Elsewhere in Winter 2016 - Cymbidium and Rhododendron

Since we were just reliving our cymbidium orchid journey through 2016 in the last post, here are some cymbidiums that we saw at Bunnings this winter.

The green-yellow one looks quite similar to ours but with less red in the lip. There seems to be generally two petal shapes - a rounded one like the one on the left, and a more pointed type like the bright pink on the right.

This is a nice colour mix. Although I prefer a more solid lip rather than speckled.

We also saw a very bright pink-red "Kaponga" rhododendron at the local Flower Power. What a beautiful bloom!

Cymbidium orchids - From spike to bloom

We purchased a very large pot of cymbidium orchids two years ago and divided it after it finished flowering. We didn't get any spikes last season but were quite happy to find some this year.

April 2016 - The first challenge is identifying and differentiating spikes from new growth. This is a spike, which looks and feels slightly rounder than new shoots will.

In this photo you can see one spike on the left side of the black pot, and two spikes off the green pot (one on each side).

 A closer look - round-ish spike on the left and a pointier new shoot on the right of the black pot.

Three more examples of cymbidium spikes. As they grow, they look tapered at the base and point, while new shoots will start branching into fresh leaves.

Like this shoot which is starting to split quite quickly. If you're not sure, just wait for the spike/shoot to grow more and it will be very obvious.

June 2016 - Very obvious which ones are cymbidium spikes. They appear to have a loose covering around the developing buds.

The forming buds are starting to appear. Spikes can extend very far and keep growing longer. At this point, you can very gently stake the growing spikes for a neater look. You don't have to do this if you don't want to, or if you have a cascading variety.

July 2016 - The buds are getting some colour and starting to spread out along the spike. You can just see to the left that the spike grows longer and extends out past the original sheath part.

August 2016 - Buds are quite spaced out now along the spike.

During this stage, they can be quite sensitive to excessive heat. We had one spike which was more exposed to sun than the others and some of the buds dried up and fell off, with the remaining ones producing deformed flowers.

September 2016 - Flowers finally blooming after 4+ months! They started out a golden-yellow colour with a deep red lip.

 After a week, a slightly lighter yellow with some pink-beige striping.

So about 4+ months wait, and the flowers have lasted about 2+ months before finishing up so it has taken over half a year to prepare this blogpost! Unfortunately, cymbidium blooms tend to get discoloured as they age which is more obvious in lighter shades. We do have a few more pots of different cymbidium varieties that have not bloomed yet so we'll see some different colours in the coming years.

Softcane dendrobium - Dendrobium cassiope

We purchased this as an unknown softcane dendrobium so I was expecting a nobile type dendrobium.

June 2016 - Here it is freshly arrived in the mail from the seller. As you can just see, there are spikes beginning on the top right.

A closer look at the spikes. Softcanes form spikes and flowers straight from the stem portion, not a branching spike.

July 2016 - Here the flowers are developing and separating out.

August 2016 - You can now see each flower, there are three forming per spike.

End of August, the first flower opened - a white flower, much more delicate than the typical purple dark-eyed Dendrobium nobile.

September 2016 - Here it is, a white orchid with a purple eye. The petals are very slightly frilled. After some searching, we think it may be Dendrobium cassiope.

You can see here the second spike developing in the background.

Late September - both spikes now open. In this photo you can see the curled petals more clearly in the older spike. These lasted for 3-4 weeks but I think don't do so well if it's too hot so the second spike did not last as long as the first.

There are no flowers on the plant now but new shoots have been growing quite quickly (visible in the photo above just starting up). Hopefully we will see more spikes next year.

Kalanchoe succulents - Winter/Spring 2016

Our kalanchoe started blooming in late winter and are still going strong.

Here are all the buds forming, and then blooming with multiple flowers on each branch.

You can get these in many different colours but we only have one at the moment - a very bright red variety. This is a very low maintenance plant and as you can see, we have to keep dividing them into separate pots as it grows quite quickly.

Oncidium Dancing Lady - Winter 2016

We have a few pots of yellow Oncidium in our backyard and these bloom in the colder months so have really brightened up the garden this winter.
 

These are also known as Dancing Lady orchids because the blooms look like ladies in wide-skirted gowns.

The spikes cascade and they tend to have multiple spikes so the effect is lovely when the plants are in full bloom and wave in the breeze.

They also last a very long time, from late autumn to early spring. We even have a few blooms now stubbornly hanging on even though it has become quite warm now. This photo also shows some other varieties of orchids in our "orchid corner" including phalaenopsis, cymbidiums and cattleyas. I will post more about these or you can check out the orchid tag.