There are lots of orchids on my wish list. That is i wish i could grow them. Den. cuthbertsonii, Miltoniopsis, Nigrohirsuite Dendrobiums etc.etc.etc...

I've always wanted a black orchid. Perhaps a black maxillaria variabilis or a black catasetum. I would also like a miltoniopsis, because the only one I had just died.

Sarah

I had a nice sized phrag. kovachii x besseae that I got at a really great price last summer. Over the winter, I kept it in my bedroom window with some other plants, protected by some screen to keep my roommate's cat away from the plants. Well, one day he managed to pull away some of the screen and squirm up onto the windowsill and then proceeded to munch the orchids I had sitting there. The kovachii hybrid didn't make it, and my cymbidium goeringii is barely holding on.

So, that being said, I have to add a phrag. kovachii hybrid back to my list of orchids. In no particular order:

• Phrag. kovachii hybrid

• Milt. schroederiana

• Paph. malipoense

• Cyp. henryi

• Paph. hangianum (not even sure it is available in the U.S. yet)

Its everchanging, but currently in no specific order:

1. Angraecum compactum
2. Brassavola acaulis
3. Clowesia Grace Dunn
4. Phal violacea
5. Angraecum magdalenae

1. Aerangis arachnopus
2. Angraecum dryadum
3. Angraecum teretifolium
4. Dendrobium xanthophlebium
5. Centroglossa macroceras

YUM!

D cuthbersonii red
D cuthbersonii yellow
D cuthbersonii orange
D cuthbersonii yellow/red
D cuthbersonii white

All 6" across and thriving.

Nick

Aerangis punctata
Cymbidium goeringii
Neofinetia falcata 'Shu Ten Nou'
Sedirea japonica
Whatever the ghost orchid is called these days. The name keeps changing every time I look for it, it seems.

There is 'Ghost' for sale on Ebay. I got one last month.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ghost-Orchid-Polyrrhiza-lindenii-Mounted-/380241269408?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0amp;hash=item58882552a0

This item is not for bidding but for 'Buy now'. When it went for bids ot sold for much less. Keep an eye on that vendor, she's had one listed every week for 2 to 3 weeks.

Nick

It looks like an oakhill plant - the ones from oakhill are only 12.50, but tiny! Mine died recently after lingering for a year or so.

Calvin, when you find an Aerangis arachnopus and a Centroglossa macroceras, be sure to tell me where.
And:
Angraecum viguieri - lost one several years ago
Aeranthes henrici - lost mine last year after waiting patiently for six years for it to (not) bloom.

Carol - I 'know' (ie over the www) a grower who has a Centroglossa macroceras; if I were in the states, I would attempt to beg for a piece! :) After focusing on angraecoids, I always get confused when I encounter rare sympodial orchids - barring difficult culture conditions, can't pieces just be chopped off and propagated? It seems so easy!! (I'm probably a bit delusional)

Aerangis arachnopus, aerangis collum-cygni, aerangis gracillima...three marvelous marvelous species that we will probably never be available in North America...although I know SOMEONE we both know has an aer. arachnopus..not naming any names! :)

I forgot to add aerangis umbonata to the list - luckily with that one, there is hope; either a $75 from botanica (likely a malala plant they've done the job of taking through ICU and gotten it growing = a big task!) or Malala next spring.

The elusive henrici...I haven't dared to try one. My grandiflorum, which apparently is 'easy' seems to hover between blooming and dying, with minimal growing in between. Until I get that one popping, I'm going to leave that one to the pros like you :) (and seriously - keeping that thing alive for 6 years is a real accomplishment in itself!)

You guys sound like you are talking about Telipogon.

Nick

I like the bit "hover between blooming and dying" . Think Aerangis are almost in the Telipogon class but they never did much hovering, they just died.

I'm loving the collection being under 40 plants - all the orchids that need watering on any one day fit on a cookie sheet and get soaked in the kitchen for an hour. How wonderful is that!!!

However......... the one that's being held for me till it's bigger is the Habenaria medusae. Oh. My. Gosh. If that one blooms... no words can describe...

From Jay's Orchid Species:

Thanks for the input, Calvin. I know who has the Centroglossa, but I doubt it is divisable at this point anyhow even if he was willing.

Growing Angraecoids got me interested in growing these other little monopodial species, mostly from Asia. Mount 'em and treat them like the Angs.

I got an Aerangis unbonata and an Angraecum teretifolium from the Malala order this year (by Botanica). Both came through just fine; the unbonata is just kind of sitting right now but healthy and with some live roots, and the Ang teretifolium (some dispute if it is a linearifolium) never missed a beat and continues to push roots into the treefern mount -- not even a single leaf tip browned during its long voyage from Madagascar. With the currency exchange rate (the US$ vs. Euro) much better this year than last) the plants ended up about $35 each total with S&H, etc. Still a lot of money though. I think I only lost two; an Ang and a leafless.

The Aeranthes henrici was an easy grower all the years I had it. All it took was water settling in the leaf axils one cool winter night -- and it was history. I originally got the plant from, of all places, Oak Hill.

There are a lot of really nice Angraecoids out there for sale by online dealers - I try to keep track of them - but what I find is this dealer has one I want, another has one I want, another has two I want -- I just don't want to place such a small order and pay an entire shipping bill. I'm cheap; I'm mostly Scot and it shows.

Sarah, Fred Clarke just sent out an announcement of black Catasetinae available. Unclear if they've bloomed before, but in the past, he's always given the % that's been blooming out solid black. Not today. On his current list, a 4" pot is $100.

From Fred's site:

His email:

Hi all, I have just finished posting the new long awaited Catasetinae plant offering for 2010 www.sunsetvalleyorchids.com Also you will find the new Catasetum division list, these divisions are from my personal collection and not often available.

The plants offered newly updated Cattleya section are beautifully grown and have been receiving great reviews.

Good growing

Fred Clarke

Sunset Valley Orchids

1255 Navel Place

Vista, CA 92081

(760) 310-0778

fred.clarke@att.net

www.sunsetvalleyorchids.com

Here is a link that might be useful: Fred Clarke new orchid list

@nick & arthur: telipogon? what's that? never heard of it...must not be important.

Just joking!

WC8 - The medusae is stunning, isn't it! I have two habenaria medusae rosettes that are slowly growing their third leaves. I doubt I'll get blooming this year, which kind of sucks because I seem to not be able to help myself from rotting these things in the fridge every year. Who are you getting yours from! :)

Carol - I've lost 3/6 of the angs I got from malala. The dollii still hasn't decided if it wants to live or die yet. I'm totally cheap too but I seem to not be able to help myself sometimes. Especially in Canada, with most of these plants if you don't grab them when you get the chance, you'll never get them!

I'm thrilled your ang teretifolium and aer umbonata are doing well - I can't wait till they bloom for you. What do you have them mounted on?

I was also meaning to ask you - what did you mount your neobathiae perrieri on? I have mine on treefern with sphag and although it is growing one new root, I don't know if this is ideal. Thoughts?

Calvin, I'm sorry to hear you have lost some of the plants. I think my loss is two out of eght - so far.

The Ang dollii would be entering its dry season now in Madagascar and probably not doing much of anything anyhow. It took a couple years for my old plant to adapt to the change of winter/summer seasons and then it took off and really started to grow and bloom. I hope my new one will do the same.

The Ang teretifolium is on treefern, the umbonata and Neobathiae are on cork. All have a tiny bit of sphag around the roots covered by coco fiber to protect them from the wire. Summer is awfully hot and they dry out way too fast; come fall, I may bareroot them.

Like anything else, it's a case of what works for you; my conditions are very much different from yours. If your Neobathiae is putting out roots and seems to like the treefern, I would go with it.

Calvin, Tom @ Parkside had 12 pots in the spring. Dunno how many he has left or how many came up.

His email is "Parkside Orchid Nursery"

Let me know if you get one!

PS. The email addy has spaces in it. Otherwise, GF wouldn't show it at all.

Just scratched off the top orchids on my list. Went to the NCOS show at the National arboretum today and found violacea (alba...not my first choice, but its violacea) and got a Clowesia Grace Dunn :) I'm excited! Got a bellina as well, but I always kill those so it wasn't very high on the wish list to begin with.

Happy Happy Dance :)