>Yesterday I was wondering if I got a variation in my plant, because most photos in the web showed a flower with a violet triangle in the face of the flower and mine was brightly pink. The simple reason seems to be that the flower wasn’t finished, yet because now it has changed its colour. (Compare with the previous post)
How fascinating over and over again, LOL!!
>This morning, the flower was finished, whee! (And there is a possible second bud on the stem! *excited*)
Close up of the flower:
Pretty even from behind:
And it smells nice, too! Yesterday it didn’t, yet.
>Am Samstag war ich bei Orchideen Rehbein in Curslack – und bin immer noch völlig begeistert.
Entgegen meinen Befürchtungen ist es auch mit dem Bus gut zu erreichen, man darf nur vor lauter gucken nicht die Zeit vergessen um dann auch die Rückfahrt planen zu können, der Bus fährt nämlich nur einmal pro Stunde.
Dann mal hier die Begeisterung in Kurzform:
Wenn man ankommt, dann betritt man sofort ein Blütenmeer, denn der erste Raum mit sehr angenehmer indirekter Beleuchtung ist voll mit den gerade blühenden Pflanzen, die zum Verkauf stehen. Dazwischen standen auch ein paar Jungpflanzen ohne Blüte und welche, die bereits einen Blütentrieb in Arbeit hatten. Die große Mehrzahl bildeten die Phalaenopsis Orchideen, aber mein noch recht ungeschultes Auge hat auch ein paar wunderschöne Vandeen entdeckt, von denen eine in Mitternachtsblau sofort Begehrlichkeiten geweckt hat (eine tolle Rote war auch toll), aber erstmal will ich mal Erfahrungen sammeln. Sicher standen dort vorn auch noch andere Arten, aber wie gesagt, ich bin da kein Experte.
Ich wurde sofort von den Rehbeins freundlich begrüßt und hätte in aller Ruhe schauen können, aber da ich Fragen hatte, konnte ich diese gleich bei Frau Rehbein loswerden und zwischendurch immer noch in Ruhe schauen. Ich durfte auch in den Gewächshausteil, in dem die gerade nicht blühenden Pflanzen und noch viele mir unbekannte Arten standen. Eine faszinierende grüne Welt in der es von winzigen Pflanzen die in lebendem Moos saßen, über aufgebundende, tropisch wirkende Pflanzen zu Begleitpflanzen wie Bromelien so viel zusehen gab. So für den Anfang war es fast etwas viel, ich habe nur noch gestaunt.
Dann ging ich zurück zu den blühenden Pflanzen und machte nochmals eine Runde, um mir alle nochmal zu betrachten. Schon auf der ersten Runde hatte ich ein paar Favoriten und durfte mir diese aus der Masse and Blüten herausnehmen und auf einen leeren Tisch stellen, um sie in Ruhe zu betrachten. Da hat man dann erstmal gemerkt wie sehr die ganzen vielen Blüten das Auge ablenken können.
Ich wollte ja unbedingt ein Pflanze mit Gelb oder echtem Rot und deshalb sprang mir dieser Topf mit zwei kräftigen Pflanzen sofort ins Auge – die Blühten haben ein wunderbares zartes Gelb, das sich auf Fotos nur schwer korrekt wiedergeben lässt:
Die musste also auf alle Fälle unbedingt mit! Hier noch ein Blütenbild:
Dann hatte ich auf vielen, vielen Bildern im Internet die Phalaenopsis Mini Mark bestaunt, denn sie hat kleine grazile Blüten und viele leuchtende Sprenkel. Ich war mehr als begeistert als ich hier auch welche fand und sogar zwischen zwei Töpfen wählen konnte. Auch hier sind zwei kräftige Pflanzen zusammen im Topf:
Blütenbild:
Und während ich noch so glücklich meine zwei Kandidaten betrachtet, zeigte mir Frau Rehbein noch etwas Besonderes. Eine Naturform der Phalaenopsis, die nach Zitrone riecht wenn sie blüht. Ich fand den Geruch und auch die eher ursprüngliche Form der Pflanze mit kurzem Blütentrieb und den beinahe glasiert aussehenden Blüten faszinierend. Nun hatte ich aber schon überall im Internet gelesen was für einen Aufwand die Haltung von Naturformen machen kann. Frau Rehbein konnte meine Zweifel hier aber sehr nachdrücklich zerstreuen und somit bin ich nun auch glückliche Besitzerin einer Phalaenopsis bellina.
Ich habe eine Pflanze mit Knospe gekauft, da mir das für den Heimtransport sicherer erschien als eine offene Blüte. Außerdem ist das Warten nun spannend. *g*
English Version:
Last Saturday, I visited Orchideen Rehbein here in Hamburg Curslack. And I really can’t say how delighting it was! So much to see and such a kind welcome by the Rehbeins. All my questions were answered and I learned a lot from Frau Rehbein’s explanations to all the plants that caught my eye. But here now a long story shortened:
Arriving there, you stepped right into a large airy room with indirect light where all the currently blooming sales orchids awaited. It really got almost a bit much and the first impulse is kinda to ask if one could live there, LOL!! Pocket- Elysium.
A sheep-wire „wall“ seperated the room from a real greenhouse part where the non-blossoming orchids filled row upon row. Wiregrills were randomly set up between the big tables. On those wires hung pieces of bark with orchids tied to them. Some looked a lot like my tillandsia. There were some super mini-species that live in swamplands and grew in very moist pots with living moss. This moss was blooming very adorably, very tiny little mossflowers!
A lot of different species were to be seen, all of the warm to warmly-temparate kind of orchids.
After a while I returned to the room with the blooming plants. On the first round in that room, some had already caught my eye and I ogled them now closely again. They allowed me to fish out my favourites and put them onto an empty table to get an undistracted full view of them.
So there I was with a lovely soft, soft yellow hybrid(haaard to photograph) and a Phalaenopsis „Mini Mark“- a sort with small flowers which I had often admired on the web already.
I was already sure that I could never decide between those two, when Frau Rehbein gave me a little tour to a corner which I had left out in the salesroom- there the natural forms of orchids lived.
I had only briefly looked at them, because all over the internet you always hear how difficult they are, how much extra stuff you need and so on.
She managed to dissipate my doubts most reasonably, though, and so I fell for a Phalaenopsis bellina, because they smell of lemons when they bloom, most awesome!
They had some in bloom to test-snuffle, but I picked one with an almost finished blossom that will open here now, hopefully, because I was afraid to transport something so delicate.
>Um, well, kinda, LOL!!
I know that you have to be patient with recovering plants, but I had such a bad feeling about my sick orchid that I removed her from the substrate once more. And rightly so, the rot was climbing up still. Sooo… this time I did cut upwards into the stem from below radically so that I saw only healthy green, then treated with cinnamon, removed the floppiest leaf and decided to change strategy.
At least for a while there will be no substrate, just air. Hoping to get the roots dry and clean like this. Last chance. *crosses fingers*
Come on, „Nopsi“, we cheer you on!
>My plants are lucky that they came to a household of someone who likes to create stuff from nearly everything at hand.
Two of my orchids were in need ASAP of new small pots, but I did only have standard sized ones. What to do? Search the household for raw material. And lo:
One pot made from the lower part of a small plastic Cola-bottle (sawed off and added airholes in underside with my trusty dremel – might need some more at the side)
One pot made by sawing a plastic „glass“ right through, also adding airholes and protecting the slightly sharp and ragged rim with tape.
The latter plant could need some helping thoughts, too. It is in a very bad shape.
Today unearthed once more due to stability issues in pot-construction. Rotting has not yet stopped, more root-material had to be removed. There are some newer wholesome root-stumps growing, but I do not know if they are on time still, so to speak. I fear the prognosis goes down… *pats the pot and tries to cheer up the plant*
In the meantime, two other orchids snuck their way into my heart and onto my windowsill:
This patterned Phalaenopsis Philadelphia
and this miniature(?) Hybrid Sogo Gotris (which will probably reach normal size)
And I made the stem of a new subsection of my website. A place to babble on about my greenery.*g* The Ivorytower’s Garden
>… I am afraid you’ll have to live with lots of those in the future, I really fell for those beautiful plants. ^-^
I tried to make a series of an opening blossom on my large Phalaenopsis, but it went faster than I thought and when I came home that day, it was already done. So here are only a few stages. I am now hoping for one of them opening on a weekend.*g*
I have read up lots of knowledge on the web already, but I prefer it concentrated in a book if such a thing is available. In case of orchids, there are lots available. I got one that covers all the basics and has helpful tips if a plant is sick or has unbidden creepy-crawly visitors. It also has lots of beautiful pictures:
Of the newest orchid I have posted a detail picture of a flower, but not yet of the other two, so let me change this:
The Dendrobium (still looking for exact name):
And the small Phalaenopsis hybrid:
>…hopefully on time, theirs was totally inappropriate and the smaller one had already two rotting roots. 🙁
Preparation for pot removal or: plants getting spoiled in hand-warm water:
I took no piccies of the actual removal and the nekkid roots (even if this was interesting) because my hands (with gloves) were too gooey to touch the camera.
And here they are, back in their pots and hopefully not cross with me:
Now I really want to get to my Dendobrium, too, but that one can’t be moved while being in bloom…hope it makes it until it is done blossoming.
>My new orchid brought its own little biological defense against vermin:
Kinda a „bonsai spider“, LOL!! It is supersized on this picture, the original size is more like the head of a pin.
And here are the others, still flowering happily and in the background the plants with their new bigger pots, settling into their new soil.
>…getting really really rained on. But it looks like I can get a sprinkled orchid afterall. There are nicely sprinkled phalaenopsis, too! (These are kinda „easy“)
It is a sprinkled „phalaenopsis mashimo“
No way I could resist that one! (And look, it matches the lamp, LOL!!)
So now I have three pretty orchids and am happy and hope they are, too. *g* As I have read a lot about Bonsai recently, I came to the conclusion that I will never have one again, since even those called „indoors“ are kept in constant compromise, but not in ideal surroundings. I would feel bad if I killed another of those delicate little trees. That is why I settle for the orchids instead, which have a serious chance to feel good in the surroundings that I can offer.
>I believe that those „rolls“ are new leaves. If so, this critter is growing fast! 
My orchids seem to feel at home, too, they make new blossoms like mad.
The smaller one has formed those little buds on the tip of the stalk with the blossoms:
And the offshots of the bigger one are also active.
The larger one is already flowering:
And the smaller one has grown considerably:
To see how they looked about 15 days ago, go back to the Indoor Plant Post.
>My Crown-of-Thorns is feeling well and showing it, currently:
(It will hopefully ignore that I turned it around for this photo. *g*)
My Croton got company- I wanted another plant with expressive greenery to go with it.
It is a Calathea. Some googling also turned up the complete name: Calathea roseopicta.
Both like it warm from below, which makes them the ideal candidates for my window sills which get very warm when the heating is on.
The little name-tag said that this plant will fold in for „sleeping“ at night, I am most curious now.
My orchids!
The second branch with flowers is now starting to bloom seriously:
In the pot live two offshoots and both look most promising. The bigger one even attempts to make a stalk for blooming:
This is the smaller one- the knob in the middle might be the start for a stalk, too:
Almost unearthly fragile and delicate:
A post of somewhat fuzzy cuteness will follow soon, stay tuned.
>With delight I am noticing that one can apparently spend as much time and money on orchids as one can on Bonsai trees, LOL!! Both have tons of more or less necessary „accessory“ to buy. No worries, I do not plan to, I will just look for a nice little book and I already fell for orchid-clips. This looks much better than the black tape that held them up before:
And see, on the second „branch“, the first flower is going to open now. *excited*
I have added more links to the blog, too, see to the left in the menue. Kinda the essentials to help my plants survive with me and to make my life happier. *g*
>..with a bit more light. Such an elegant little plant:
>This one, whom I got from morgulz years back, fondly named „the alien“, is now making plans to get away:
Because of the new flowers I found today, one of the old had to move- since it was never overly fond of too much light, I am sure it will not mind. And Monster creates humid air just below, so it might benefit from that, too:
And these are the new ones, orchids! (Better pictures follow on a brighter day)
I found two that were
a) not magenta, pink or any other blinding colour
b) are suitable for beginner’s hands (actually their „how to“ says they need less attention than my other plants demand of me. Probably Mum is right, she says that I am spoiling my plants. *g*)
c) their demands of room temperature and humidity resemble my own
The large one, called „Dancing Flora“, is a „Dendrobium Compactum“
The small one is called „Table Dance Orchid“ and seems to be from the „Phalaenopsis“ family. It is newly bred variation, you can read some about them here: NEON Orchids
I wanted just one, but I could not decide… ^-^
I adore those small, delicate and elegant blossoms that they sport. Their little signs say they bloom up to three months, then you cut the stem and wait for the next.
Now I just hope that they will prove hardier than the other blooming plants that I had indoors before. *looks skyward* On the other hand, my other plants have trained me well in the meantime, I usually notice if they want something.