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Rock Orchid..hardy as..well,a rock.
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Stan
Joined: Wed Oct 31, 2007 5:52 pm Posts: 10687 Location: Hayward- S.F. Bay area Ca.
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Rock Orchid..hardy as..well,a rock.
Another year- but in a larger pot so a bit more showy. A great starter Orchid don't let the small blooms stop you. I can see if you have a greenhouse or bright window these can build into large clumps..and that's a show.
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Sat Mar 11, 2017 11:04 pm |
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Tom Velardi
Joined: Mon Oct 29, 2007 10:20 pm Posts: 4337 Location: Kyushu, Southern Japan (33.607N latitude)
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Re: Rock Orchid..hardy as..well,a rock.
Can't see the pic Stan.
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Sun Mar 12, 2017 11:48 pm |
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Stan
Joined: Wed Oct 31, 2007 5:52 pm Posts: 10687 Location: Hayward- S.F. Bay area Ca.
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Re: Rock Orchid..hardy as..well,a rock.
They were there yesterday..ok,It looks like post image is down for some reason. Even my banana photos are missing. Hackers..
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Mon Mar 13, 2017 12:00 am |
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ArtV
Joined: Thu Feb 23, 2017 3:46 pm Posts: 151 Location: Middlesex, UK
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Re: Rock Orchid..hardy as..well,a rock.
I can see the photos. Nice orchids! Dendrobiums need chilly nights to trigger flowering
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Mon Mar 13, 2017 7:59 am |
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Stone Jaguar
Joined: Tue Oct 06, 2009 5:12 pm Posts: 147 Location: Guatemala City, Guatemala 1600 m.a.s.l.
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Re: Rock Orchid..hardy as..well,a rock.
Nice job, Stan.
You are spot on with recommending this species to growers on this forum. IMO, Dendrobium kingianum and some of its primary hybrids are outstanding subjects for cool gardens. It's been line-bred and hybridized in Australia, the SF Bay Area and down south in Santa Barbara for several decades at least. Most color forms are very reasonably priced and easy to find online. As far as I know this is the most hardy non-native orchid grown in this area, and plants outdoors survived the last deadly winter here a while back that wiped out even freeze tolerant Chinese cymbidiums at a commercial facility in Pacifica owned by a friend. Yours is the common color form, but they range from pure white through to very deep violet, with every shade and combination of colors in between (including pale green!). Flower size up to >3.5 cm/1.3"+ on select clones. Plant form is also somewhat variable, and it is easy to confuse some individuals of primary hybrids x speciosum with the true species. In a greenhouse or indoors for flowering season they emit a very intense fragrance of bee honey which can be almost overpowering in a well-lit small room at midday. My wife and I find it a wonderful bonus of early spring, but have had friends comment that it is a bit too much of a good thing if you spend a few days with it.
I grow mine in pure NZ sphagnum in clay bowls, outdoors on the terrace year-round, but they thrive in almost any open media, mounted on wood or cork, or on porous rock. Once acclimated, they can handle full sun for most of the day, but look best if shielded from direct late afternoon sunshine.Once they fill in a 15 cm/6" pot they will grow very quickly to specimen size. A well grown meter plus wide colony in full bloom is extremely showy.
I'll post some photos on this thread in 10 days or so when they are in bloom.
Cheers,
J
_________________ "He prayeth well, who loveth well
Both man and bird and beast."
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Mon Mar 13, 2017 7:00 pm |
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Stan
Joined: Wed Oct 31, 2007 5:52 pm Posts: 10687 Location: Hayward- S.F. Bay area Ca.
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Re: Rock Orchid..hardy as..well,a rock.
Thanks Jay and Art! I appreciate that. Last year it had split open the plastic pot..and I still had to work to get it out of the pot. This is an Orchid with tough ,strong and shrub like roots. I might go up another pot size to try and get that huge clump look asap. For years I just moved it around in a 6" pot,then moved it up. Its ready for a 3 gallon now..12"? I might go online and look for the red ones...that's a beauty.
Last edited by Stan on Tue Mar 14, 2017 8:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Mon Mar 13, 2017 10:28 pm |
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david feix
Joined: Wed Oct 31, 2007 3:54 am Posts: 3206 Location: Berkeley, California
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Re: Rock Orchid..hardy as..well,a rock.
I think the Dendrobium kingianum isn't quite as hardy as Bletilla striata. I find these a bit tricky to get full blooming if not fertilized regularly or not given enough sun. Prolific in my garden, but shy to bloom for me.
_________________ David Feix Landscape Design http://www.flickr.com/photos/20217462@N02/
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Tue Mar 14, 2017 4:50 pm |
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Stone Jaguar
Joined: Tue Oct 06, 2009 5:12 pm Posts: 147 Location: Guatemala City, Guatemala 1600 m.a.s.l.
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Re: Rock Orchid..hardy as..well,a rock.
David:
Yes, many pleiones and Bletilla striata are certainly hardier than D kingianum, but I think (?) the latter is now a far more commonly grown orchid in this area. Friends sell small starts of the common varieties by the boatload to walk-ins at at local orchid shows, as well as on Amazon since many nice-looking clones are inexpensive. I may well be wrong, but see little interest around here in growing cold climate Asian terrestrial orchids outside of that of advanced gardeners and the true believers.
I would agree with your view that this species needs bright light for at least a few hours a day to mass flower when older. I have a large alba that was pushed into a corner for the winter and, in spite of plenty of new growth, is a complete dud on the shaded side while the lit edges are filled with new infls.
OT, but a number of very high elevation Neotropical orchids can also shrug off -3 C/26 degree overnight dips and warrant further evaluation by "Edge" gardeners. Here is photo of a partially established Arpopyllum alpinum planted as a lithophyte under high coastal oak shade in my brother's garden in Woodside last Fall that flowered, unfazed and in perfect nick, through the entire blustery winter storm sequence we had in Jan-Feb. It also shrugged off a few very steep predawn drops in temps that swiftly killed several "cold hardy" sobralias on the property. Basking in this morning's sunshine, it and another clump I established nearby are remarkable amount of new growth and re-initiating flower on older pseudobulbs. I'd almost have to say they both look better than pots of same clone I have in the cool greenhouse!
Cheers,
J
_________________ "He prayeth well, who loveth well
Both man and bird and beast."
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Tue Mar 14, 2017 6:17 pm |
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Stan
Joined: Wed Oct 31, 2007 5:52 pm Posts: 10687 Location: Hayward- S.F. Bay area Ca.
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Re: Rock Orchid..hardy as..well,a rock.
Like Art says,these do need chilly nights to flower. But,I think they might even be good in Arizona ( I was asked on another board) since they dont seem to need high humidity at all,and they get plenty chilly in winter. They have a wider range of tolerance than almost any other Orchid. I found some sun- low winter sun lights up the porch- is best.
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Tue Mar 14, 2017 8:34 pm |
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Tom Velardi
Joined: Mon Oct 29, 2007 10:20 pm Posts: 4337 Location: Kyushu, Southern Japan (33.607N latitude)
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Re: Rock Orchid..hardy as..well,a rock.
Jay, I agree that folks in "edgy" climates should try more epiphytes to see what can grow.
Here in southern Japan I have found all of the native orchids and ferns fully cold hardy, even during some very nasty cold waves. The non-natives have proven a lot more variable in their tolerances:
Ferns:
Platycerium bifurcatum - did wonderful for 10 years and then got blasted in an blizzard last winter. Slowly recovering. Platycerium superbum - two specimens did great for 4 seasons before they were utterly killed by an unusually cold January in 2010-11. Davallia tyermanii - tough plant, no problems
Orchids:
Cattleya acuensis - did OK for a couple years, then was finished off in 2010-11 cold. Pleurothallis sonderana - did great for a few winters, got nailed in 2010-11. Lepetotes unicolor - did OK a couple years, nailed in 2010-11. Isabella virginalis - did very well for 7 years before being fried in 2015. Neolauches pulchella - did great up to last winter and got 80% cooked, just hanging on... Ascocenda Twinkle (Vanda falcata x Ascocentrum miniatum) - did great for 5 years and got nailed in 2010-11. Dendrobium nobile hybrid - did well for 5 years, nailed last winter. Dendrobium speciosum hybrid - did OK for 5 years, nailed last winter. Dendrobium cassiope (D. moniliforme x nobile) - has lived for over 10 years now, doesn't flower well.
And so it goes. If I had protected them during the coldest weather, I'm sure some would have survived, though last winter's two day winter storm would have been a stretch.
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Tue Mar 14, 2017 11:45 pm |
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call
Joined: Mon Apr 23, 2012 1:54 pm Posts: 40 Location: kent, england
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Re: Rock Orchid..hardy as..well,a rock.
Hello Here are some pics of an unnamed cymbidium that I've have managed to keep outside through this quite cold winter with only a little bit of fleece on it to keep off the frost.
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Sat Mar 18, 2017 4:21 pm |
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Stan
Joined: Wed Oct 31, 2007 5:52 pm Posts: 10687 Location: Hayward- S.F. Bay area Ca.
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Re: Rock Orchid..hardy as..well,a rock.
Nice Call..looks perfect.
I have to report that the Rock Orchid is now loaded in scent. One small in the backyard I have with broms in another post has sort of a talcum powder-hyacinth aroma. The big mass in front...is more pungent. Just a strong scent even as you get close to it. I wouldn't call it Channel no.5.
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Sat Mar 18, 2017 10:20 pm |
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call
Joined: Mon Apr 23, 2012 1:54 pm Posts: 40 Location: kent, england
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Re: Rock Orchid..hardy as..well,a rock.
Quick update on the cymbidium, it now has a flower spike forming!!!
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Sun Mar 26, 2017 4:56 pm |
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