Monday 25 April 2011

Orchid Flowers for Easter


Cultivating tropical orchids can be fun. The vast array of Vanda, Dendrobium, Cattelya and related species with thousands of colourful varieties are truly spectacular. And we can grow them outdoors quite easily. I have quite a few in the yard, and enjoy their colourful and at times fantastic, flower displays.

And of late, flowering of most plants has been fairly regular, with a good sized flower stem.

Locally in the NT, we have a fair range of native orchids, but none have the tremendous flowers that are more common with the bred varieties.

Our relatively common local orchid does have one feature though that makes it special.......the whole plant on a tree flowers at once in a single monster burst of white flowers for a single day.



And Easter Sunday morning was the day. Is there significance in that, one might ask, on the Christian Feast of the Resurrection?

As soon as the back door of the house opened, the fragrance was superb [ and not all orchids have a fragrance], with all of the plants around the yard a mass of white flowers. The fragrance permeated around the yard, particularly noticeable in the windless early morning; by around midday it had virtually disappeared.


Flowering is not, as far as I can tell, day length or temperature driven.........but they do flower quite a few times each year..............and ALWAYS together! This time a few regular doses of fertiliser given when the other orchids receive their fertiliser spray might have paid off.

Flowering was fantastic. Ho hum............but just a single day each time.





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