Dendrobium “Little Joe”
I’m tired of writing about bummer stuff like horrible neighbors and snow, so for a change of pace, here’s HerbDoc with an orchid success story:
Although I’m nowhere near ready to enter an orchid show like DN, I was pretty pleased with myself prior to Christmas when I brought my first orchid into bloom! This is Dendrobium yellow chinsai “Little Joe”. To be honest I bought it from a grower’s catalog because the photo sported very large sprays of beautiful yellow flowers with peach throats. Of course it arrived in a 2 ½ inch pot with no flowers. About 2 weeks later I panicked when the little darling dropped all of its leaves!
Only then did this silly neophyte check the growing instructions. Little Joe is indeed deciduous so I held my breath for a while and tiny buds appeared. I understand that this is a bit early as it usually blooms around Valentine’s Day, but I am delighted with the spray of five flowers.
Last week I found that a phal I had rescued from its impervious pot of water at a local supermarket was also setting buds. Looks like I’m well on my way to a new hobby and have to thank DN and my friend, Carol, for all of their input and encouragement.
Next project is finding a nice summer vacation spot for my growing collection as I understand they love to be outdoors in the warm weather!
Editor’s note: I feel an orchid addiction coming on…..
Too Late! I’ve already bought 2 more since the three from the grower’s catalog! So glad you told me that phals don’t come in that stunning blue you see in shops. The phal I rescued had a broken spike of blue flowers, but it has been happily reblooming a stunning, snowy white with a yellow throat. Two others have just finished their displays. I’m so glad that I can actually get them to bloom without killing them; they certainly are nowhere as fragile as they appear!