In Bloom: Clivia nobilis

I have been quite pleased lately with a flush of blooms from my resident blooming size clivias recently. Among these was this first bloom Clivia nobilis, which was a gift a while back from my favorite plant cruising sidekick, The Larry. I remember it well. He said, "Do you want this?" To which I replied, ::SNATCH:: "Yes, thanks."

The plant is a little different from other clivias in terms of leaf texture - darker green, sturdier, more strap-like, with a hint of serration like texture on the margin, and very orderly and upright. It is quite attractive. The inflorescence is stout and bears a good number of tightly arranged flowers. And what's better? It is now sending up a second inflorescence.

We also recently had a vising black snake. Well, he was black, and he was a snake. I assume therefore, a "black snake". Quite an attractive young fellow. Lucky too. He narrowly missed being stomped by one of the horses. We hope he eats lots of field mice.

Dendrobium species culture

Hi folks, just ran across this page giving an overview of Dendrobium species culture based on group, and wanted to share. There are a lot of cool Dendrob's out there, but they can vary greatly. This might give you a good starting point, from which you can research more individual species and groups. The one thing it says that I'm not sure I agree with is "medium to high light" for Latoria species. Even here on the East coast I've seen latoria hybrids burn in higher light. I keep them in phalaenopsis level light with no problems. Latorias are great by the way! :) The photo above is one I currently have available in my shop. (There will be more soon if they don't all sell at market!)

2009 SEPOS Show, Fantastic Dendrobiums

In line with my increasing fascinating with Dendrobiums, I spent a good deal of time examining the selections at the SEPOS show this year. There were many interesting and well grown plants, what follows is just a selection of highlights. We'll start with this beautiful specimen of Dend. lindleyi. This is a fairly compact growing species, but as you can see, does increase in overall size dramatically at flowering time.


Another densely flowered specimen was this Dendrobium (a.k.a. Dockarilla) Oliver Jack "Gerard". A very attractive tuft of a plant.


A very adorable Den. Tie Dye.


Dendrobium discolor, a rather tall species with very unusual twisty, ruffled, rusty-color flowers on long sprays.


Dendrobium harveyanum, with very cool fimbriate flowers.

This Dendrobium Julie Skillicorn was quite fascinating. It was hung in a spot where I suspect it might be overlooked by some, but it is something certainly worth admiring and probably growing if you get a chance. I'd like to get one! It was in a rather small basket that was overflowing with long, needle like leaves arranged in a chain fashion, with a generous seasoning of upside-down flowers.