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You have all heard of a birth month gem, but did you know there are birth month flowers? We can take that one level further, and find there are also birth month Orchids. From the origin of a flower’s name … Continue reading
One increasingly popular “app” for the iPhone is the Orchid Notebook. It helps you keep records on your orchids, their names, their appearance, and it offers helpful hints and tricks on how to grow them. Orchid Notebook is easy to use. Just type in the name or number of the Orchid, take a picture with your phone and the entire orchid collection appears on your phone.
Adding, deleting and updating your plants is easy. Orchid Notebook shows a running total of the plants in your collection for a quick reference. This is particularly helpful when shopping for Orchids at shows and nurseries.
Key Features:
* Learn basic information about orchids
* Discover how to care for orchids
* Read about propagation techniques
* Enter information about the orchids in your collection into the database
* Enter photos of your orchids in your collection
* Build a wish list of the orchids you want to buy
* Export your collection and wish list information via a comma separated value (csv) file allowing the user to import the information into a spreadsheet
* Save a backup of your orchid collection datafile and share it with your other devices (iPhone/iPad)
Collection fields (in the Orchid Database):
* Genus name
* Species name
* Grex name
* Orchid Information – awards, flower color, fragrance, fragrance description, size of plant, size of flower
* Orchid Purchase Information – price, date, source
* Have or Want – the orchids you want are color coded in red
* Growing Conditions – temperature, lighting, water quantity, location
* Orchid details – Mounted, potted, size of pot, month last bloomed, date of last spike,date repotted
* Orchid notes
* Photos of orchid – allows up to 3 photos of each orchid entry
The app offers fairly accurate culture information for the most popular Orchid types including Cattleya, Dendrobium, Oncidium, Paphiopedilum, and Phalaenopsis. The Orchid Notebook also offers information for uncommon types of orchids such as Brassavola, Encyclia, Phragmepedium, and Vanilla. The Orchid Notebook includes sample pictures that are most helpful. It does not yet contain information about Cymbidium, Miltonia, or Vanda.
It is not a perfect app by any means, but it is a step in the right direction. No doubt, future versions of Orchid Notebook and other Orchid apps will follow that hopefully will be more full featured that this one. One noted problem with this app, is that important botanical terms such as ‘species’, ‘hybrid’, and ‘variety’ are used interchangeably, even though their meanings are entirely different. We hope that if enough Orchid Hobbyists comment on this app the authors will get the message and consult real orchid experts to help work out all the bugs of this program.
In the near future, as new orchid applications hit the market, hobbyists will have many more options available to enhance their orchid growing experience. The ‘free’ version of Orchid Notebook allows for five entries of an orchid collection and is just to allow you to try the app before you buy. The full version of Orchid Notebook is only $2.99. It is a shame that it is not yet available for the Android world, but if you have an iPhone this is still a good choice for the casual grower or someone just getting into orchids.
Pam Aitchison
Etymology: The origin of the word Orchid.
The name comes from the Ancient Greek ὄρχις (órkhis), literally meaning “testicle“, because of the shape of the root. Carl Linnaeus classified the family as Orchidaceae.
Orchid was introduced in 1845 by John Lindley in School Botany, due to an incorrect attempt to extract the Latin stem (orchis) from Orchidaceae.
The Greek myth of Orchis explains the origin of the plants. Orchis, the son of a nymph and a satyr, came upon a festival of Dionysus (Bacchus) in the forest. He drank too much, and attempted to rape a priestess of Dionysus. For his insult, he was torn apart by the Bacchanalians. His father prayed for him to be restored, but the gods instead changed him into a flower.
These flowers were previously called Orchis, Satyrion (Satyrion feminina), or “ballockwort”.
Orchidaceae are cosmopolitan, occurring in almost every habitat apart from glaciers.
The world’s richest concentration of orchid varieties is found in the tropics, mostly Asia, South America and Central America, but they are also found above the Arctic Circle, in southern Patagonia, and two species of Nematoceras on Macquarie Island at 54° south.
Banner Photo: Ben Mach
Lycaste About first spring ‘Peter Sobel my delight’ FCC/AOS
The Grower is Helen Pfister
Montage Photos: Loren Batchman, left to right, L Anceps Tamiko, Sales Area,
Paph Veronique Bert, Sales Area, Pot Little Toshie ‘H & R’
Cattleya: Despite the shortening days and lowering angle of the sun, September can still be one of the hottest months. Water and fertilizer need to be in balance with heat and light. The alert grower will notice, however, that his or her plants are beginning to slow down a bit. Growths are maturing, and the sheaths are giving the promise of the next six-months’ bloom.
Check plants for potting needs for the last time this season. Any in dire need should be potted, even some that may be on the cusp, as there is just enough of the growing season left to allow the plants to establish before the days start to get really short and cold.
This is the month for purples derived from Cattleya labiata breeding to flower. If you are short on flowers, look into this group. There is nothing that can quite match this type for beauty and fragrance. They are easy to grow, too.
Plants summered outdoors should begin to be prepared to be brought back into the winter growing area. Clean the plants up and be on the lookout for any pests they may have picked up during the summer. Treat as necessary.
Cycnoches:This little-known and under-appreciated genus, which can have male or female flowers, is at its best in the autumn. Two of the spectacular varieties are Cycnoches loddigesii, with its large brown flowers resembling a prehistoric bird, and Cycnoches chlorochilon, the swan orchid. This last one has large, fragrant green flowers. The biggest problem, culturally, will be red spider mite infestations that require immediate attention. Plants are quite seasonal, requiring heavy watering in the growing season and then a drier dormant winter season.
Cymbidium: Summer can be the most rewarding season for cymbidiums. Growths should be coming strong now. The leaves of the new growths are best when they are broad and fairly stiff. The color should be a light green to nearly yellow. Early flowering varieties should be showing flower spikes, so move the plants into a cooler area with lower light. For mid-season varieties, lower the dosage of nitrogen to assist in spike initiation.
Dendrobium:This is a good season for hybrids of the Dendrobium phalaenopsis and Dendrobium canaliculatum types. Both are capable of putting on tremendous shows of long-lasting flowers. Fertilize with a low-nitrogen formula to promote the best flowers. Dendrobium phalaenopsis can get tall and top heavy, suggesting an attractive and heavy container would be appropriate for this type.
Rhynchostele bictoniensis:Both Rhynchostele bictoniensis and its hybrids bloom in this season. Rhynchostele bictoniensis, formerly known as Lemboglossum, Odontoglossum) is a showy species from Mexico that has three different color forms: sulphureum (green with white lip), album (brown with white lip) and roseum (brown with a pink lip). It is a vigorous grower with tall inflorescences of many flowers, and imparts to its progeny (as seen in Odcdm. Bittersweet and Odm. bicross) ease of culture, warmth tolerance and eye-catching patterns. They make a prime candidate for odontoglossum beginners and advanced alike.
Paphiopedilum: Standard, green-leaved paphiopedilums begin to show their bloom sheaths this month. Late-season heat waves can blast these early sheaths, so be observant about proper cooling and air circulation. As with the rest of your plants that may have been summered outdoors, it is time to prepare for their move inside. Clean each plant and implement pest-control practices. Repotting, if necessary, is appropriate.
Phalaenopsis: The bulk of this season’s growth is being ripened this month, with growers in cooler climates seeing the first emerging inflorescences. Some night heating may be necessary in the cooler areas. Begin to watch watering more carefully, and reduce feeding proportionately with reduced watering needs. An extra dose of phosphorus and potassium, such as a bloom-booster or high-acid-type fertilizer, is beneficial.
Rossioglossum grande: Once known as Odontoglossum grande, this is a spectacular orchid with six to eight flowers up to 8 inches across. Often known as the tiger orchid, it has bright golden yellow flowers heavily marked with chestnut brown barring. The plants are beautiful with a grey-green cast to the foliage, which is borne on succulent pseudobulbs. It prefers hot and wet summers with cooler, even down to 40 F, dry winters. Grow under filtered light. Watch for snails and slugs that eat the flowers, pseudobulbs and leaves.
The AOS thanks Ned Nash and James Rose for this essay.
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Click on any photo to start the gallery and get close up views of each of these orchids & flowers. Press <Esc> when finished.
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The name Cycnoches is derived from the Greek words ‘kyknos’ meaning swan and ‘auchen’ meaning neck and is in reference to the thin arching column of the male flowers. They are New World orchids found growing from sea level to … Continue reading
Our featured orchid for August is the Zygopetalum crinitum. It’s common name is “The Hairy Zygopetalum”.
These beautiful orchids are found at elevations of 600 to 1200 meters in the cool and moist mountain ranges of South America. Most of them are found in Brazil in the mountains near Rio de Janeiro, and Sao Paulo. They generally bloom from October through December and they produce a tall flower stalk which usually has eight to ten 9 cm flowers on it. The flowers are fragrant, waxy and very long-lived. The flowers are generally yellow-green with purple-brown streaks. The flowers are also prized in cut-flower arrangements.
They have a reputation of being easy to grow for the home orchid enthusiast. They like to be evenly moist at all times. Do not let the potting media dry out completely. They require medium to bright light, and when the light green leaves show some yellowing you can be assured that maximum light is being absorbed. They require a medium to fine bark with some perlite added for moisture retention.
My Zygopetalum crinitum is in full bloom right now, so it must be confused about what time of year it is. I got mine at the Santa Barbara Orchid Estate in 2008, and it has been reliably blooming every year since then. Give this one a try. You will be very happy you did.
San Fernando Valley Orchid Society 