hy Qrow Orchids? 



Emmett Ross 



JL or those of you who might have read my article on 

 orchids last year and were enticed to try and grow a plant or 

 two, this is the time of the year that the fruits of your labors 

 wll be yours to enjoy. All of the different types of orchids 

 that I had mentioned should be, or shortly will be, in bloora 

 These cold dark days of our winters are an excellent time of 

 the year to be rewarded with those exotic moth-like blooms 

 of the phaleanopsis dancing on a long inflorescence. Or 

 possibly, you are lucky enough to have a bouquet of cattleya 

 blooms, commonly represented as the corsage orchid. What 

 could be more appetizing to the senses than hsvmg a five- 

 inch bloom in hues of purple or white filling your growing 

 area with an intoxicating perfume? Then, if you had indulged 

 in perhaps a cymbidium or two, your blooms would soon be 

 coming. Their blooms are more earth-toned as well as 

 having yellows, reds, and greens. 



Orchid growing throughout the years has always 

 presented the grower with challenges. What is the allure 

 that keeps us interested and continually trying to meet these 

 new challenges? First and foremost is the fact that probably 

 no one person could ever grow all of the 35,000 or so species 

 of orchids in one life time. So from such a vast field of plants 

 from which to chose, there will most certainly be some that 

 are suitable to almost any growing condition. 



This diversity of flower morphology contributes to orchid 

 interest For instance, there are oncidiums that, when in 

 bloom, simulate a bee swarm by producing a spray of 

 hundreds of blossoms that quiver with the slightest breeze. 

 During the course of evolution, this system was devised to 

 antagonize a passing bee into attacking the "swarm" and 

 thereby initiate pollination. 



Oncidium/)a/>iZzo, the butterfly orchid, bears a single 

 flower displayed atop a four-foot stalk. The top two petals 

 and one sepal rise like long yellow and brown antennae with 

 the remaining flower segments arranged to resemble a 

 butterfly. 



Angraecums have predominantly white star-shaped 

 flowers that look as though they were carved out of wax. 

 They contain a nectary at the end of a spur that is active at 

 night When Darwin observed Angcm. sesquipedale, with its 

 12-inch spur, he predicted that there was a moth with a 12- 

 inch proboscis that was its pollinator. This moth was finally 

 discovered in the 1920's. This orchid is also known as the 

 Star of-Bethleham orchid as it blooms faithfiilly during the 

 Christmas season. 



Anguloa clowesii is also referred to as the tulip orchid for 

 just reasons. Their sepals have a cup shape that resembles 

 the tulip. Maybe I could interest you in a miltoniopsis (or 



February 6? March 1993 

 19 



