Oncidium Dancing Ladies have been in my collection for more than 15 years, but became a feature when I mounted several pieces on ponga slabs and hung them on a pergola in full sun and all weather. The new flower shoots appear about November and flower continually until June or a frost, whichever comes first. Hosing the plants over summer is important as is remembering to feed with a spray every now and then.
All the other orchids shown here grow in a glasshouse, 12ft x 8ft, with a second skin of plastic outside the glass to retain heat. But the real secret to its success was to raise it on to a 30cm base, that has ventilation doors along the sides, allowing the air to enter low, flow up through the plants and exit through a lifting ridge vent. Even so, I have a fan on a timer to circulate and mix the air.
I bought a flask of Rhynchostele Drayton Pearl x Oncidum forbesii at the National Orchid Expo of 2013. Sadly, the golden browns of forbesii did not come out in the cross, and it is mainly Drayton Pearl. I had root problems until I placed a tree fern post in the pot, which the plant loves.
Miltassia Dennis Kleinbach ‘Crowhurst’ was purchased from Conrad in 2018. A very strong grower, it lives low down on a bottom shelf but still produced 8 flower stems this year with the first flowers just opening. With a strong grower like this it looks much better filling a large 10in pot.
This slow-growing plant is a cross between a Brassolaeliocattleya (Blc) and a Sophrocattleya (Sc). It was bought in 2011 at the auction of the collection of plants owned by Roy Harris (a former TOS member). Seven years later it flowered and has now flowered 3 times in the last 2 years! This cross has produced an amazing range of colours, from my cream to pinks, blushes, yellows etc. Look it up on Google.
Another slow grower is Lc Coriad’s Mini-Quinee ‘Angel Kiss’ BM/IOGA HCC/AOS (below). This cross is from Lc Mini Purple x C Intermedia. I bought the plants in 2016 at our Show but this is only its second flowering.
By contrast, LC City Life ‘Eden’ would be one of the stronger Cattleya crosses I have grown. I have only had this plant 8 months and this is its second flowering. I bought the original cross (LC Liptonii x C Circle of Life) in 2013 and it flowered very nicely in 2015 and has done every year since. At present it has 3 stems of 4 flowers.
Tauranga Orchid Society 