11th July 2025 - Summer Coelogynes - Coelogyne sulphurea var.sulphurea

This week's stars of the greenhouse are our summer flowering Coelogynes. The three species in our photo are Coelogyne abreviata, Coelogyne fluctuata and Coelogyne suphurea (Left to right). Today we will look in detail at Coelogyne sulphurea. 

Our plant is the single leaved variety of the species that is found in Borneo, Java, Malaysia, Philippines and Sumatra. The two leaved variety, only found on Mount Kinabalu, Sabah, is Coelogyne sulphurea var, crassifiolia.

Coelogyne sulphurea is reported from 600-2700m altitude indicating a wide tolerance of temperatures and we find the species to be very happy in our cloud forest greenhouse (min 12C).

The species produces its new growths around midsummer that grow rapidly and produce upright spikes of around 10-15 creamy flowers with attractive pink bracts. Flowers have a lovely lip with a large orange blotch.

We keep plants well watered when in growth (Summer and autumn) and a little dryer when resting (winter and spring). We find that plants seem to appreciate good light, responding with multiple growths and heavy flowering.

We have grown this species for many years under the name Chelonistele sulphurea but  Chelonistele has recently been included in Coelogyne (which makes sense to us).

 1st July 2025 - Lycaste virginalis 'alba'

This is the plant that sits on our upstairs bathroom window (photo 4). The window faces west and is partly shaded by an olive tree. 

Lycaste virginalis 'alba' is the national flower of Guatemala where it is called "La Monja Blanca" spanish for the white nun or "saq ixq" in Q'eqchi (Maya language) meaning white woman,

Lycaste virginalis is found from Southern Mexico to Honduras and grows in wet forests from 1200 to 1800m altitude. I have seen the closely related Lycaste macrophylla (photo 5) growing in Costa Rica in similar wet forest and was surprised by the deep shade favoured by the plant. I shouldn't have been surprised as the large thin leaves are clearly evolved for capturing all the light going.  This habitat choice makes the species a well suited to indoor growing in a room that doesnt get to warm or bright - just like our bathroom.

The plants have robust bulbs to support the species through the dry season and we grow the plant dryer in the winter but do not keep the plant completely dry.

I am not sure about white ladies or white nuns but I am sure that this is a lovely orchid.

21st June 2025 - Bulbophyllum roxburgii

Continuing Bulbophyllum week we have the delightful miniature Bulbophyllum roxburghii. As you can see the flowers have many similarities with Bulbophyllum longiflorum but the tiny flowers are just 2cm long and the flower head is 2.5cm across - the plant is in a 6cm pot!

Bulbophyllum roxburghii is from low altitude at the the lower end of himalayan valleys from Sikkim across to Assam. This is habitat we know well from our visits to Sikkim, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh in North East India. While the tops of the river valleys are snowy pine forest and meadow, the ends of the valleys are near to sea level and have a hot monsoon climate. In the summer conditions are hot and wet while winters are warm and dry. The forest here is semi-deciduous and many orchids are exposed to bright light.

Bulbophyllum roxburghii copes with this climate by growing in shady spots and having hard leathery leaves and relatively large pseudobulbs for a miniature orchid.

We grow the species indoors in our IKEA cases with a winter minimum of 17C and replicating the native climate we keep plants wet in the summer and much druer in the winter. Flowers emerge in June just before the new growth.

May31st 2025 - Dendrobium victoria regina

Every summer is marked in our cloud forest greenhouse by the dramatic flowering of Dendrobium victoria regina.

This stunning orchid from the mountains of the Philippines has always been a favourite in our collection and, as I have mentioned before, we have two lovely clones. The first with very large purple flowers (photos 1 and 2) and a lighter blue smaller flowered but very vigorous clone (photo 3)

We have more seedling of the cross between the two in the lab and available soon.

Dendrobium victoria regina is a cool growing epiphyte, and in the wild grows on moss covered trees in consistent moisture all year round. 

In cultivation we grow plants hanging in our cloud forest greenhouse (winter minimum 12C) and watered daily, or twice daily in warm weather.

The BBC spent plently of time filming these gorgeous flowers last week at the nursery and we are hoping that they will still be at their best for the Gardeners World Live Show at the NEC in the second week of June.

May 25th 2025 - Bulbophyllum wendlandianum

In contrast to Yesterday's diminutive bulbophyllum today's species has dramatic 14cm flowers in bright red.

We originally kept this species under the name Cirrhopetalum collettii as the Bulbophyllums with their flowers produced in a ring were previously known as Cirrhopetalums. To add to the confusion Bulbophyllum collettii is a totally different species so it is great to have its identity sorted - for all our names we follow Kew's Plants of the World Online which is a great place to search for plant names as well as giving access to lots of herbarium sheet images to check plants against.

Bulbophyllum wendlandianum is native to Laos, Myanmar and Thailand but is not a species we have seen in travels to South East Asia. It is reported from hot lowland forests right up to 2000m altitude and we have found plants in cultivation to be tolerant of a wide range of conditions. Our plants grow high in our Cloud forest greenhouse and the high light conditions here induce plants to flower very freely (as you can see from the photographs). Flowers only last about a week but for that week plants look amazing. Plants are compact making this a great orchid to grow.

May 12th 2025 - Dendrobium densiforum

We are delighted that our greenhouses are full of flowers this week as we have BBC Gardeners World cameras arriving on Friday. The most flowery species is our wonderful old plant of Dendrobium densiflorum.

As you can see this orchid completely fill part of the roof of our Cloud Forest Greenhouse and looks remarkably similar to the plants we have seen in Sikkim (photo 3)

In Sikkim we have found the species growing at around 1000m where it lives as an epiphyte generally in tall semi-evergreen trees with little moss. The high end of its range overlaps the lower end of Dendrobium nobile’s range and we have seen both species flowering together in late spring just as they do in our greenhouse.

We grow out plants mounted on large sticks with heavy watering in the summer. 

The natural habitat of the species is a little warmer than that of most of our orchids in our cloud forests greenhouse (min 12C), and a lot warmer than our Himalayan greenhouse (min 7C) (Our Cymbidiums and Coelogynes live at least 1000m higher up than Dendrobium densiflorum in the Sikkim forests) So to provide ideal conditions for Dendrobium densiflorum we hang our plant high in the roof of the greenhouse where it clearly enjoys the extra warmth and light.

In its habitat the summers are warm and wet and the winters cooler and dryer but not to dry as shown by the moss on its host tree.

Plants are very long lived and flower from older pseudobulbs so patience is required to grow a specimen – but it is well worth it as shown by the lovely specimen in the forests of Sikkim and in our greenhouse. Our plant came from a wonderful old orchid friend John House and it is nice to remember him each spring when it flowers. 

May 8th 2025 - Bifrenaria harrisoniana

The species, which has been a firm favourite since Victorian times, has thick waxy flowers that are long lasting if kept dry. If you are into scented plants, you just must grow this species. It is a real shame that we can’t provide scent with our photos here – you just have to come to the show this weekend.

Bifrenaria harrisoniae is native to the Mata Atlantica, Brazil, and in 2000 our expedition came across it growing on a bare granite mountain side West of Nova Friburgo.

As the photo (photo 3) shows, plants are growing in full sun with their roots holding firmly to the rock and very little around the plant to retain moisture. This rock was dry in the winter when we visited but would be running with water for much of the wet summer season. After seeing the plant in the wild we adjusted our growing of the species to give more light but keep cool temperatures (the altitude was around 1000m) and we grow plants in the brightests part of our Himalayas greenhouse (minimum 7C)

The habitat also sheds light on the why the species choses April both to flower and release seed. In April the climate here is still dry meaning that flowers will remain undamaged until pollinated and seed released now will be able to blow across the dry habitat. In a months time there will be heavy rains, providing water for the new growths, the maturing seed pods and the germinating seedlings.

May 7th 2025 - Epidendrum parkinsonianum

Epidendrum parkinsonianum is a species we are particularly fond of, since finding it in the volcanic mountains of Costa Rica.

The large white flowers are pollinated by large Hawk Moths and the flowers are fragrant at night.

In Costa Rica we found the species in the forests clothing the Poas volcano, where it grows at around 1200m altitude, hanging on the trunks and main branches of trees near rivers.  (see photo below) The forest here is cool and wet, and the plants growth habit means that it grown in quite deep shade.

This habitat surprised us as we had previously assumed from the thick terete leaves that it needs a dry bright environment. Growing the plant into cool shady conditions in our Cloud Forests greenhouse (minimum 12C) seems to suit it very well.

May 3rd 2025 - Dendrobium cymbidioides

Today we have another orchid that has changed its name.

This lovely orchid came to our collection as Epigenium cybidioides but along with all epiginium species has moved to Dendrobium as a result of molecular studies.

Cymbidioides refers to the similarity between the flowers of this species and some Cymbidium species although to my eye the flowers look much more like Coelogynes.

Dendobium cymbidiodes is nartive to the islands of Indonesia; Java, Sumatra and the Sunda Islandswhere it is reportedly found in cool moss forests from 2200-2800m altiude. We replicat this habitat by growing plants in our 'Himalayas' greenhouse (min 7C) with lots of water in thje growing season. We have found that plants enjoy bright light especially in the winter which helps to encourage heavy flowering in April and May.

April 24th 2025 - Gongora grossa

Gongoras are very rewarding orchids to grow with unusual attractive flowers and exotic scents. Today we have the first flowering of seedlings of Gongora grossa (first three photos) which has a really spicy scent that reminds me of 1970's aftershave and divides people into those who love it and those who really don't.

The plant that I pollinated to produce the seed was then called Gonogora nigropunctata (photo below) in reference to the dark spotting and it has taken six years for the first seedling to flower. As can be seen from the parent plant our little seedling will grow longer flower spikes as it matures.

Gongora nigropunctata is now considered synonymous with Gongors grossa and Gongora grossa is found in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru and so is quite a variable species.

The natural habitat is warm, wet, evergreen, lowland forest in shade. To replicate this environment we grow plants indoors in our IKEA cases with a minimum temperature of 17C a little away from the growlights. Although the flower spikes become dramatically pendulous they start by growing upwards and so plants can be grown in pots as well as baskets.

As you can see from our seedling, the species flowers when quite small but will make a lovely specimen over time - or if you have limited space plants can be split and kept small.

April 18th 2025 - Happy Easter - trio of Masdevallias

taking the opportuntiy to wish everyone Happy Easter we have three small growing masdevallias in flower that live next to each other, so a a special treat we are featuring all three.

The Masdevallias, from left to right, are Masdevallia triangularis, Masdevallia decumana and Masdevallia nivea.

Masdevallia traingularis is a neat little plant with small plant (10cm leaves) with relatively large flowers 14cm from tip to tip) that are kind of triangular. Of course most masdevallias have flowers that are kind of triangular so I am not sure what encouraged English botanist John Lindley to single out this species in 1846!. The flowers have lovely red/orange spots and long, dark red tails. Masdevallia triangularis is a widespread South American species found from Venuzela to Peru and with such a wide distribution it is not surprising that the species is quite variable with colours from yellow through to dark orange.

Masdevallia decumana is Annies favourite orchid. It is a tiny 5cm plant with very large flowers. We find that the species prefers to be mounted, though can also be grown in a small pot. Masdevallia decumana is native to cloud forests in Ecuador and Peru from 1000-2500m. 

Masdevallia nivea is intermediate in size between M. triangularis and M. decumanaand again makes a lovely neat little plant with giant flowers.

Masdevallia nivea is endemic to Colombia and found in cloud forests at around 2800m altitude. 

We find that all of these Masdevallias enjoy our cloud forest greenhouse (Min 12C) where they are kept well watered all year (sprayed once or twice a day depending on the weather) and grown low down in the greenhouse in shade and cool.

April 14th 2025 - Dendrobium aphyllum

The top of our greenhouse is Dendrobium aphyllum world this week. The wonderful pink and cream flowers look great against the blue of the sky and remind me of trips to Sikkim where the lowland forests are often full of this beautiful species. (photo 2 in morning sunshine in Sikkim)

Dendrobium aphyllum is a warm growing species and we have seen it in the Himalayas growing on trees from 200m to about 900m altitude. It also grows as a lithophyte on large boulders and cliffs. Here the forest is semi-deciduous (see photo 3) below so the plants get lots of light in the cooler winter months.

The species is very pendulous with long thin canes that grow with lush light green leaves during the very wet summer from May to September. Plants then drop all of the leaves and remain leafless until flowering. We grow the species in our cloudforest greenhouse  growing high above our cool growing Masdevallias, keeping it really wet all summer and then bone dry from December to February when it loses its leaves. We hang it really high in the greenhouse where it is as warm and bright as possible.

The species flowers well as a small plant but over time can form a large clump as shown by this magnificent specimen. We have small plants flourishing that will be ready for sale in about a months time.

April 10th 2025 - Coelogyne chinensis

Today's orchid is delightfully sweet and very fragrant.

Coelogyne chinensis is native to Southern China and Vietnam and across South East Asia as far as Arunachal Pradesh, where it experience a wet summer monsoon and a cooler dryer winter when it flowers.

We have grown it both cool in our Cloud Forest Greenhouse (min 12C) and warm indoors. It grows well in both environments flowering in February when grown warm and in April when grown cool. We find that although the species grows and flowers in heavy shade it flowers much more profusely when grown in good light. 

The species is semi deciduous and when grown cool and bright drops it leaves before flowering. Interestingly, in common with many deciduous species, Coelogyne chinensis has a spike on top of its pseudobulbs left when the leaves fall, presumably to deter herbivores. 

The flower spikes emerge from the centre of emerging new growths and so we are now increasing watering for the growing season through to the end of September.

April 7th 2025 - Early Spider Orchid - Ophrys sphagodes

The second week in April is the always our time to make a pilgrimage to the Purbeck Coast in Dorset to find the Early spider Orchid

This wonderful species (that last week I likened to Gastrochilus retrocallus) is one of the UK's less common orchids but in its Dorset stronghold can easily bee found amongst the short turf near the coast path.

The plants are not large but when you get your eye in they are not hard to spot. For anyone wanting to find them for the first time the a walk along the coat path from Dancing Ledge (easily reached from the National Trust car park in Langton Matravers) towards Durlaston Head will guarantee lots of plants and they should be flowering for the next week or two.

April 3rd 2025 - Gastrochilus retrocallus

This wonderful miniature orchid is a species we would never be without. 

Gastrochilus retrocallus is endemic to Taiwan and is a vigorous little member of the Vanda family with relatively large flowers bourne on and off throughout the year in ones and twos on short pendulous spikes.

The natural habitat of the species is reported as open deciduous forest between 1000 and 2000m altitude which explains the extensive root system to cope with dry periods.

We grow the species mounted on cork bark in our Ikea growing cabinets (see photo below) with a minimum of 17C although it would grow cooler) 

I am intrigues by the flower's resemblance to our native Early Spider Orchids which are now flowering on the Dorset coast (photo 4) and wonder if they have a similar pollination strategy.

The species has previously been called Haraella retrocala and Haraella odorata, the last of which references the lovely scent of the flowers.