we are relaxed about the name change.

Our plants go back to a seedling purchased in 1996 and since then we have grown the species equally well in pots, mounted and in baskets. Our clone is particularly strong growing and produces 80cm long branched flower spikes with very long lasting flowers. Plants have won many prizes over the years including Grand Champion of Europe at the European Orchid Show in Paris in 2017.

We have divided plants many times over the years and so plants of this wonderful species and wonderful clone are regularly available on our ETSY shop.

Giant waves today in our patch of sea beyond the nursery - the Portland Races

21st January 2026 - Trichoglottis pusilla

Our largest plant of Trichoglottis pusilla is in flower again in our Cloud Forests Greenhouse. The Cloud Forest greenhouse is set up to provide prefect conditions for the orchid native to the cool misty forests of the mountains of South and Central America like those we have seen in Brazil and Costa Rica - Tricoglottis pusilla is not from these forests, it is native to to Java where it grows in rain forest from 1000 to 2000m altitude. However the mountain conditions at this altitude in Java are not un like conditions in the mountains of South America and so our little Trichoglottis is right at home. As will many miniature species we grow our plants mounted on cork and spray them daily. This works particularly well for Trichoglottis pusilla as it often becomes pendant as it matures and the stem grows longer. This miniature member of the Vanda family enjoys bright light and so we hang plants high in the greenhouse.

20th January 2026 - Mediocalcar decoratum

In contrast to yesterday's long penduous orchid we have one of our compact little species today - Mediocalcar decoratum with its extraordinary bright little flowers.

The delicate little flowers of Mediocalcar decoratum are very unlike any other species we grow (apart from the closely related Mediocalcar biflorum) and it is always lovely when the little orange buds burst each spring.

The species comes from Papua New Guinea where it grows in shady forest up to 2500m. Mediocalcar decoratum’s small bell shaped flowers in orange and yellow suggest that it is probably pollinated by Sun Birds. Sun Bird’s are Africa and Asia’s version of South America’s Humming Birds and we have seen some lovely species in Rwanda.

Although this is a cool growing Asian species its habitat in the mountains of Papua New Guinea is very similar to the cloud forests of the Americas and so we grow plants in our Cloud Forest Greenhouse alongside masdevallias. (min 12C)

We grow all our plants of Mediocalcar decoratum mounted which suits their habit and plants flourish as long as they are protected from strong sun in the summer which can dry plants too much, and watered well throughout the year. The moss you can see on the cork mount has developed naturally, we never use moss when we mount plants (see here for more detail on mounting orchids)

We do have plants for sale this spring and there is one on our ETSY shop today.

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