PAUL's ORCHID GARDEN

"Paul"

BY WAY OF INTRODUCTION (and Orchid Warning):
We have known Paul for some time now and have accompanied him on a few of his orchid expeditions to Costa Rican orchid shows. If you ever get the opportunity to do so it is a most fascinating experience. Paul can look at an Orchid and tell you it's origin from generations back. His knowledge and obvious love of orchids is catching. The orchid garden at Pura Vida was inspired by one of his visits. Now about Paul:

Paul Mitchell will finally be moving to the Costa Rican Central Valley around the end of this year. He has been visiting Costa Rica since November of 1976. His interest in orchids began in high school in 1962 when a classmate in Biology class gave a talk on orchids. His curiosity piqued, he went to a local nursery and bought three orchids, which grew and bloomed for him. He was hooked.

Over the years as other hobbies came and went his interest in orchids endured. At one point he had eight- or nine-hundred orchids in his collection in his backyard in west central Florida. Now he is looking forward to learning how to grow orchids in tropical Costa Rica where he will not have to put them inside during the wintertime. Paul's comment "Hooray!".

Paul would like to warn budding orchidists that orchid growing is not a hobby. It's a disease, and one with no cure, at that. But what a way to go!

To ask Paul an orchid question today . . . click here for the Costa Rica Living Yahoo group

Here follows our online orchidarium. These are orchids Paul or I have photographed at the Pura Vida, at local Costa Rican orchid shows (there are many) or at visits to other orchidariums such as the splendid Lankester gardens.

Cattleya skinneri aka GUARIA MORADA (Costa Rica):

This marvellous guaria is in the garden of Pura Vida and is over 20 years old. Each spring in February or March after enough of a drought (no water) it will one day literally burst into flower as you can see here.

"The Costa Rican National Orchid"

Botanists recently have decided to change the name to Guarinanthe skinneri, both to commemorate its tico name and to place it in a genus of three or so former Cattleya species which are closely related to each other moreso than to Cattleya.

But no matter what it is called, it is still a very showy plant when a large specimen is in full bloom.

There is a nursery just outside of Palmares that is dedicated to this plant and next month, around the time of the National Orchid Exposition in San José, that nursery will be ablaze with Cattleya skinneri in full flower. They are established on thin trunked trees which are growing in rows about eight feet apart.

When you stand in the middle of this grove of trees you are enclosed in a sea of lavender-purple blooms of the fragrant guarias and you cannot see anything but the glorious hues of their flowers, no matter which direction you look. It is so intense that it is almost electrifying.

Worth a visit to Palmares to see. The entry fee is nominal and there are also several shadehouses full of orchids, some of which are available for sale.

The garden is called Jardin de Orquideas (452-0105) email: jardindeorquideas@gmail.com owned by Alfonso Rojas To find it just ask anyone in downtown Palmares for directions. It's on the southeast edge of town. Definitely worth a visit. And when these lovely plants are all in bloom it's breathtaking.

Dendrobium nobile (India):

This large specimem was shown at an Orchid show earlier this year in Alajuela.

"Dendrobium nobile"

Dendrobium nobile is a species from India and several nearby countries. It grows in climes where it experiences monsoon rains during its summers and chilling temperatures and bright sun during several months of dry wintertime. An occasional frost may occur.

D. nobile requires this rest period during the dry, bright months and chilling temperatures to ripen the canes which ensures flowering just before the spring rains begin. The will usually drop their leaves as the dry, cool part of the year begins.

When the leaves begins to fall, orchid hobbyists often make the mistake of feeling sorry for the plants and watering them during what is supposed to be their resting time. This confuses the plants and in springtime, instead of producing flowers at the nodes along the canes, little plantlets (which orchidists call 'keikis', a Hawaiian word meaning baby) begin to form instead. In addition to spoiling the flowering for that year the keikis can sap the strength of the plant and should be removed when still very small.

Sometimes D. nobile and its relatives in the genus will throw keikis as a way of trying to survive. This is often noted when they are planted in pots and the medium becomes stale. The plant will initiate a keiki up near the top of one of its canes looking for a fresh support to attach to.

Dendrobium nobile is the parent of many floriferous hybrids in shades of lavender, purple, violet, yellow, orange, and white, with an alternate color inside the tube of the lip. Flowers are frequently pleasantly and sweetly scented, sometimes smelling like lemon sugar cookies.

A well bloomed nobile dendrobium will be so covered with blossoms that they obscure the green parts of the plant, making it a living bouquet.

Don't cut the canes off when they finish flowering as the needs them to help support its health. Canes should be removed only after they turn yellow and become completely dry. Plants should be repotted after two to three years when the bark medium begins to break down and stay damp. Dendrobium nobile likes to be severely underpotted so that it can dry out quickly between waterings. Or in Costa Rica it may be mounted on various kinds of trees.

When grown properly, Dendrobium nobile and its showy hybrids are among the most rewarding of orchids.

Cycnoches aka SWAN ORCHID (Costa Rica):

Cycnoches (pronounced `SICK-noe-keys') are also known by their popular nickname, swan orchids, due to the shape of the lip and the graceful curve of the column. The flowers of C. warscewiczii also emit a wonderful fragrance, especially in the morning.

This showy species is native to Costa Rica, occurring from there down into Colombia. It favors hot to warm regions and can be found growing on trees or on rotten logs, and even at times growing terrestrially next to decomposing logs or tree stumps.

Cycnoches is a genus of orchids belonging to a group of several related genera that have some odd habits, amongst which they bear dimorphic flowers (i.e., they bear separate male or female flowers or, rarely, perfect ones containing both sexes), which are markedly different from one another.

"Bee deceived by fragrance"

This habit was responsible for much confusion early on as orchid taxonomists tried to ID these beautiful orchids, since the male and female flowers tended to arise on separate plants. Then on a subsequent flowering a plant might reverse itself and produce flowers of the sex opposite from what it produced on its previous blooming. Finally, when some individuals eventually produced flowers of both sexes on separate flower spikes on one plant it became clear what the confusion was.

Of course it did not help early on that the female flowers of Cycnoches all look very much the same. It is the male flowers that display the individuality of each species of the genus, offering a means for proper identification.

Cycnoches are easy to grow and bloom if attention is given to meeting their requirements. They will thrive in a bark mix suitable for epiphytic orchids but seem to do especially well in sphagnum moss with an addition of well-rotted cow manure or time-release fertilizer. They are heavy feeders that require copious amounts of water during their growing season.

Towards the end of the growing season the flowers are produced along about the time the leaves on the newly matured growth begin to yellow and drop. After the flowers fade the plant should be rested with all water withheld until new growth is seen emerging from the bottom of the plant.

When the new growths are about two inches long, the plant should be removed from the old mix, the roots trimmed (the roots die off at the end of each season), and the bulb staked securely in the new pot and mix. When the roots are about one inch long and entering the mix it is safe to resume watering a little. As the roots continue to grow watering should be increased as the plants will now begin taking it up in earnest, along with the nutrients in the fertilizer. The new bulbs (correctly, pseudobulbs) will grow quickly and, if the plant is kept happy and well supplied with food and water through its growing season you should have more flowers around September.

These flowers are about four to five inches in diameter and usually last about a week in perfection Flower spikes can carry three to seven flowers. Their fragrance is light, sweet, and very pleasant.

In this photo the bee visiting the flower is deceived into believing that there is nectar due to the flower's strong fragrance. Notice the configuration of the bee to this (male) flower. The bee is just the right size to effect pollination. (Orchid species have usually evolved with their pollinators -or vice versa- so that each orchid species usually has only one pollinator. Other insects visiting a species which is not the right size or

"D. amethystoglossum hails from the Philippines "

shape will seldom effect pollination.) As it searches for the (nonexistent) nectar this bee's abdomen will brush against the end of the column, picking up the pollinia to carry away to fertilize a female flower.

A Dendrobium - D. amethystoglossum:

Dendrobium is a huge genus of asian orchids, members of which grow in nearly every sort of habitat one can imagine and in most of the tropical and sub-tropical countries in that sector of the globe. The species of this genus are wildly varied and flowers also are amazingly diverse of shape and color.

D. amethystoglossum hails from the Philippines and can be found growing on rocks in warm climes upwards to intermediate to cool regions on those islands.

A really well grown plant can support half a dozen or more drooping spikes of these attractive, long-lasting, pleasantly fragrant flowers. The contrast between the crystaline white of the sepals and petals and the reddish-violet of the lip makes for a wonderful interplay of color.

The plants bloom in the wintertime after two to three months rest and drying off, plus withholding of fertilizer until the blooms have passed. As the new growths emerge in spring watering and feeding are gradually resumed until the growths begin to lengthen and roots fully emerge, after which copious amounts of water are required. Heavy watering and feeding continue until the fall when the growths mature when water and food must again be withheld to ripen the canes for the blooming season that is to follow. Only enough water to keep the canes from shrivelling severely should be given during the winter rest, and then only sparingly.

This is a rewarding plant that should succeed well in Costa Rica in climates like those found in Escazú or Cartago. The spike on the plant shown here indicates that this is a very happy specimen carrying more than the expected number of flowers on it.

A Nice Trichopilia:

If you attend the Annual Orchid Exposition of Costa Rica I'll bet you will see at least a few specimens of this lovely, lightly fragrant species.

"T. suavis is a relative of the Oncidium"

T. suavis is a relative of the Oncidium (dancing lady, shower of gold) orchids. The flowers are proportionately large for the plant and on a well bloomed one can surround the base of the plant. Some of the geally good ones are really show- stoppers.

Plants prefer intermediate temperatures to thrive best, but I have seen them grown and bloomed in the warm temperatures of central Florida. They like a well drained mix that holds moisture around the roots but still allows good aeration. During its rest period it likes to stay a bit less wet tho not dried out for a long period of time.

It is important to repot these plants a soon at the mix gets old as they resent stale conditions around the roots. The best time to repot is as the new roots begin to emerge along with the new shoots which arise from the base of the plant.

There are several other species of Trichopilia that occur in Costa Rica, several of which can be just as showy as this one. T. marginata and T. tortilia come to mind and you may see yet other species if you attend the Exposition.

From the ACO Show Cariari March 2007:

A beautiful "booth" highlighting Guaria Morada

We will drop a number of photos here from this wonderful show at the Cariari very near to here - also the site of the national Orchid meeting. We will add more descriptions and orchids every month or so.

Cattleya Dowiana - The Guaria de Turrialba

Cattleya dowiana - A Native of the Atlantic Vertiente in Costa Rica:

This beautiful orchid is native to the Atlantic vertiente of Costa Rica. On the generally northeast facing slopes of the mountains it grows high up in the tops of trees where it receives abundant light, wind, and rain.

The combination of these conditions which this plant needs to thrive often makes it somewhat difficult in cultivation.

Also known in Costa Rica as the Guaria de Turrialba, this orchid is the parent of many of our modern yellow cattleya hybrids. It imparts its yellow color to its progeny as well as the beautiful gold venation in the lip.

While the flowers often last no more than a week in good condition, their beauty is commanding and that makes this a desirable plant to have in one's collection. Fortunately as a parent, its progeny often have flowers with better keeping quality.

I would suggest resisting its charms if you are only just starting to grow orchids, and confine your collecting of this species to photo studies like this on the photographer has provided us with. Or grow one of its many spectacular hybrids, instead.

In 1898 a botanist by the name of Frederick Boyle from England wrote an interesting book on Orchids in which we find the following description:

"In avowing a certain indifference to Cattleyas, I referred to the bulk, of course. The most gorgeous, the stateliest, the most imperial of all flowers on this earth, is C. Dowiana—unless it be C. aurea, a "geographical variety" of the same.

They dwell a thousand miles apart at least, the one in Colombia, the other in Costa Rica; and neither occurs, so far as is known, in the great intervening region. Not even a connecting link has been discovered; but the Atlantic coast of Central America is hardly explored, much less examined.

In my time it was held, from Cape Camarin to Chagres, by independent tribes of savages—not independent in fact alone, but in name also. The Mosquito Indians are recognized by Europe as free; the Guatusos kept a space of many hundred miles from which no white man had returned; when I was in those parts, the Talamancas, though not so unfriendly, were only known by the report of adventurous pedlars. I made an attempt—comparatively spirited—to organize an exploring party for the benefit of the Guatusos, but no single volunteer answered our advertisements in San José de Costa Rica; I have lived to congratulate myself on that disappointment.

Since my day a road has been cut through their wilds to Limon, certain luckless Britons having found the money for a railway; [Pg 115]but an engineer who visited the coast but two years ago informs me that no one ever wandered into "the bush." "

This excerpt comes from - Project Gutenberg -tm.

Phalaenopsis, the moth orchid, came from tropical Asia originally

Phalaenopsis - or Phals:

Phalaenopsis, the moth orchids, come from tropical Asia. They have succulent leaves but otherwise no real water storage organs as do many other orchids with pseudobulbs which help to tide them over the dry season they experience in their own habitats.

Phapaenopsis -or Phals (Fails)- as we orchid fanatics tend to call them, come in many colors from pure white with yellow on the lips, to pinks and yellows, many with spots or stripes.

Not difficult to cultivate they don't like to dry out at the roots, but at the same time don't like to be waterlogged either. Evenly moist is the term we use for what Phals prefer. They also do not like to be colder than the lower 50s (F.) but an ccasional dip into the mid-30s can help to initiate fower spikes in the spring.

They can get pests and fungal and bactieral rots but the most frequent way thislatter happens is if the plants are watered too late in the day and water is left standing in the leaf axils.

Plant them in loosely packed sphagnum moss so there is moisture yet good areation at the roots and they will be happy. They also benefit from good levels of humidity and about 60% shade. Their tender leaves will burn if given too much light. They prefer filtered light rather than it being reflected or indirect. Repotting should be done about every two years or when the sphagnum moss begins to break down.

The flowers can last for two to three months on the plant in perfection under ideal conditions.

Taisuco, the Taiwanese sugar manufacturer is big into production of Phalaenopis here in Costa Rica and they always have a large showy exhibit in the National Orchid Exposition in March.

Dendrobium aphyllym (most likely to be)

Dendrobium aphyllym:

This a member of the genus Dendrobium. I can't tell which one this one is for sure but it appears to be Dendrobium aphyllum (syn. D. periardii) . There is a similar species in this section, D. parishii which is also popular and showy, plus a cross of D. aphyllum known as D. Adastra. All three of these Dendrobiums are frequently seen in collections and are not hard to find.

When these plants are in growth mode with active roots and elongating new growths they need frequent watering and a weak fertilizating routine. Any balanced water soluble fertilizer what is slightly acid should serve.

Once the new growths mature, reduce watering to lightly once a week and discontinue fertilizing. Eventually the leaves will begin to yellow and fall. This is natural and should be allowed to happen; there is nothing wrong with the plant.

When the leaves have fallen the plant should be placed in a brighter situation and watered very sparingly - only enough to keep the canes from shriveling excessively, and only when needed. These plants need a period of inactivity to allow their canes to mature and ripen in readiness for the blooms to follow.

If you continue to water or - heaven forbid, fertilize - the plant during its normal rest period it will become confused and when it is time for the buds to appear what you will get instead is little plantlets at the nodes along the canes. This is a great way to increase your number of plants, but you won't have any flowers that season.

It pays to be strict with these orchids during their rest period, as that is what they expect in their natural habitat, and you will be rewarded with a show of flowers like seen in the photo.

These are good beginner's orchids and are quite easy of culture, faithfully producing a cascading show of pastel pink and white blossoms each spring if you remember to treat them with a dry rest period each winter.

A position where good air movement and filtered light are available suits them well. If potted they do best in smallish clay pots as they need to dry out fairly quickly after watering. Otherwise they will succeed well when mounted on a trefern (root) slab or on a piece of natural wood. By all means avoid using driftwood from the beach as most orchids are damaged by even a small amount of salt residue in the wood.

Whatthe

New Orchid Photo:

"Thanks to the sloppy practices of your photographer, we are not so sure what planet this one comes from." Or some similar admonishment from Paul :-).

Art-shade cattleya hybrid

The Tale of an Art-Shade:

Here's another lovely orchid, albeit one that I cannot identify. It is possible to ID orchid species, but once you start putting the species together into hybrids it is impossible to positively ID the resultant progeny if the label on the plant is lost or, as in this case, the name of the plant was not included to ID the photo.

That does not make the orchid any less lovely, but it does offer some drawbacks. One is that a 'lost label' as we who are orchid hobbyists call them, is no longer useful for hybridizing with, since the parentage cannot be acertained.

All orchids have been registered since the first hybrid was produced around one hundred years ago. Orchids are the only group of plants for which hybridizing records are complete back to the beginning of crossing them.

This is not so for any other popular group of ornamental plants being manipulated horticulturally. Not for roses, nor daylillies, nor even gladiolus. Bromeliads are probably the only other group that ranks close in recordkeeping which goes back to the start.

But we do have a complete record for the orchids. And because of this, not only hybridizing with a 'lost label' plant is discouraged, but also showing them to compete in judged orchid shows for point scoring is not possible as there is no way to know for sure what class to enter the plant into.

So here we have a beautiful yellow orchid that is what orchidists refer to as an art-shade cattleya hybrid. These are very popular and come in many shapes and color ranges: whites, yellows, oranges, pinks, corals, thru brilliant reds and bronzy lavenders and evn the usual orchid-lavender.

What else distinguishes the 'art-shades' from traditional cattleya hybrids is their size and shape. They usually bear flowers 4" and under and often appear in clusters of five to seven or more flowers on an inflorescence. They can be quite showy and may bloom more than once per year.

Traditional standard cattleya hybrids are the big round showy lavender or white corsage orchids that one often visualizes when someone mentions an orchid. But there are lot more than those.

The 'art-shade' cattleyas are like the jelly-beans in an Easter basket, providing some counterpoint to the big dyed easter eggs and chocolate bunnies. (And orchid growing can be just as addictive as those choco-bunnies in that basket.)

But if you have plans to become a serious orchid hobbyist, please be sure to buy correctly labeled plants from the vendors at the local orchd shows. Then make sure that you don't lose the tags or that the birds don't swipe your tags. I wire mine onto the plants and use yellow plastic labels which the birds don't seem to like. I also use a No. 2 graphite pencil to write on the labels which doesn't wash off easily.

But most of all enjoy your orchids. There are many many kinds to choose from, and Costa Rica is a natural green- house where they will thive with minimal care.

Now, what is the name of the orchid illustrated here? I don't know for sure but I wish I did. Then I'd know what to ask for when I went looking for it -which I would do if I knew its name.

But enough lecturing. Have fun with a few orchids. There is one that will be easy to grow where you live. Have the vendor help you choose something easy for the beginner and before long you will be hooked on them like I am.

D. thyrsiflorum

Dendrobium thyrsiflorum aff.:

Paul writes "It is an Asian species that is popular, showy, and rather easy of culture. A well grown specimen of this species sporting multiple spikes of flowers is a stunning sight to behold. Although the flowers last in perfection for only about a week, their sheer numbers and ease of cultivation make this species worthwhile.

Grow these on the warm side but not too hot, with a slight drop in temperature at night. Plants prefer about fifty percent shade and good air movement. Many places in Costa Rica are well suited to this showy species.

In the wintertime (Dec. thru Mar.) keep them cooler at night (around 50 degrees F.) but do not let them dry out completely or the pseudobulbs will start to shrivel and that will affect flowering. At this time they should receive no fertilizer as they are resting and preparing for their bloom cycle.

Once the flower spikes are present and starting to elongate you can increase the watering but hold off on the fertilizer until flowering is over and the new growths at the base of the plant are starting. When the roots are about on half to and inch long you can resume fertilizing the plants.

These orchids do not like to be overpotted as, while they like a lot of water during their growing season, they really need good aeration at the roots so a smallish clay pot with a porous medium is ideal for them.

If grown well these plants will increase in size each year and the number of flower spikes will also increase. There have been specimen plants of this species that have bloomed out covered with literally dozens of pendent spikes making them breathtaking to behold. This species seems to be reasonably popular in Costa Rica so you should be able to find it at one of the various orchid shows that are presented throughout the year in Costa Rica.

bee

New Orchid Photo:

Description on the way soon, stay tuned to Paul's Orchid page

Pleurothallis or Lepanthes

About Our Miniature Orchids:

This is a shot of one of the many miniature orchids that populate the forests of Costa Rica. They tend to grow up where they receive intermediate to cool temperatures, dwelling in rain- and cloud-forest habitats where they thrive in the high humidity that they must have. I would speculate that this plant is no more than about 3 inches tall.

With this in mind it is better to attack them with a camera instead of with a collecting hook to add to your collection, as attempting to grow them without careful duplication of their environment is usually unsuccessful leaving you with a dead plant in very short order.

That having been said, there are some Tico orchid fanciers who manage to succeed with these charming miniature orchids. Likely as not they live near to the area where the plants are found and the same elements of their habitat occurs where the Tico hobbyist lives.

The plant pictured today is one of a large family of orchids, the Pleurothallidinae, which contains the genera (= plural of the word genus) Pleurothallis, Lepanthes, and a few others that occasionally make their way into specialty orchid collections.

Most Pleurotallids are small but others are downright miniscule, and one species that I saw a photo of was a well-established specimen plant only 1/8 of an inch tall, in full bloom with at least a dozen flowerspikes and was growing uncrowdedly in an upturned ladies' sewing thimble that was no more than 1/2 inch across!

Now why, you may inquire, would anyone pay attention to plants that are so small? Well they sport a surprising number of intricate flowers for being so tiny, displaying complex, fantastical shapes, colors and textures. But they are not able to be appreciated properly without a good magnifying lens.

If you attend the National Orchid Exposition to be given this coming March in San José, you are almost certain to see someone with a hand-lens examining one of these tiny gems. If you have the foresight to take a magnifying glass with you you will be able to see eactly what I mean. But a jeweller's loup might even be better to appreciate such minute detail.

Then after you examine one of these tiny blossoms may come the next question to your mind: What kind of insect would be able to pollinate such a miniscule flower?

The plant pictured today appears to be a Pleurothallis, but might be a Lepanthes. And often the leaves of these little plants are as interesting as the flowers, having spots or being crenulated (ruffled) around their edges like a Lilliputian piecrust.

bumpy

New Orchid Photo:

Description on the way soon, stay tuned to Paul's Orchid page

tiger2

New Orchid Photo:

Description on the way soon, stay tuned to Paul's Orchid page

blue

New Orchid Photo:

Description on the way soon, stay tuned to Paul's Orchid page

WANT TO PUT YOUR ORCHID IN PAUL'S GARDEN?

To learn more about an orchid you know, please stick a photo in an email with as much information as you know such as "where is it now?" and send to Berni at info@puravidahotel.com or pose a question directly for Paul at click here for the Costa Rica Living Yahoo group