August 2024

From Scott McGregor:

All orchids grown outdoors, coastal southern California

Angraecum didieri

Angraecum elephantinum

Two small closely-related species of Angraecum are lovely to see in the summer, and deliciously fragrant at night. The handful has two A. didieri plants (on right) and one A. elephantinum plant (on left).

Angraecum magdalenae

One of my fav Angraecum species—it is a bit slow-growing and takes a while to mature, but it has a lot going for it. It stays compact (12”) and can grow in the same small pot for a decade, it grows well outside, it freely forms new growths, and the 3” flowers are deliciously clove-scented at night.

Dendrobium victoria-reginae

Blooming several times per year off of old canes with long-lasting flowers, a happy plant is usually in bloom. Often claimed to be a “blue” orchid, I score this species as merely violet.

Brassia verrucosa

I only got one small spike this year versus half a dozen last year—my plant must be resting! Easy grower with dramatic “spider” flowers.

Lycaste aromatica

This easy species is all about the fragrance—a real crowd pleaser with intense cinnamon spice. It blooms around the same time as Maxillaria tenuifolia, so you can have coconuts to go with it.

Cattleya purpurata v. schusteriana

Reliable summer bloomer with a nicely contrasting lip.

Cattleya purpurata v. carnea

The pink-lipped variety of C. purpurata. Nice to have several of these different varieties!

Microcoelia stolzii 'Kathy Fenwick's Medusa'

Happily growing for the last ten years in the same empty wooden basket, this is probably the easiest of the leafless orchids to grow outside in California. With their lack of leaves and photosynthesizing roots, I suspect the other species in this genus are more in need of warmth and humidity than our climate provides.

Dockrillia toressae

A cute, creeping, mat-forming mini.

Sobralia rogersiana 'de Brito'

The largest of the Sobralia species with a huge lip. Used to be S. macrantha ‘Bolin’, but now a separate species.

Pleurothallis sarracenia
(Acicanthera bragae)

One of my favorite oddities—the flowers are in pairs and said to be ”kissing slugs”. Named after the carnivorous genus Sarracenia, the flowers also resemble pitcher plants.

Prosthechea(Encyclia) vitellina

Doesn’t get much more orange than this! Best grown mounted, cool and bright. (Perfect for outdoors in coastal southern California)

Cattleya purpurata v. rubra
'Allnea' AM/AOS x v. sanguinea 'Miranda #2'

A complex cross of varieties, but it is all C. purpurata so a species! It is pretty…

Cattleya tenebrosa v. aurea
'#1' x 'Walton Grange' FCC

A really pretty sight in the orchid house this morning, and this is only half of the spikes that opened on this C. tenebrosa clone!

Isochilus aurantiacus

Isochilus is a wonderful genus with graceful canes and highly saturated flowers at the top of each new growth. They look nice even when not in bloom. I. auranticus has bright orange flowers and has proven harder to keep happy than my other Isochilus species, but seems to like being grown mounted with daily water, bright light and regular fertilizer.

Lockhartia oerstedii

An easy grower that deserves to be in every Southern CA orchid collection. Not the most spectacular flowers, but it blooms all summer and the braided canes look nice out of bloom.

Dendrobium glomeratum
(crepidiferum/sulawesiense)

Schoenorchis juncifolia

Graceful hanging leaves the thickness of spaghetti with miniature Wisteria-like blooms.

From Roberta Fox: Coastal southern California
Outside in the Back Yard:
Angraecum magdalenae Powerful, almost musky fragrance at night. (Scott, I agree, rather like cloves) Native to Madagascar, elevation 1700-2000 m

Barkeria melanocaulon Mexico, elevation 1600-1700 m. Grows best mounted with no moss. It is deciduous after blooming, Don't cut the spike after blooming - most of it is still alive, and provides the energy for the following year's growth. At that time, the top part of the year-old old spike is brittle and can just be snapped off.
Coelogyne flaccida It lives up to its name - the inflorescense is very soft and floppy. This developed going sideways across the plant, and I was able to gently lift it up to let it hang over the side of the basket. Native to a wide area of northern India, southwest China, and much of southeast Asia, elevation 1000-1800 m.
Dendrochilum pangasinanense Native to the Philipppines, first found on the island of Luzon, in Pangasinan Province on the central west coast of the island. This would imply that it is a low elevation plant, but it grows well on my cool patio, winter does not bother it.

Diplocaulobium aratriferum I show this from time to time. It produces a few flowers often, makes a flush bloom several times a year. This month I got two flush blooms within about two weeks. The flowers last less than a day, so you have to be paying attention. They have the fragrance of watermelon.
Prosthechea (Encyclia) vitellina I have one too... Native to Mexico and northern Central America, elevation 1400-2600 m. It doesn't like heat, grows very well near the coast. It can produce flowers sequentially for several months, leading to quite a long spike by the time it stops. The hummingbirds find it fascinating though I have never seen a seed capsule develop on it.	Cattleya (Laelia) lobata This is a close relative of C. purpurata. It has smaller flowers but lots of them, blooms at about the same time.
Cattleya (Laelia) purpurata f. russelliana Flowers have a very delicate pink blush, with darker pink in the lip. One can't have too many C. purpuratas, so much variety. I'll show just a few.	Cattleya (Laelia) purpurata f. vinicolor
Cattleya (Laelia) purpurata f. werkhauseri Lip is a rich, dark gray-violet. This is also one of the "late-blooming" color forms.	Cattleya (Laelia) tenebrosa Within the species there is a lot of color variation, from tones of yellow to red, and variation in the lip as well. All of them are beautiful.

Lycaste consobrina There are several species of Lycastes with very similar appearance, but differing in size and fragrance. This one has fairly large flowers, with a fragrance sweetly reminiscent of roses. It blooms on bare pseudobulbs, the new growth begins at about the same time. Native to Mexico and northern Central America
Lycaste tricolor Native to Guaetmala, Costa Rica, Panama. There are somewhere between 25 and 30 flowers on this plant. Two of the colors are easy to spot - the greenish-bronze sepals and the pale pink petals and lip. The third color, the raspberry markings in the throat.
Maxillaria tenuifoia (red form) This is the most common form, with the fragrance of coconut.

Maxillaria tenuifolia f. aurea The flowers of the yellow form tend to be a bit smaller, but the color is brilliant.
Polystachya zambesiaca While many species of Polystachya come from tropical areas and want warmth, this one comes from elevations of 900-2000 m over a wide range of southern Africa. Note that the flowers (typical for the genus) are non-resupinate (lip upward) Flowers are around 1 cm (not quite half inch)
Prosthechea abbreviata The cutef flowers are a bit over half inch, over a rambling, unruly plant. There is more of it outside the basket than inside. Its range is from southern Mexico through Central America to Colombia and Ecuador, at elevation as high as 1800 m.

Sobralia macrantha (label) or likely Sobralia rogersiana This is a BIG flower. Sob. macrantha tends to be smaller.

Sobralia xantholeuca I just can't get enough of this one. Flowers glow in the early morning sunshine. As the plant has matured, it has gotten better and better. This year it is covered with flowers. Each one only lasts a few days, but it produces new ones sequentially over nearly two months. It grows somewhat shadier than Sob. macrantha and rogersiana.
Stanhopea tigrina var. nigroviolacea The thrill never fades of waking up in the morning to these huge, fragramt flowers after weeks of watching the buds develop. The flowers only last a few days, so I cherish the moment. If I have the bad luck to be on vacation in mid-July, I miss the whole show. Over the years I have acquired several of these. Below is another one. A trick that I have found handy when potting these into wire baskets, to keep the sphagnum in place until the roots grow to hold it - line it with newspaper. It doesn't inhibit spike development, pretty much disintegrates over several years when it becomes no longer needed.

Stenoglottis macloughlinii Flowers are only about 0.5 cm/0.25 inch. After blooming, the leaves die back, but new growth starts soon after, so I don't dry it out at all. It is native to the Cape area of South Africa.
Stereochilus dalatensis Native to Thailand, Vietnam, and south-central China, elevation 800-1400 m. The flowers of this diminutive Vandaceous species look to me exactly like little birds. "Angry birds"???
Zygostates lunata Flowers are 4-5 mm, with intricate beauty. It is native to Brazil S and SE. Growing with no moss on the mount, it is clearly a lot tougher than it looks. Flowers last several weeks.
Cattleya gaskelliana Native to Venezuela, elevation 700-1000 m. It does fine in my backyard, winter cold doesn't seem to bother it.
Cattleya tigrina (leopoldii) Native to Brazil. Above is the typical color form, with dark spotted segments and a brilliant contrasting lip. This is a stately plant, with the big head of flowers atop a 16 inch pseudobulb. However, it has a fairly compct footprint. To the right is a peloric form - the pink of the lip shows in the petals, with just a streak of the brown along the midlobe.


Dichaea glauca Native to Mexico and most of Central America over a wide range of elvations and in a variety of habitats. It is one of the most forgiving species in the genus for surviving with less-than-tropical humidity. Where most members of the genus are mat-forming and pendant, this one grows vertically, being quite happy in a pot or basket. Flowers are very fragrant.

Dendrobium bensoniae This is the one deciduous Dendrobium that I do dry out in winter. In around November, it drops all of its leaves over just a few weeks. It tolerates almost complete lack of water though I do give it an occasional squirt. I pretty much ignore it until around May when it starts to get lightly watered. The buds appear on last year's bare canes, usually around the middle of June. The new growths begin at about the same time. It is quite fragrant, smelling to me somethat like vanilla. I have also heard the fragrance described as "cookie dough".


Epigeneium (Dendrobium) fargesii The whole genus Epigeneium has been lumped into Dendrobium, but the plants are so different! It tends to climb off of its mount, and grows quite happily with roots in the air. It is native to the Chinese Himalayas, Thailand and Taiwan, elevation 1200-1775 m. This is one plant that needs several photos to show its character. The flowers have heavy substance. The backs of the flowers keep the intricate stripes that show first in the buds. To me they look a bit like ornate mable. Others say "raspberry ripple ice cream".
Gongora maculata This year's blooming wasn't great - several flowers blasted so the inflorescence was rather pathetic, but these did survive, to show how pretty they are. Little yellow, red spotted birds! Native to Guyana, Venezuela, and Peru, elevation 600-1500 m.
In the greenhouse...

Angraecum distichum Native to a wide range of tropical west and central Africa. It produces several flush blooms during the year. The leaves are very succulent.
Podangis dactyloceras Native to tropical west Africa. The 4-5 mm flowers are crystalline and translucent. They look very delicate, but last for several weeks.

From Chris Ehrler:
California Central Coast Cool greenhouse unless otherwise noted.

Ansellia africana This epiphytic species grows in many African countries from the dry warm coast to elevation up to 2,200 meters. Usually found in the high canopy of tall trees. Flowers produce a light Fragrance This orchid is growing outside under a wood lath shade structure and is potted in a plastic pot with a bark & perlite mixture.	Lycaste aromatica Growing in Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, and El Salvador as a cool to warm epiphyte, lithophyte and sometimes terrestrially at elevations of 500 to 2,000 meters. This orchid is growing outside in a plastic pot filled with a mixture of bark and lava rock. It has a great cinnamon fragrance.
	Myoxanthys serripetalus 'Chris' AM/AOS Is a cool to cold growing terrestrial or epiphyte found in Peru and Ecuador on the eastern Andes at elevations of 1000 to 3100 meters. This plant is about 3 feet tall and produces flowers throughout the year. This orchid is growing in a clay pot filled with moss and placed in a cool greenhouse. But some keikeis from this orchid are growing well outside in a clay pot filled with moss

Pleurothallis amparoana A cool growing epiphytic species growing in Panama and Costa Rica at elevations of 1,200 to 1,800 meters above sea level. This orchid is mounted with sphagnum moss on the roots.
Restrepia chameleon A cold growing epiphytic species found at about 2,700 meters of elevation in Colombia. This orchid is growing in a plastic pot in a bark mixture.
Scaphosepalum beluosum 'Kiri' Grows as a cool to cold epiphyte in at elevations from 1,500 to 2,200 meters. Is growing in a plastic mesh pot filled with sphagnum moss.. This has flowers open all year long.

Stanhopea oculata A warm to cool growing epiphyte or terrestrial in Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Colombia, Venezuela, and possibly southern Brazil at 1,000 to 3,000 meters above sea level. Growing in a metal mesh basket which is lined with sphagnum moss and filled with a mixture of bark and lava rock. Growing hanging high in greenhouse. Has a mint chocolate chip fragrance.
Stelis spp. (purple bracts) Unnamed species of Stelis. As of 2020, there were 1,246 known species of Stelis with many of them looking similar to each other, and due to their small flower size are difficult to identify. This orchid is growing in a clay pot filled with sphagnum moss. Lots of small flowers.

From Arnold Markman:
Coastal San Diego area Intermediate Greenhouse, daily watering unless otherwise noted.

Aeranthes ramosa This plant from Madagascaar grows in wet mossy forests up to 1500 m. It continues to bloom from the same inflorescence. You can see the bottom of the hanging plant, which is right below the roof line and the flower is hanging down, almost to the bench.
Bulbophyllum frostii From China and Vietnam in forest up to 1500 m.

Bulbophyllum tingabarinum A cloud forest orchid

Dendrobium devonianum I grow this in the brightest part of the greenhouse. It gets daily watering from March to November, then just some misting through the winter.

Encylia (Prosthechea, Panarica) brassavolae It comes from Central America at elevation around 2500 m. Watered every other day in warm weather, weekly or less in winter.

Epidendrum ruizianum Grown in the brightest part of the greenhouse, watered every 2-3 days. It is from the cloud forests of South America up to elevation 3100 m

Eulophia petersii Grown outdoors on my pool deck next to the aloes. I water it every couple of weeks in the summer and during winter it gets the natural rains. The inflorescence is over 5 feet tall. Plant is over 15 years old.

Lemboglossum (Rhynchostele) ehrenbergii From the cloud forests of Mexico. Daily watering in summer, every 2 days in winter.

Angracum didieri This is a small plant from Southwest Madagascar that grows in the humid evergreen forests up to 1500 m.	Lepanthes inca From Peru (of course) When they describe the plant as a “miniature“ they aren’t kidding.

Symphyglossum sanguineum (Oncidium strictum) It has five inflorescences with a total of nearly 100 flowers

Telipogon williamsii This miniature from Venezuela grows at 2300 m. Flowers are 6-8 mm.

Lockhartia hercodonta This plant is from the mountains of Ecuador
Bulbophyllum odoratissimum Found in montane forests from Himalayas to Vietnam at elevations up to 2500 m. In spite of its name, I don't detect any fragrance.