| "Kingies," as we call them here in Australia, amaze me with their toughness. I wouldn't be surprised if the other spikes went on to bloom normally. Last year a guy spoke at our orchid club on Den. speciosa and he also had all sorts of pictures of Den. kingianum in situ in...I think it was New South Wales (north of me). There were sprawling blankets of kingianum on exposed rocky cliffs, in nearly full northern Australian sun (which is intense enough to burn most of our orchids), in very harsh conditions ranging from blistering hot to cold, wet to bone dry, almost no shade at all (you should have seen how red the leaves were) and they just grow and grow and grow.
All of that to say they're tough, tough, tough! You won't need to coddle it. In Missouri you could probably grow it outside most if not all of the year (unless it gets down to freezing).
Also, here in Melbourne, I keep my kingies pretty wet. Both my species and hybrids, I water them a lot, especially in summer when they're growing. But it does get really hot here in summer....but as I recall from my one and only trip to St. Louis, it gets hot there too. Others might have other opinions on watering them.
__________________  |