Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Three Orchids from Japan: Dendrobium monoliforme, Neofinetia falcata, and Sedirea japonica

In a world where mass-produced phalaenopsis clones and oncidium hybrids by the dozen are showing up at every home department store, corner florist, and local cafe, it suddenly becomes possible to forget the unique nature of orchids, and to begin looking at some of them as just another potted plant. To prevent modern merchandizing from robbing you of the special joy of orchid growing, it's refreshing to turn to species; especially species with personality. These three orchids are hardly unknown -- neofinetia and its hybrids being some of the most popular home-grown orchids around -- but it's worth looking at the three of them together as a kind of tryptych illustrating the potential wealth of variations within a species. When we do this, we can appreciate things like leaf shape, growth habit, and variegation -- things not often talked about in the North American orchid community.

Aside from their geographic origin, these three orchids have a number of common characteristics that appeal to apartment growers: they're small, of course, adaptable to a range of growing conditions, flower reliably, and are very fragrant. They have been cultivated in Japan and China for centuries, and as a result of selective breeding, there are numerous cultivars available for each species, all with different leaf colors and shapes, growth habits, and flower colors. Considering that the wild forms of all three have plain green leaves and all-white or mostly-white flowers, this is quite an accomplishment.
In fact, the practice of collecting and growing many different varieties within a single species is well known in Japan, where it is called "koten engei." Both orchids and non-orchids are used as subjects. The practice traditionally emphasizes collecting specimens for their leaf and growth variations as much or more as the flowers themselves, and requires great attention to the potting method and the container used to display the plant. This is a strong contrast to the style of most American home growers, growing a wide variety of hybrids and species, usually in plain plastic or clay pots, even old take-out containers. But when your growing space is small and your ability to modify growing conditions limited, it's worth thinking about an orchid plant and its pot together as a harmonious whole, rather than seeing orchids as simply clunky green vehicles for fantastic flowers.

For the home collector, growing multiple specimens of the same species also has the advantages of simplifying watering and care routines, and having "backup specimens" in case one of them dies. But the true joy of koten engei lies in appreciating the subtle differences between various cultivars. For instance, a neofinetia collection might consist of a typical wild specimen; a cultivar with short, thick, "bean" leaves; one with twisted, "ocean wave" leaves, and one with yellow-edged variegated leaves. Each one, sitting in its pot, will have a very different feel to it. Each one will grow differently, and respond differently to the same cultural conditions, even though horticulturally they're all the same species. It is possible to start thinking about each orchid as an individual, rather than as one of a thousand genetically identical clones.
Even if you don't want to get all Zen about your orchid growing, there is a lot of fun in collecting within a species; placing a white, a yellow, and a pink-flowering den. monoliforme together, or a dwarf sedirea with leaves the size of a quarter next to a regular-sized specimen.

Although it goes completely against the grain of this article, I can't resist mentioning a few choice hybrids. Dendrobium monoliforme, crossed with Den. tosaense, aka stricklandianum, becomes Den. Ise, a common parent in many compact nobile-type hybrids and worth growing in its own right for its fragrant, pink-tinged flowers. The hybrid of neofinetia and sedirea, Neosedirea Summer Stars, is very rare, but try seeking it out. Sedirea has been hybridized with holcoglossum (formerly vanda) amesiana to produce Vandirea Newberry Jasmine, with excellent fragrance, temperature tolerance, and frequent blooming. Rhynchorides 'Dragon Charmy' combines sedirea with rhynchostylis gigantea; it has dramatic, reddish foliage and reddish-marked flowers and is described as intensely fragrant.

For more information on these species and their growing requirements, there are a few nurseries to look at on the web: New World Orchids specializes in these three species and has a ton of cultural information. Cal Orchids and Orchids Limited both offer many different neofinetia cultivars. Finally, Japanese orchid show and society pages, available on the Web, are not often translated, but beware: the beautiful pictures can really get you hooked.

Thursday, February 1, 2007

Epicatts: the Spray of the Future

Huh? Spray of the future? You’ve probably seen at least one cross between these two different genera of the Cattleya Alliance, possibly without even knowing it. On the one hand, you’ve got the well-known Cattleya, Laelia and Sophronitis species with large flowers and a whole palette of colors and fragrances. On the other you have plants from the Epidendrum and Encyclia genera, with sprays of many smaller flowers and a different range of colors, also often fragrant. Putting them together can be like combining lemon and meringue, or honey and mustard – you’ve got a whole new taste treat! I say “Spray of the Future” rather than “Wave of the Future” because I don’t think epicatts are going to push regular Cattleya alliance orchids completely out of fashion, but I believe and hope they’ll be making more of a splash at shows and in collections, especially for us urban orchid growers.

What do you get when you cross an epi with a catt? Many encyclias and epis used in epicatt hybrids have a tight habit, with psuedobulbs clustered close together, and a number of species are miniature growers as well. This means many epicatts are mini or compact growers. In addition, they’re fast growers and often produce multiple growths. This, combined with tall, often branching sprays of flowers, leads to massive flower power for the size of the plant. Finally, they have very dramatic colors in shades of purple, rose, brown and green, particularly in the lip. Compared to a straight cattleya hybrid, an epicatt will often have more numerous but smaller flowers, a compact growth habit, and bright color combinations. What’s not to like?

Things get even more interesting when you consider some of the diversity in the Epidendrum group. For instance, Epidendrum conopseum (now Epi. magnoliae) is a tiny, very cold-hardy grower with small, honey-scented flowers, and it blooms on each new growth when happy. Rarely seen as a parent in the past, it’s now being used to create some very small epicatts that are tough, adaptable and often fragrant. Taller epi species like epi. ciliare, epi. criniferum and epi. ilense have extremely fimbriated (that’s “frilly” to most of us) lips, which they can pass on to their progeny. Epi. psuedoepidendrum has a dramatic orange/purple lip, leading to some outrageously-colored hybrids. Encyclia prismatocarpa and epi. stamfordianum have spotted flowers. And for you fragrance fanatics, encyclias such as e. alata, e. cordigera, e. fragrans (of course), e. radiata and e. tripunctata are all wonderfully scented; e. phoenicea and e. randii are even rumored to smell like chocolate, giving the ubiquitous Oncidium Sharry Baby a run for her money. From the breeder’s point of view, it’s safe to say that the surface has barely been scratched on the breeding potential of epicatts.

Most epicatts grow very much like other cattleya alliance orchids: they like medium to high light, a well-draining mix – they also do well mounted, if your humidity levels are decent – and a cooler, drier rest in winter to promote flowering. If you don’t have a sunny window, many of them do just fine under lights, or with grow lights supplementing natural sunlight.

Popular epicatts include:

Epc. Rene Marques 'Flame Thrower': gets its colorful lip from Epi. psuedoepidendrum, and has somewhat tall, canelike growths.

Epc. El Hatilo, a cross between cattleya mossiae and encyclia tampensis, has various clones; they all have rounded white flowers with a magenta lip. Easy to grow, with lots of flowers per spike.

Epc. Siam Jade is somewhat similar; the white flowers have green tepals, flowers are larger than El Hatilo but fewer in number.

Eplc. Don Herman is a cross of Lc. Gold Digger with Epi. stamfordianum, which gives this orchid orange flowers, a red lip, and varying degrees of red spots on the petals and sepals.

Eplc. Pixie Charm combines another orange Lc. with Encyclia alata to create tall sprays of very fragrant light orange flowers.

Brassoepilaelia: this epicatt has no cattleya genes, but the laelia parent is in the Cattleya Alliance, so it fits our definition here. Bepil. Golden Spice 'Red Peppers' (Bl. Richard Mueller x Epi. stamfordianum) has starry bright yellow flowers covered in red spots.

Vaughnara: a trigeneric hybrid combining Brassavola, Epidendrum and Cattleya; look for crosses like 'Grapelade' and 'Sir Walter Raleigh'.

Kirchara: an Epidendrum crossed with a Sophrolaeliocattleya results in some nicely colored minis like K. Tropical Jewel.

Rothara: adds Brassavola to the Kirchara mix; a notable hybrid is Rothara Koolau “Starbright,” with the starry flower shape from the Bepi. Phoenix parent and a deep reddish color from the Slc. parent.


Adamara: Brassavola x Cattleya x Epidendrum x Laelia. Some I’ve seen look rather like encyclias, with long, thin leaves and sprays of flowers. Others, with Encyclia mariae or more cattleya in their background, have rounded flowers on short stems close to the leaves. You’ll also see these under the older hybrid genus name of Yamadaara. (For all you orchid nomenclature freaks, it seems both names were published independently, and only recently has the RHS decided that Adamara was first chronologically, so it has precedence, but the word hasn’t gotten very far yet. Confused? Read on!)

Important Note: Encyclias have recently been split up into a number of new genera like Prosthechea, Coilostylis, and Pollardia, so you will likely start seeing some of these hybrids under new names like Cattleychea. Yes, it can be annoying to keep up with taxonomic changes, but it's all part of the constantly evolving world of orchids. If you like things simple, you probably don't want to get into growing them!


Calling All Mounties!


ONE GROWER’S TIPS ON KEEPING YOUR MOUNTED ORCHIDS ALIVE DURING THE WINTER INDOORS


During the heating season, all Northern climate indoor orchid growers get anxious about their mounted orchids. Sure, they were fine in August when sunlight was plentiful, temperatures were hot (sometimes too hot!) and the humidity was 80% even with the air conditioning on. But it’s a radically different environment when the sun is low on the horizon, night temperatures near windows get downright chilly, and the radiators are spouting bone dry air all over. What’s a home orchid grower to do? There is no magic solution, short of turning your closet into a growing room or building a conservatory on your roof, but the following methods are all worth trying.

Before you even start thinking about humidity, think location, location, location -- your orchids may be in the wrong place! We get a lot less light through our windows in winter, both in terms of day length and intensity. Plants that usually can’t take direct summer sun, like phals, may be much happier getting a few hours of morning sun in winter. Depending on the placement and exposure of your windows, some of them may get more sun due to the changing angle of the sun, but it’s still not as strong as it was in July. You should always be thinking about optimizing the position of your orchids as the seasons and lighting conditions change. Many indoor growers, even those blessed with southern exposures, supplement natural light with artificial sources during the winter, to keep the day length and total light exposure up to par.

I’m going to skip over using humidity trays and room humidifiers, because many growers already use them, and talk about methods you may not have heard of before.

  1. Mist ‘em!

Some growers claim misting does nothing to raise humidity in the long term, and so it’s practically useless. That’s probably true in a greenhouse with high ambient humidity, however, a thorough soaking with a spray bottle will keep the roots moist for a few hours in the dry atmosphere of a winter home. If you’re home during the day, mist your mounts two or three times at intervals. I’m even going to go out on a limb and say, contrary to common wisdom, that it’s perfectly OK to mist mounts in the early evening when you come home from work, as long as they’re not too close to a cold window or other cold spot, and they’re fairly dry by the time you go to bed, when the thermostats are turned down, the home gets colder and grow lights get turned off.

  1. Soak ‘em!

Many home growers rinse or dunk their orchids in the kitchen sink or bucket at least once a week. In the winter, you may want to dunk more often, if your mounts need to stay moist. Don’t worry, it’s almost impossible to overwater a mounted orchid; just leave them in the water for at least 20 minutes to allow the roots to become fully saturated. Here’s another reason to soak, and not just rinse mounted orchids: if you use tap water, as many of us do, you risk mineral build-up on and around the roots, which are particularly harmful to sensitive types like angraechoids. Soaking, especially in distilled water or collected rainwater, can help dissolve mineral deposits. A capful of vinegar added to a gallon or more of water may help if you suspect hard mineral deposits.

  1. Shower ‘em!

Yes; it’s not talked about much, but it’s true: showering with orchids is widespread, especially in winter. First, you save time (at least in theory -- my wife still yells at me to quit puttering with the plants and help get the kids ready for school. I think she’s just jealous of my rhynchovanda). Second, you can leave them in the shower to drip dry, instead of leaking all over the floor – just don’t forget to take them out! Finally, it gives you a chance to inspect your orchids up close and personal, to make sure they’re healthy and aren’t harboring any hidden pests. And they won’t make rude remarks about how you look, either.

  1. Pad ‘em!

The ladies at J & L orchids suggest hanging your mounts on something more absorbent: a mesh bag or piece of nylon stocking filled with wet spaghnum moss, or even a moss pole from a florist’s shop. The extra moisture helps increase local humidity around the mount. (Note: don't try, as I did, to go cheap and use regular kitchen sponges. They dried out too quickly, and they looked rather strange hanging on the walls!)

  1. Pot ‘em!

No, I don’t mean potting them in standard mix. Instead, place the mount in an unglazed clay pot with a thick layer of spaghnum moss, gravel, or coconut chips on the bottom. Soak the entire pot, and the evaporation from both pot and mix will help keep your mounts happy. The only danger here is having wandering roots attach themselves to the pot, but if you’re taking them out regularly to water them, it shouldn’t happen. I recently saw at an orchid nursery a very healthy-looking mounted brassavola stuffed, wandering roots and all, into a net basket filled with sphagnum.

  1. Group ‘em!

That's group, not grope. Keeping mounted orchids close together, or even hanging them on larger houseplants, can create a wetter micro-climate that will keep exposed roots happy. Two dangers to guard against: pests moving from plant to plant, and crowding plants so close together that you get mold or fungus due to stale air. Humidity without air movement is a big no-no, so turn a fan on to keep things moving.

  1. Change ‘em.

This may seem like a drastic solution, but sometimes you need to be able to let go of an orchid that just won’t grow well for you. Some orchids that like being mounted but can deal with dry winter air include brassavolas, some cattleya species like aclandiae and walkeriana, encyclias, some epidendrums, laelias, and tolumnias (equitant oncidiums). Of course, they’re all high light orchids, but you can’t have everything. Don’t forget deciduous types like calanthes, catasetums, cychnoches, and thunias, that can be basically ignored all winter. No dry air worries!

Conclusion

Until somebody breeds the perfect indoor urban orchid – grows hot ‘n humid in summer, dry, cold and dim in winter, stays compact and flowers all the time – we’re stuck with doing what we can to keep our orchids happy. Remember that high humidity and constant air movement are good for you as well as your plants: turn on the fans, keep refilling the humidifier, and dream about Spring!

New Directions in MiniVan(da)s

No, we're not detailing the 2008 auto models, we’re talking about mini-vandaceous orchids here. There’s been a growing interest in mini-catts, or miniature cattleya hybrids, and for good reason: they don’t take up much space, often flower more than once a year, come in a range of bright colors, and some are quite fragrant, too. What’s not to like? But all these reasons hold true for miniature vandaceous orchids as well, and yet they don’t seem to get the same respect. This article hopes to correct the imbalance.

Many an urbane, sophisticated city-dwelling orchid grower has looked at the giant, pendulous vanda species and hybrids grown in greenhouses and tropical climates and felt, well, rather inadequate. Those flowers, those colors, those roots! But most of us lack the space for even one full-sized vanda, much less a whole collection – and even if we did have space, their requirements of high light, humidity and open drainage put them out of reach for almost all indoor growers.

However, those who crave the colors, scents and growth habits of vandaceous orchids have a whole range of choices in the smaller vandaceous species and hybrids, and new combinations are always coming onto the market. Let’s start with some of the more commonly available ones:

Ascofinetias combine neofinetia with ascocentrum species to produce a range of colors, from red to orange to pink to white, sometimes with fragrance. Ascocentrums are mini vandaceous orchids that tolerate a range of light, leading to an easy growing plant. Some popular hybrids are 'Cherry Blossom', 'Peaches', 'Twinkle' and 'Petite Bouquet', which give any idea of their size and colors.

Darwinara hybrids combine ascocentrum, neofinetia, rhychostylis and vanda – quite a mix! They are similar to neostylis in size and flower and are usually blue to white: look for clonal names like 'Blue Star' and 'Charm'.

Nakamotoara is a multi-generic hybrid of vanda, neofinetia and ascocentrum, which gives a range of colors in plants just a bit larger than ascofinetias. 'Rainbow Gem' is one clonal name.

Neostylis 'Lou Sneary', probably the most famous mini-vandaceous orchid, is a primary hybrid of neofinetia falcata, a miniature from Japan with sprays of nicely scented white flowers (and very worth growing on its own), and rhynchostylis coelestis, a larger vandaceous grower, also with wonderfully scented flowers, usually purple and white.

Rumrillara is another multi-generic, this time of ascocentrum, neofinetia and rhynchostylis. I had a Rumrillara 'Sugar Baby'sitting in half of a coconut shell; it first flowered with two spikes and had a couple of new growths sprouting from the base. (It later perished of crown rot, but I'm definitely going to try this one again)


Ascovandoritis -- yes, you can cross an ascocenda with a doritis, and the result has excellent, ripe red color on a tall, erect spike. 'Thai Cherry' is one such cross. Expect more of this kind of cross in the future.Expect more of this kind of hybrid in the future, there's a lot of potential in mixing vanda alliance species with phalaenopsis alliance species.

Vandirea is an oddity even for this group: it crosses vanda amesiana (now technically a holcoglossum), with sedirea japonica, a miniature Asian species that looks like a small phalaenopsis. The result is supposed to be fabulous, jasmine-like fragrance with small size, frequent flowering and excellent cold tolerance. 'Newberry Jasmine' is the clonal name, if you can find it.

Vandofinetia pairs a vanda, usually one of the smaller-growing species like coerulescens, cristata or pumila, with neofinetia. 'Blaupunkt' is a beautiful, fragrant blue-white hybrid that flowers more than once a year.

Vascostylis, which crosses vanda with rhychostylis, hits the upper limits of the size boundary for mini-vandas, but the rich colors and reliable flowering can make it worth the space. Look for clonal names like 'Pine Rivers' and 'Five Friendships'.


OK, now that you’ve heard all about these little gems, how do you grow them? Well, they do need good light; these are not orchids to place in bright shade in an eastern window, unless you can supplement natural light with artificial light from fluorescents or other grow lights, or grow them under lights for 12-14 hours a day. Particularly during the winter they can take a fair amount of direct sunlight. In summer, shade them from midday sun, or grow them beneath or behind another plant to provide dappled sunlight.

During the warmer months, water them frequently and generously to drench their roots, which, though not as long and dangly as vandas, can get pretty rambunctious. Use a coarse, quick-draining mix such as coarse bark or tree fern and perlite – I’ve had pretty good luck with compressed coconut husk (“CHC”) . Fertilize “weekly, weakly” during the growing season, twice a month in winter. If you pot them in wooden baskets, they won’t need potting for a while, just let ‘em grow all over, then drop the whole plant, basket and all, into a larger basket. If growing in pots, watch for root rot, especially during winter, and always be careful not to let water sit in the crown, in between the top leaves, when the weather's cold, or crown rot becomes a very real hazard.

All that miniature vandaceous orchids need to become the new craze for indoor growers is a catchy name. Mini-vans is confusing, mini-vandaceous is too long, mini-monopodal (mini-mon?) is too technical, and mini-sarcanthinae (from the taxonomic subtribe name) is just right out. Vanditas? Vandelites? Whatever the name, these easy-growing, free blooming little orchids are worth checking out. And the next time you start coveting that gorgeous monster of a vanda, remember: it’s not size that matters. It’s flower power!

Let's Get Terrestrial

Terrestrial orchids occupy a strange space in the indoor orchid growing world. They come from a wide variety of genera, their growth habits run from miniature mat forming growths to giant upright fans of foliage, and cultural requirements vary from outdoor hardy bulb-types to rainforest shade growers.

And then there’s that whole dirt thing. For many orchid growers, the idea of growing orchids in regular plant potting mix seems downright odd; a step back towards growing those boring old houseplants that many of us nurtured our green thumbs on before graduating to orchids. Where’s the challenge? Actually, terrestrials give the indoor grower a large number of worthwhile and rewarding orchids to grow, and ease of culture doesn’t have to be a drawback!

Rather than discuss terrestrials according to their taxonomic classifications, let’s divide them into a few very unscientific, but more user-friendly categories:

  1. Small bulb growers

  2. Jewel orchids

  3. Clumping terrestrials

  4. Larger terrestrials


Small Bulb Growers

Bletillas and pleiones are two orchid species often found in garden catalogs alongside familiar bulbs like tulips, narcissus, and daylilies, but they are orchids, and there’s no reason not to grow them indoors. First, they’re really small: you can keep three bulbs in a four inch pot. Second, during the winter, you don’t have to take care of them at all – just clean off the bulbs at the end of the growing season in the fall, put them in a paper bag with some barely moist sphagnum moss, and put them in the back of the refrigerator – yes, you heard that right! They need a cold, but not freezing period to initiate blooming. After about 2-3 months in the crisper, take out the bulbs, pot them in fine bark with some regular plant potting mix added, and water when new growth appears

Ancistrochilus rothschildianus doesn’t need refrigeration , but it does need some attention to watering in order to grow well. It is deciduous, so when its leaves start to die down in the fall, it’s time to cut back on water, but not let it dry out completely. Its small bulbs have been described as looking like “little chocolate kisses”, and it bears bluish/mauve flowers in the spring that are large for the size of the plant.


Spathoglottis is often used as a landscape plant in frost-free areas, it does not go deciduous but needs even moisture and medium light. It has wide, pleated leaves, and happy plants can bloom almost year round.


Jewel Orchids

Jewel orchids are named for their brightly patterned leaves, often with veins of bright red, or sparkling gold or silver tones. They are grown as foliage plants rather than for their flowers, which are usually small and undistinguished. They are rainforest understory plants, meaning they like it warm, humid and shady, perfect for a small terrarium or a shady window. They prefer a mix with lots of leaf humus, peat and chopped sphagnum moss, to mimic the leaf litter and moss of their natural habitat. Their leaves can be marked or even rot due to water remaining on young leaves, especially in cold weather: water carefully at the level of the pot rather than drenching from above. The most common jewel orchid is ludisia (haemaria) discolor, with dark, almost black leaves veined in red. Despite its exotic leaves it’s a pretty tough plant, able to grow in lower humidity and drier mix, and can be propagated simply by rooting pieces of stem in water. It also has an alba variation, with green leaves veined in white, and the rarer var. dawsonia with only one central red vein. Also available is macodes petiola, with fabulous bright and dark green dappled leaves veined in gold – a bit trickier to grow, but well worth the effort. Less available genii include anoectochilus, with some of the most beautiful markings of the group, goodyera, which has both tropical and hardy species, stenoglottis fimbriata and hybrids, with purple spotted leaves, cyclopogon, some malaxis species, sarcoglottis, stenosarchos, and even some oeceoclades species. If you can’t find any of these, take that paphiopedilum that’s never bloomed for you, put it in a fancy pot, and call it your jewel orchid.


Clumping Terrestrials

Clumping terrestrials are a diverse group of orchids that, well, clump. But don’t yawn! There are some great orchids in this bunch –

Habenaria rhodochila is a small grower with spotted leaves almost as pretty as a jewel orchid’s, and it bears numerous flowers in shades of white, yellow, orange or red. Oeceoclades maculata also has attractively mottled leaves; its flowers are small and white with pink markings.

Liparis has some terrestrial species, they generally have spikes of small, but often highly colored flowers; an established specimen can put on quite a display.

Malaxis is similar to liparis in its growing requirements and habits; some species have pretty pleated or marked leaves.


Large Terrestrials

Larger terrestrials include some really showy, outstanding species that make fabulous indoor pecimens. Take phaius tankervillae, which produces spikes of up to 20 3 inch flowers in shades of rose, tan and white, and has large pleated leaves which give a tropical look to any room. It can get quite large, so also look at phaius Bebe Chien, a hybrid with the smaller growing phaius pulcher, or the increasingly popular phaiocalanthe hybrids like Cryptonite or Dan Rosenberg.

Calanthes are also worth growing in their own right. Some species are like the smaller bulbous growers, ideciduous in winter and needing no more care then your summer sandals. However, others are evergreen, and need to be kept moist all year round. All have long spikes of flowers in all shades from white to dark red, which make excellent cult flowers.

Next is sobralia, a genus of South American orchids with leaves and growth habit much like bamboo. Their flowers look like cattleyas, and last only one day, but are produced successively during the blooming season, so that a mature specimen can put on quite a display. Smaller species like callosa, powellii and decora only grow about 2-3 feet tall indoors, while larger species like macrantha can top out at over five feet – just the thing to screen a bare stretch of wall. Sobralias, like phaius, like lots of water and fertilizer during the growing season, less in winter, and bloom best when potted tightly.

Arpophyllum doesn’t grow as tall as sobralia, but it does have a spike up to 4ft., with a tight cluster of small purple flowers that remind many of grape hyacinths. It needs excellent drainage, with lots of tree fern and sphag in the mix, and medium light.

Last, but not least, in our line up is thunia, a genus that has a habit like sobralia, but loses its leaves and goes completely dry and dormant for the winter – put it away, it looks like a dead dendrobium. Come spring, though, new growth shoots up at a fantastic rate, and blooms successively with white, cattleya-like flowers. It’s also one of the only orchids in the world that features attractive fall foliage – the leaves color golden brown before dropping!

That’s it; have fun going terrestrial!