Orchids du Jour - Page 2

kmarch · #76 (**permalink**) 09-18-2007, 08:19 AM

It is a mini Tobi. From table top to the tip of the highest flower's dorsal sepal is only about 10.5 inches. The plant is growing in a 3.5 inch pot. The blooms are about 3 inches wide though.

fred · #77 (**permalink**) 09-18-2007, 08:24 AM

beautuful kevin I like the mini catt

also the Den is amazing

good growing

very good pics as well

kmarch · #78 (**permalink**) 10-24-2007, 11:08 PM

Here's a few things I have in bloom at the moment:

Dendrobium Yukidaruma 'The King' (2 pics)
Lycaste Macama 'Atlantis' (2 pics)
Paph Amarantine (2 pics)
Paph Florento (2 pics)

The Paph Amarantine (liemianum x moquettianum) just won a First Place in the Novelty Paph category at the recent VOC Show.

**Vivienne** · #79 (**permalink**) 10-24-2007, 11:21 PM

Oh Kevin how I wish I could come play at your house! I have scarcely a thing in bloom right now. LOVE the Paph. Amarantine!!!

Orchidflowerchild · #80 (**permalink**) 10-24-2007, 11:28 PM

It's handy that I don't have a whole lot of plants, because I need a memory card, some lights, and a tripod, before I can take such nice pics. I love having friends who know how awards photography works, because it just lends itself to very clear representations of the flowers.

-Cj

fred · #81 (**permalink**) 10-24-2007, 11:39 PM

very nice Kevin

good growing mate your pictures are outstanding

I hope you have the plants under lock and key

pikevi · #82 (**permalink**) 10-24-2007, 11:41 PM

Nice flowers, kmarch

Like Vivienne, I like the Amarantine as well. I have an Amarantine (liemianum x moquettianum) too but I don't know when it will bloom!

kmarch · #83 (**permalink**) 10-25-2007, 01:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pikevi

I have an Amarantine (liemianum x moquettianum) too but I don't know when it will bloom!

How big is it? Leaf span/pot size?

Mine seems relatively "big" with probably a 35-40cm leaf span.

Bolero · #84 (**permalink**) 10-25-2007, 01:37 AM

Great photos Kevin, do you use black felt as the background or something else?

kmarch · #85 (**permalink**) 10-25-2007, 01:46 AM

I just have a piece of cheap black cotton I bought cheap at a cloth store. Sometimes it is too smooth and reflects some light, especially in natural light so I want to get somethign less smooth. But anyway I just by cheap pieces fo cloth for background.

Tobi · #86 (**permalink**) 10-25-2007, 07:57 AM

Great blooms Kevin!! Love the color on the lip of the Den. Yukiaruma 'The King'. It looks like a black cherry color. Is that close? Also I have seen the
cultivar name printed as just 'King' and not 'The King' for the same hybrid.
Which is correct?

kmarch · #87 (**permalink**) 10-26-2007, 10:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tobi

Great blooms Kevin!! Love the color on the lip of the Den. Yukiaruma 'The King'. It looks like a black cherry color. Is that close?

Yes it is pretty much spot on (at least as viewed on my computer in the ambient light of my own flat). It's one of the reasons I bought it, the crystaline white with that shocking spot of black cherry. It also has a somewhat spicy raspberry fragrance. It's a bit sweet and a bit pungent. honestly I'm not sure if I like the fragrance or not but I sure do like the bloom.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tobi

Also I have seen the
cultivar name printed as just 'King' and not 'The King' for the same hybrid.
Which is correct?

My tag says 'The King'. To be honest I'm not sure which is correct. The AOC does not publish awards like the AOS does so I have no authority to refer to. One of my judging colleagues is working on a CD-ROM of all AOC awards though so hopefully there will be a good reference in the near future. It also doesn't help that so many growers/breeders/nurseries are incredibly lax and sloppy with names and tags.

Orchidflowerchild · #88 (**permalink**) 10-26-2007, 11:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kmarch

I just have a piece of cheap black cotton I bought cheap at a cloth store. Sometimes it is too smooth and reflects some light, especially in natural light so I want to get somethign less smooth. But anyway I just by cheap pieces fo cloth for background.

I like felt. It's dirt cheap and easier to keep clean than velvet. Or, if you can get it, black butcher paper is fantastic for a bacground.

-Cj

kmarch · #89 (**permalink**) 10-26-2007, 08:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Orchidflowerchild

... I need a memory card, some lights, and a tripod, before I can take such nice pics.

Cj, I use only a mid-range digital camera (not the cheapest one but not the best either, it's a Sony Cybershot DSC-600) and a piece of cheap black cotton. I do have a memory card but these days they are cheap (even here in Australia) being less than $50 and in some places free with the camera. I do not have a tripod or any lights. I use natural light and the flash on my camera which has a few different settings.

Orchidflowerchild · #90 (**permalink**) 10-27-2007, 12:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kmarch

Cj, I use only a mid-range digital camera (not the cheapest one but not the best either, it's a Sony Cybershot DSC-600) and a piece of cheap black cotton. I do have a memory card but these days they are cheap (even here in Australia) being less than $50 and in some places free with the camera. I do not have a tripod or any lights. I use natural light and the flash on my camera which has a few different settings.

I like having the lights for days when the weather doesn't cooperate, but I need the tripod for macro photography. When you grow things like Platysteles, it comes in very handy to have a tripod so you can see the tiny little things. I need to get a power cord for my old computer that is still in my closet. I had some very nice pics that I'd like to get online, again. One of my favourites was a beautiful image of Notylia barkeri. It was just one of those chance happenings that the inflorescence fell in a way that lent itself to a lovely vertical composition with the flowers in the center, flanked by leaves. It looked like a cover of Orchids Magazine. Those photography classes in high school and all that time helping out at a judging center definitely improved my flower photography. I have most of my favourite shots on slides, but I'd like to have the digital images, again.

My new camera is MUCH better than my old one. THe original camera I had was a 3 megapixel dinosaur that actually held a CompactFlash card. I had an old tripod, one stand with two lights on it that I got real cheap, and 8 yards of black cloth I got for $1/yd that also got used for backgrounds on show displays. I canibalized a jeweler's loupe to make a macro lens for that thing. My new camera has 6.1 megapixels and an awesome macro function. I can't wait until something tiny blooms!

-Cj

tizzycat · #91 (**permalink**) 10-27-2007, 07:05 AM

Kevin, All those flowers are gorgeous and the pics are great. I only have one paph. (Alpha Kuong) and I'm still waiting for it to flower.

Two of my phals are flowering, and one is in spike. An odontoglossom has just finished and the Miltonia is still hanging in there, but fading slightly.

It's great to see what others have in flower when some of our own plants
are in between times. It helps to make the waiting more bearable, although they never disappoint when the blooms appear.

Thankyou.

Chris

kmarch · #92 (**permalink**) 02-17-2008, 10:43 PM

Paphs are a'bloomin'!

The first is Paph primulinum (species)

The second 2 are Paph Amarantine (liemianum x moquettianum) - This is a sequential bloomer (one flower after another) and has been putting out flowers since last October. This is the first time it's held 2 flowers at the same time and it has at least 2 more buds on the horizon.

The 4th and 5th pics are Paph St. Swithin (philippinense x rothschildianum) - This is the first time tis one has bloomed for me.

The 6th pic is a trio of paphs.

On the horizon I still have Paph Lynleigh Koopowitz (delenatii x malipoense) and another species, Paph wardii. Also on the horizon, a non-paph, Coelogyne xyrekes.