Cirrhopetalum Bulbophyllum Longissimum: say it fast three times!
The strange-looking plant in the photo is the newest addition to my orchid family. The name is a real mouthful: cirrhopetalum bulbophyllum longissimum. (Even if I didn’t have one of these it would be fun to learn the name, just to impress people…)
This shade-loving orchid is from Thailand. The flowers are very long, growing up to 18 inches.
When I first brought it home, I hung it in an east facing window, but it didn’t seem to like it there, because one of the leaves began to turn yellow. So I listened, and moved it to a north window in my kitchen. Here’s a close-up of that incredible flower.
These pendulous flowers need a lot of room to hang.
It’s always difficult to find exactly the right spot and watering routine for a new orchid. There are books, of course, but they tend to be rather rigid in their rules. I prefer asking the wise growers who are members of my orchid club, the Ocean State Orchid Society. Their rule of thumb is: if it grows and blooms for you then it’s happy, so leave it alone, already!
An example of this philosophy is the vanda I told you about last year. These are reputed to be nearly impossible to re-bloom unless you have a greenhouse. Well, I just have a very sunny window, and guess what? My vanda is in spike! I’ll post more and include pictures when it flowers.
Digging RI 
That’s something else! Thanks for sharing this with us. Will the flower last as long as regular orchids? (I can never get them to rebloom.)
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There were two flowers on this plant and they lasted about three weeks. I haven’t come across any orchids that bloom as long as our old friend, phalaenopsis. Maybe I should write a post on getting phals to re-bloom….
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I thought of you today when visiting a local big box store in Westerly. They had an absolutely gorgeous blue phalaenopsis for sale…Blue Mystique. I have never seen such a beautiful, shaded blue on orchids before. If I thought I was capable of not giving it the
brown thumb treatment, I would have bought one!
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Glad you didn’t fall for it, HD. Those are dyed! There is no such thing as a blue phal. They color the water and the roots take it up and voila! You’d find yourself with a phal of a different color – probably white – after you got it home.
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