I promised myself.....
.....no more than fifteen orchids to add to my collection when I went to the Newport Harbor Orchid Expo, which was my first ever orchid show! I showed a lot of restraint and actually picked up ten orchids total. It was a great first time experience and I look forward to going back next year.
Wilsonara Opalescent 'Snow Pixie'
Look at this gorgeous girl! She was tucked away with a bunch of other oncidium types but was the only one left as far as these types of blooms. This is the Wilsonara Opalescent 'Snow Pixie', Pixie, and she is just so beautiful, I am squealing. While this particular plant is not fragrant (as far as I can tell) there is something extra special about her that made her an exception. Her flowers, which are white with with a yellow centered lip, have a special magenta/red colored spotting pattern on the sepals that differs from flower to flower. Some have bolder spots and some have multiple tiny ones. Each one is unique and I fell in love with her as soon as I saw those blooms.
She is also not currently in active growth, which means I'll have to wait to repot her. I also want to wait because she came with only two large, slightly wrinkled pseudobulbs. I feel like waiting until the right time to repot will be best for her. I'll enjoy the blooms for as long as I can until I see some new root growth. She's in bark so it should be relatively simple to keep her happy until then.
Phalaenopsis Kaoda Twinkle 'Chocolate Drop'
The only phalaenopsis type orchid I bought at the show was this little beauty: Berry. She is fragrant phalaenopsis which is very exciting! She has waxy, dark burgundy petals with a contrasting white lip. I've actually had an eye on this specific orchid for awhile so I was delighted to find it available at the show. In fact, I got another one for my best friend who went with me. Its her first phalaenopsis so I'm hoping she's enjoy this little beauty. I know I will! She is looking happy and healthy, but she is also not in active root growth so I will wait to repot.Iwanagara Appleblossom 'Golden Elf'
(left: flower ref) (right: my plant)
This is another orchid that has been sitting on my wishlist since I first found out about it. She is a beautiful, fragrant orchid and I happened to find her in the yellow variety, which I didn't even know existed until today. After finding some pictures of her flowers online, I'm happy to say I prefer her yellow flowers over the original pink and white variety. Eris came with four fat pseudobulbs which all have cut flower spikes. I'll be waiting for some sign of new growth or roots to repot her since I don't want to set this orchid back any more than I need to. She was sold through the Newport Harbor Orchid Society by one of its members who was kind enough to leave her original tag with the repot dates on it. She was repotted in August of 2017 so her medium should be just fine and she'll be okay in her pot for a while longer.
Epicattleya Dark Fire
(Epicat Rene Marquis x Epi. melanoporyphreum)
(left: flower ref) (right: my plant)
Now this orchid is one I was not expecting to see at the show. The epicattleya Dark Fire is a hybrid of an orchid that I really, really wanted, the Rene Marquis (which is a parent of this plant). The vendor told me this guy is a much more compact hybrid of the striking Rene Marquis, which is much better for me since this parent plant can get up to 3 feet in height. That is just way too tall to fit into my collection, no matter how much I love those blooms. Nebula came with three older canes and one growing cane. I'm hoping that I'll get a flower spike when that cane matures- fingers crossed!
Epidendrum Tiny Valley 'Maihime'
(left: flower ref) (right: my plant)
This little cutie is the epidendrum Tiny Valley 'Maihime' which has these lovely peachy orange blossoms. I was told it has no fragrance but those sunset colors and adorable compact bushy foliage had me by the heartstrings. I figure I need a pure epidendrum to add to my collection since I have a few hybrids now. Maihime was actually two separate plants which I found out during the repot. One portion had two canes with a new one growing in and the other had about four canes with a new matured cane with the blasted flower spike. She is just such an attractive plant, I'm totally in love with her!
Dendrobium Roy Tokunaga
('White Christmas' x 'Spots')
(left: flower ref) (right: my plant)
I wasn't sure about this dendrobium when I saw him. I love the uniquely shaped flowers and the adorable spotting pattern but I was worried he would need a winter rest. But after speaking with the vendor, I was reassured this cute little guy wouldn't need a rest and that she is an evergreen orchid. Freckle came with several fat pseudobulbs, the newest and biggest one currently in spike. He also has a new growth coming in which is perfect timing for a repot. I hope the spike doesn't get blasted while he recovers from the shock of repotting.
Potinara Irene Fell 'Ruby Red'
(left: flower ref) (right: my plant)
I knew I wanted a red cattleya orchid when I went to the show and I seemed to have found her! This potinara, which is in the cattleya alliance, was so eye-catching and at an amazing price. Ruby came bushy with plenty of pseudobulbs and a single new growth coming in. I'm not sure how big she will be getting since I think she might be a seedling. I hope not too big, but I guess I'll have to wait and see. I am so excited to see the blooms!
Sophrolaeliocattleya Rachel's Sunset Glow
This compact little cutie is a mini cattleya hybrid with beautiful splash petal sunset colors in red, peach, orange and hints of yellow. I couldn't find a good picture of it online so I will have to wait for her to bloom. She is a seedling so it might take a while but from what I saw of the sample plant, Glow will be worth the wait. Her blooms were spectacular. Since I know she is a mini hybrid, I'm sure she won't need to get much bigger in order to bloom. She has two new growth currently coming in so I'm excited to see if they will spike when they mature later in the year. I can't wait!
Neofinetia falcata (white)
This was the only Neofinetia that I could find at the whole of the expo and I had to snatch her up quick! I have no idea what variety of the falcata Dove is but I don't really care because I am happy just to have one of my very own! And I gotta say, this tiny little orchid was full of surprises. I thought when I was examining her I was looking at one large plant like but when I went in to repot her, I found 3 distinct plants! I decided to leave the three together since these orchids are tiny by nature and actually won't get much bigger than their current size. If all the plants make it and bloom together, it should be a beautiful and fragrant display.
Oncidium Tolumnia (pink)
I also picked up the tolumnia from the same vendor I got my neofinetia from. She didn't have a tag or a proper identifying name but I was told she is the pink variety. I will have to wait until she blooms to see which exactly she is. The vendor also put another separate tolumnia that was bare rooted into the pot with mine but I was unsure if it was in there to begin with and fell out or if she is a separate plant altogether. The smaller part has a new root growing in so I'm hoping both plants will make it through the shock of the repotting okay. The bigger portion of the orchid has a new growth coming in so I think she'll be just fine. I'll hold off on naming her until I can get a look at her blooms.