Nick,
I appreciate your pursuit of these rare plants and your passion of orchids. I like reading what you write and seeing the next picture of an orchid I've never heard of let alone seen it. You open my eyes and expand my knowledge. My guess is that you are the apex collector!

So that leaves me with some questions. You've written about different greenhouses of different micro climes. Please describe the number of greenhouses and their dynamics and size. And how many orchids do you have? Is it easier to count the species you don't have?

Do you have help in managing your orchids? Can you travel and have someone look after your orchids?

Here is a challenging question. What happens hopefully a long time from now to your plants after death? Many great collections have turned to dust due to financial estate issues that keeps helpful hands away long enough so there is nothing left.

A long time ago the AOS published a template for an orchid living trust. I've tried but can't find it. It allowed for the immediate transfer of orchids upon death or serious illness. It separated the orchids from the rest of the estate. Either find that or create a new one if that is of interest.

Anyway, keep writing and providing great pictures. And thanks for all your threads I read but don't leave any comments. I read them all. Keep it coming...

Thanks for your thoughtful comments. I will try to answer your queries. I have 2 greenhouses, warm/cold, each about 360 sq feet. Each has micro climates where it is cooler closer to the swamp cooler than at the far reaches. Same with the heater. I use RO water in the GH. A slightly larger area in the backyard is covered with Aluminet and gets watered with tap water. 50% Aluminet covers a few Cymbidiums and a larger number of AU Dendrobiums. 60% shading covers everything else. 75% of plants are mounted, the rest sit underneath in pots on benches.

None of the outside plants need repotting as they are all either in rock or bare-root. I have a bench but it is not a repotting bench. The GH plants are not so kind to me as many are in Sphagnum Moss. All of the Bulbos, Pleuros etc. These I need to repot with fresh moss once a year, takes me about 2 weeks. I water the 2 GH every 2 days, takes about 1 hour for both, I have a 2HP pump pushing the RO water and they get drenched. Outside takes 1/2 hour and frequency varies with the ambient temp. Weekly in the winter then every 3 days to daily during the intense summer heat. I manage the collection by myself with absolutely no problem spending a few hour every day with them.

A member of the house hold waters when I'm away which is not that often anymore. I used to enjoy travel immensely but find I'm most comfortable at home or with the grand kids at their homes so don't miss travel.

My mother died at a ripe age of acute leukemia and spent 3 weeks in a hospice surrounded by her family. At that time she transferred all of her assets to me so she was pennyless when she died and there were no estate issues of any kind. We have taken that model to heart and there will be no estate issues at all when i go. My kids know the contacts at 3 orchid societies to whom the plants will be donated. I have never counted them but I think there are about 2,000 of them.

My family and the orchids are my main interest in life now. My family and I led an physically active life when the 6 kids were growing up, skiing, motorcycle riding, dune buggies, hang gliding, scuba diving etc. Spent more time in a 35' motorhome than in hotels. I'm 73 now, on Coumadin, so don't do any of this any more. Golf and lawn bowling never was a part of my life, the orchids fill the void.

What I do makes sense for me, not necessarily suitable for anyone else. My suggestions and recommendations work for me, again may not be suitable for other situations so need to be taken with a healthy grain of salt.

Nick

After 8 or 10 years of growing orchids now I think I am finally ready to get serious about the horizontal growing thing. My collection has changed so much as my situation has changed; from windowsill to under lights, and now to having a greenhouse. I have been perusing all the different types of Rhyncolaelia digbyana out there (not many, and strangely hard to find) and that is the most likely place my horizontal journey will begin. I have had one for three or four years and it has put up with the last two changes in growing conditions and thrived. So I figured that will be a good place to start. I also like the idea of having several cultivars all in bloom at once and being able to compare them. Once I start on that, I suspect I'll branch out to either other species cattleyas or maybe heirloom crosses⦠but no need to get ahead of myself.

It can be fun. I have now identified Epipactis palustris, hellborine and Sabine (gigantea x palustris) from Canada. Epipactis thunbergii and royleana from Belgium and Epipactis Renate (palustris x veratrifolia) from Germany and the following hybrids fro the UK: Passionata (palustris alba x royale), Catalina (gigantea x royaleana) and Lowland Legacy (gigantea x veratrifolia).

How many of these I'll actually get depends on my enthusiasm after sleeping on this project for a full week. I know I'll get the species and maybe a couple of hybrids but just like buying a car they always look better on the first day than 7 days later. Any salesman knows that. We'll see.

Nick

Here is a digbyana hybrid for you. When you become a digbyana expert, you can ID it for me. I inherited it from someone without a tag. Digbyana was and is used extensively in hybridization because of the frilly lip.

Nick

I ordered Epipactis helleborine, palustris and x-Sabine from Fraser's Thimble Farm in British Columbia. This is easy, no import issues, Belgium and Germany are a little more problematic.

Nick

I thought you were going to sleep on the Epipactis purchase for a week, Nick!

That is a lovely frilly orchid you have there. And I bet it smells just great.

The road to hell is paved with good intentiones. The ones from Canada are a no-brainier, the other ones I need to do some mulling

Nick

Decided to skip the German and British hybrids but did order Epipactis royleana from the Belgium nursery. While I was mulling they sold out on Epipactis thurnbergii. The price of indecision.

Nick

And now you have something to look forward to. I love it when plants come in the mail. Plus, you have a hunt on for the other plants, which is its own kind of fun.

The hunt is as much fun as the kill.

Nick

Almost there, the Canadian imports just arrived, the Belgium one is in transit. The collection now includes:

EPIPACTIS
[gigantea
[gigantean âÂÂSerpentine NightsâÂÂ
[helleborine
[mairei
[palustris
???[roleyana
//////thurnbergii
[x Sabine (E.gigantea and E.palustris)

These are all the available Epipactis I could find, I'm sure there are more. The ??? in front of royleana means it's in transit, has left Belgium but not yet arrived. //// in front of thurnbergii means it's out of stock but I should be able to get it next spring from the same Belgium vendor as roleyana.

Epipactis mairei is beginning to bloom, will post a picture in the gallery in a couple of days.

Nick

Still waiting for that package from Belgium, hopefully it was not diverted through Malaysia. The Chinese one, Epipactis mairei is the first one to bloom. It has 3 stalks, one is in bloom.

Nick

Very lovely!The flowers look like cymbidiums and leaves look like those of the nuns cap orchids.I've never heard of or seen an Epipactis orchid before.