At night, smells like lemon. Lots of light - more than cattleyas. Grows outside in a semi-shaded patio, hung up high to maximize light.

This is the "B" in Blc cattleya hybrids, and is the source of the frilly lip. (The genus was reclassified to Rhyncholaelia, but Brassavola is still used for registration of hybrids)

Lc. Trick or Treat

Small, intense orange flowers will last 6 weeks or more.

This vigorous species from Mexico hangs high in the shaded patio. The flowers, on a long spike, have a pearl-like luster in the sunlight.

A little more shade than the oncidiums, but othewise similar conditions. The Slc. hybrid is more tolerant of cool weather than the standard cattleyas. The sophronitis and laelia ancestors both impart cold-tolerance

Big and fragrant. This one lives up to its name, blooming late May/early June.

This one is capable of blooming twice a year. It is extremelh fragrant.

Laelia crispa var. delicatissima

This elegant Laelia has bloomed magnificently this year - 3 leads that each have 2-3 flowers! it lives up to its name - the lip has a blush of delicate pink, with ark purple veins, and a bright yellow throat. Photos don't quite do it justice.

L. anceps var 'Veitchiana' x C. labiata var. 'Coerulea'

I acquired this plant as a rootless division, at a society meeting raffle table about 2 years ago. It looked like it belonged on a mount, but the speaker suggested to me that it would proably be too heavy for that. The pseudobulbs are about 6 inches (15 cm) long and thick, the leaves 10 inches (25 cm) beyond that. I planted it in a mesh basket, since it seemed like it really wanted to be free even if it wasn't mounted. I was so right... It now has beautiful roots that extend as much as 18 inches (46 cm) below the pot. This plant hangs high in my shaded patio, where it gets the maximum amount of sun available in this area.

Laelia purpurata

Another dramatic, wonderful Laelia. Pure white flowers with a dark purple lip and yellow throat with darker purple veining. Remember, all of these Laelia species grow outside, and seem very happy to do so. No pampering needed. And fragrant, too.

There is great variation in the color among different clones of this wonderful grex. I have another one, that is deep red. The Sophronitis imparts good cold tolerance.

This is a glowing example of just how adaptable these plants are. I had been growing it indoors in the winter, and it bloomed. This last winter (which was colder than usual - almost to freezing on a few nights) I left it outside, due to space considerations. It did just fine, and bloomed again. It was about two and a half months later than it had been when grown indoors through the winter, but nearly all my plants were late this year due to the cold winter. At any rate, it bloomed quite nicely.

The "cockleshell orchid" or "octopus orchid" puts out a succession of these colorful, intersting little flowers.

This year I had four of these delicate flowers growing from this cork slab. The flowers are sweetly fragrant at night. South of the border, this is known as "La dama de la noche". Need I say more?

Epi. parkinsonianum

This plant was a rootless cutting. I mounted it, and it rooted and established itself quite quickly. The leaves are very thick and succulent. The flowers have the fragrance of cloves at night

Sometimes known as "Dancing Ladies". This one grows a spike of 4-5 feet (120-150 cm), and does it 3 times a year. It hangs on the semi-shaded patio, in the wind and the rain, the heat and the cold. Nothing seems to bother it.

Here's another oncidium. This one is growing on a cork slab, on that shaded patio. It gets watered daily, but otherwise doesn't need any more care than the Gower Ramsey. This plant has produced 4 spikes this season, starting in mid-April. In mid-August, it is still in bloom. It has the fragrance of chocolate - and none of the calories.

Onc. ornithorhyncum

A wonderfully fragrant species, with multi-branched inflorescences. This one is in the ancestry of Sharry Baby.

Lemboglossum (bictoniense x cordaturm)

This is a primary hybrid of two oncidium relatives, to make cool-growing, brilliant flowers with a very characteristic heart-shaped lip.

One of the "mule-ear" type oncidiums. Flowers are about 4 cm across.

Cochlioda x Miltonia x Odontoglossum gives tall multi-flowered spike with dark color.

Odontocidium is Odontoglossum x Oncidium, and Odontioda is Odontoglossum x Cochlioda. This intergeneric likes it fairly cool, damp, and shady. (Strong Odondoglossum influence)

Odcdm. Crowborough 'Spice Island' x Odtna. Rustic Bridge 'Hotlip'.
This one had a very grand 30" (80 cm) spike with around 32 flowers.

The picture does not do it justice. Petals and sepals are a rich chestnut-brown, with yellow tips.

Rich pink and gold in this Miltoniopsis - Oncidium hybrid.

This is also known as the "spider orchid". It had five spikes full of these spidery flowers last summer.

The genus Ada is closely related to Brassia. The flowers are smaller, and a bit more colorful. They also have a very powerful, almost overwhelming, fruity fragrance.

This one is contains Brassia x Cochlioda x Miltonia .x Odontoglossum. It is (Mtssa. Charles M. Fitch x Oda. Fremar).and bloomed 5/98 with 2 spikes and a total of 8 flowers, each about 11 cm across (4.5 inches). It bloomed again 12/98 with 10 flowers on one beautifully presented spike. Magnificent!

  Odbrs. Kenneth Bivens

This spectacular intergeneric hybrid has deep mahogany flowers with yettlow tips, and a fragrance of cedar.

This Epidendrum relative likes to live on a cork slab rather than it a pot. It has copious roots that need to dry out between waterings. It also prefers cool evenings, and goes nearly dormant during the winter.

These strange little flowers only last a few days, but the plant puts out several of them in succession. It grows under Masdevallia or Phragmipedium conditions - cool, shady, and damp

Masdevallias like it cool, shady, and damp. My shaded patio has an area that meets these conditions fairly well. Watering is especially important in the summer, to keep the temperature of the leaves down as much as possible.

A masdevallia species that is native to the mountains of Peru around Machu Picchu. This particular plant has flowers that are a softer orange than is common for the the species, but also deep red blush. They are relatively large (12 cm or more including the tails).

Paphs grow under conditions similar to Phrags, perhaps a little brighter and not quite so wet.

A multifloral species. The flowers bloom successively. This one came indoors for the winter - multiflorals like it a little warmer than the single-floral solid-green-leafed Paphs.

Paph. Pekeruru (Paph. Via Victoria x Sheila Hanes)

The color is quite green when it first opens, but becomes more yellow as the flower matures. A big, substatial "toad" that does very well outside in the winter, even when some of the more fragile Paphs move inside.

While most vandas (and their relatives) are tricky to grow without a greenhouse where I live, this one is doing beautifully. It comes from higher elevations (around 1500 meters) so it is fairly cold-tolerant.The flowers are fragrant and long-lasting. It needs plenty of water, since it likes humidity, and likes to be fed regularly.. But although Vandas tend to be warm growers, this one obviously had no objection to our cool winter nights. It hangs high, so it gets the maximum amount of sun in the shaded patio.

Ascofinetia Peaches

The Neofinetia falcata parent of this hybrid gives it excellent cold tolerance. It was outside all winter, while I brought most of the vandadeous orchids inside when the night temperatures dropped below 40 deg (4 deg C). This plant experienced temperatures almost down to freezing (at least briefly) and clearly did not mind. It has 2 spikes this year.

My biggest orchid triumph this year is the discovery that I can not only grow, but also flower, vandaceous orchids. I did bring them inside during the winter - this one was colder than usual - but put them back outside when the danger of frost was past. While I knew that V. tricolor (above) was fairly resistant to cold, this one was more marginal - but clearly, it was satisfied with the conditions that I could give it. Light and temperature range are both lower than would be ideal, but they can, and do, adapt.

Paraphal. Ponce es Ponce x Ascda. Motes Kalahari 'St. Thomas'

Another Vandaceous triumph. I won this at a raffle table a year ago, had no idea what it would look like. Now I know... and I love it. While the Paraphalaenopsis parent is listed as "Phalaenopsis" in the literature, it is much more closely related to the Vanda. The leaves are long and terete, a characteristic inherited from the Paraphalaenopsis parent. This plant definitely needs much less light than a terete-leaved Vanda. I brought it inside during an unusually cold winter, along with most of the rest of the vandaceous orchids, but in the spring it moved right back ouside.