We never get anything cool like that where I live, ever! It's aggravating when it seems like everywhere else gets shipments of interesting things from time to time and nothing ever shows up here. Lucky for me I was nowhere near home, in an A&P supermarket. Yay, a variegated mini Phal! It was the only one in what looked like a brand new shipment. This A&P also had Venus Fly Traps and Jade (Crassula ovata) plants too, very strange. What a wacky supermarket, and I've been in a ton of these, they're all over up here. (fun fact = my 1st job that wasn't "paid under the table" was as a floral designer in an A&P, they usually have cut flowers and someone to arrange them for you, a few potted plants seasonally, but that's about it.)
It was already in bloom when I got it. I'm not thrilled about the flowers, but I bought it for the leaves, really. I have to re-pot it, but I'm all out of the supplies I need so it'll have to deal.
It's currently jam packed into some algae covered long fibered sphagnum moss inside a plastic pot. I already squeezed that mess out of the larger ceramic pot with no drainage hole in the bottom when I took these pictures. It's no wonder people usually kill these and then throw them out. Not that there's anything wrong with growing in moss, but there's a specific way to water them when growing that way, and that's never on the instructions. I'm convinced being jammed into an ugly, hole-less, ceramic pot isn't done for the plant to look good and sell, but to kill it so people buy new ones when they stop blooming. The moss is usually left over from the plug it was growing in as a seedling back in Taiwan.
Not this one though, I'll pot it like I do the rest of my Phals; long fibered sphagnum moss, coco husk chips, and small grade Hydroton. Hopefully it'll live on and re-bloom next year, but until then I'm more than happy just enjoying the leaves.
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| The only flower in decent enough shape to take a picture of |
Bonus Photo: Dtps. Kenneth Schubert today, still looking good.
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| Dtps. Kenneth Schubert |
What a great find!
ReplyDeleteThanks Carolyn, it was certainly a surprise!
DeleteOh wow! That is nice, I have never even seen a variegated orchid plants of any genus. Thanks, nice post. LT
ReplyDeleteThat's what I mean! They used to be rare but I guess at least one of the Taiwanese companies has been able to tissue culture and mass produce them cheaply enough.
DeleteI visited a few orchid nurseries in Taiwan, saw things I've never seen before, unbelievable selections.
ReplyDeleteHow cool! I'd love to be able to see any of that part of the world someday.
DeleteCongrats! Nice find. I agree, the leaves are very beautiful, funny how people (me) find variegated leaves/plants appealing, maybe it's just because it's not the norm? The flowers are beautiful, what are you complaining about? Love how the Dtps. Kenneth Schubert sneaked in there, Lol :)
ReplyDeleteI'm just not a big fan of the design and colors on this one's flowers I guess. I'm picky about orchids, only growing the ones that I like the plant itself 1st and the flowers second. I do like variegated anything, though, it's the stripes!
DeleteJust came across this post when Googling for variegated orchids. I hope I'm not being nosey, but the ID for your variegated phal is Dtps. Sogo Vivien, and also the bluish one isn't Kenneth Schubert. It's Dtps Purple Martin. Those two look really similar, but there's a slight difference in the shape of the lip.
ReplyDeleteNo, not nosey at all! Unfortunately, it's impossible to ID an unidentified hybrid without some genetic testing. Although you very well may be right about my variegated phal being a Sogo Vivien, I cannot be 100% sure of that without any information, so I am hesitant to tag it as such. You may be right about the Kenneth Schubert too, I suspected it may not be what the vendor said it was after it bloomed, but again there are so many similar hybrids, it would then be impossible to ID it without more information from the breeder. If it was mistagged, unfortunately it goes to NOID status unless I can get that information from the source. Thanks for your input though, I may just go ahead and call both NOIDs in the future as the last thing I want to do is spread misinformation.
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