The Urban Orchidist

Phalaenopsis lueddemanniana ? This plant was purchased as a Phalaenopsis lueddemanniana keiki with a flower spike. Now that it has bloomed, however, I'm really not sure. Lueddemanniana flowers can vary drastically between plants, but I'm yet to come across another that looks quite like this. The blooms look closer to those of Phal. bastianii or Phal. mariae , or even possibly a cross.  Phal. lueddemanniana and Phal. mariae are both known to be fragrant, whereas my plant is not. So I'm leaning towards Phalaenopsis bastianii. This particular plant was purchased by a seller who had previously sold me another mislabeled plant, so I wouldn't be surprised if this is also mislabeled. Though it is also possible that it is simply a variant of the species.

As this is my first Orchids in Bloom post, I'd like to give a little bit of insight into the intended purpose of this particular series of posts: So here it is... We all love orchids, right? You wouldn't be here if you didn't. I'm also guessing you have at least one orchid at home, or maybe like me... 200+ orchids at home. The problem is, that we tend to buy orchids for their blooms & many (read: almost all ) tend to be fairly dull when not in bloom, especially when you have multiple phalaenopsis complex hybrids, which are arguable the most common orchids found in New Zealand stores & nurseries & all look virtually identical without their showy flowers - I'll get to orchids with beautiful foliage in a future post. In short, these posts are there to give you some ideas of what species or hybrids to look into if, like me, you are interested in having blooms year-round. Each post will contain images of a particular orchid that is in bloom at the time of the...