More Como Conservatory Winter Carnival '12' Orchid Show Photos!

A couple of posts ago you got to feast your eyes on some of the really lovely orchids featured at the Como Winter Carnival Orchid Show.

At the time of the first post I didn't have any specific photos from club members so that we could show them off properly. Now we have a few for you to enjoy.

This is a Paphiopedilum Wellesleyanum displayed by Jim V.

 This is a Dendrobium Maiden Charlotte displayed by Patty K.

 Here's a pretty one! This is Phalaenopsis Timothy Christopher

Steve G. displayed one of my personal favorites. It's Phalaenopsis  Malibu Bistro. I've had one of these plants before and the stripes just jump out and grab attention. Mine however didn't look nearly this wonderful.

 Here's one I'm not familiar with. It's a Stenosarcos Vanguard. It's displayed by Jim V.
















A group shot of the first three all together!

 Meanwhile...... each season the Como Conservatory displays a seasonally themed flower show in it's Sunken Garden Room. The whole room is simply filled with gardens full of flowers usually done in a color scheme. This time, after the really cool poinsettia display around the holidays, they've transitioned into these lovely smelling and eye-popping lilies.

The Sunken Garden is amazing. Click on this link to see more!

Comments???

Aeschynanthus marmoratus Up Close and Personal!

This is a flower from an Aeschynanthus marmoratus!


It's a really rather cool flower but I suspect sometimes overlooked because it's primarily green with it's rather flashy colors left to just the interior lip of the flower.


This is a close up shot of the calyx when it's been detached from the petals. It's got a nice bit of bright red hair on it.

These are close ups of the pollen sacs and how they are connected, as is characteristic of many in the family Gesneriad.











A bit closer shot. Interesting surface of the anther here.

These following pictures were of a leaf that I snapped to see what was inside. Sometimes the stringy stuff (vascular tissue) doesn't break right off and you get to get a closer look at it. What follows was completely unexpected and one of the coolest things I've accidentally found looking through the scope.

The "fibers" were quite transparent and looked sort of spiraled, so I got come closer looks at them.

The fibers were formed in a spring-like spiral. I really like this!

A little flower dissection happened because I wanted to see if there was anything interesting going on where the stamen were attached to the flower tube (petals). The razor blade shows the point where the filament attaches. I thought this would be cool and it turns out to be a non-event. I guess the vascular tissue was really much cooler. 

The pictures do show how the cells are pigmented to give the flower it's coloration and also how they align in the tissue. Too bad I can't get more magnification to see if we could see any of the individual cells.....

Comments???? Questions????

Como Orchid Show

With so many of our friends in the Orchid Society of Minnesota it is only fitting that we get to see a few shots of some of the spectacular things that were on display at the Como Conservatory this past weekend for the St. Paul's Winter Carnival events!

Between the clubs, we have MANY Orchid Society members! I wish I knew of all of the club member's entries so we could have shown off how awesome they were. Unfortunately, I don't know who had which specific entries.

 So... I will show off a few photos and hopefully they will contain the right plants!

The first five photos show some of the plants that were on the main Orchid Society's table. It was a long and extensive table!

 SG, PK, and JV had plants in this display I believe, and if I'm missing any other members, I'm really sorry!

 How about these???

 An interesting hybrid that is considered to be the "most black" of the black orchids.

 Here Mans' Farms had a cool display! What lovely blooms!

And finally... just because I thought this was both cool and funny ... I got a photo of our TV set when Channel 4 had a piece the Como show and about Jerry Fischer and the Peruvian orchid that is so huge and only recently discovered. They've been growing out small ones for the past few years and are now ready to sell young plants.

Comments????

Beyond Awesome, Medellin Columbia Wild Kohleria

 I just about can't get any more excited by a travel photograph sent to me personally!

Look at what you can find if you walk around a few miles outside of the city of Medellin, Columbia part way up the Andes mountains!

Apparently there are all sorts of things that look similar to this and even come in pink. I'm not perfectly sure that this IS a Kohleria, but from extensive conversations about things like this, I'm pretty sure it is.

It's got soft leaves with "fuzz" and you can see the "hariy" flowers for yourself. It's got five petals and you can see the calyx to the left side has five "divisions". I wish I could maginify the photo just a little more to see what the stamen look like.

Pretty cool, eh?

Club Project Streptocarpus 'Noreen' update 3

Sue sent in this shot of 'Noreen' which is looking good! It was a small plant when she received it and look now.... getting larger leaves and blooming well.

I'm curious to know if conditions in each person's growing environment will alter the color of the blooms slightly. All of the plants acquired from Neil's Streps. were propagated originally from only one "mother leaf", so they should be pretty identical. I've noticed that some show off the yellow as more "yellow". It will be interesting to compare more club member's pictures as this project grows on.

Check out the wide range of lovely Strep offerings that Neil's Streps hybridizes. Got to eBay and type Streptocarpus in the search box!

Comments???

Sinningia sp. 'Rio das Pedras' ????

This little lovely thing is growing in a deli-tray prop box with supposedly three sorts of Seemannia starting in it.

Notice the dime in the background for size comparison.

 It started out so cute and colorful, and I didn't really know what to expect a starter Seemannia to look like, so I was pleasantly surprised it looked like "this".... Then it sent up the flowers.

 Unless I'm missing something, Seemannia don't look like this....

I'm pretty sure now it's a Sinningia sp. 'Rio das Pedras' and I'm pretty excited to find it here.

This is a S. 'White Sprite' and the plants sure have some similarities but I'm still wondering how precisely the tuber got into a rhizome starter box?

Walter probably had something to do with it.

Comments???

Streptocarpus 'Neil's Getcha', Aeschynanthus humilis, Petrocosmen barbata, Episcia 'Pink Brocade' and other great stuff!

 Janice has some pretty exciting things to look at when she goes down to her plant room.

This is a lovely selection called Streptocarpus 'Neil's Gotcha'. Really striking flowers with ruffles and spots and a nice bold color.

 Here's another lovely strep with just the right contrast between the leaves and the color of the blossoms.

 This little Aeschynanthus humilis has been blooming for about four months. It seems to do well under lights and with a mat watering system for it.

Another pretty Strep with big bright flowers.

 If purple is more your color there are some of them too!

 This was a really eye catching bloom. Again, huge flowers and nicely contrasting leaves.

 These little cute things are a Petrocosmea. They're Petrocosmea barbata.They stay quite small and as you can see have a center that is somewhat compact. The plants go through a cycle when just the tight center is left in the pot looking a bit like a pine cone. When conditions again are favorable (or the plant decides it's time) they send out the rest of the lovely lush leaves to make the small but rather dramatic rosettes which you see here.

This is one of the very pink Episcias. I think it's 'Pink Brocade'. What a beautifully grown and striking plant. I hope that Janice turns her back next time I'm lucky enough to see her collection and perhaps this one, tiny, small (well, large) bowl will mysteriously vanish off of the shelf!!!

Thank you very much to Janice for sharing the pictures with us! Comments??? Congratulations???