Orchids...some of my old collection

Digging out old photos from the harddrive.

One of my other things is Orchid science and cultivation.

For the gardens….
Here are a few of my Orchid collection (some common, some rather rare)

Some are some very nice hardy orchids, as well as the hot-house ones.

I gave all of these away to an old lady about 5 years. Some are pretty difficult to grow, and are probably dead now….. but at least she would have got some enjoyment out of them for a short while.


The scent would knock you out.





















My old Cold Climate Orchid House.











This last one is classic….THE lady slipper orchid of lady slipper orchids. Famed for having just one plant growing native in the UK.

Hope you enjoyed

Ian.

By no means a gardener (live in an apartment, so don't even have a garden!), but since seeing Adaptation have been fascinated by orchids. These are really beautiful plants. Do you still grow them or did the aforementioned old lady take all of them?

L

We had a house and apartment up until a year ago; and have moved back to the apartment as money was being cut with this and that levy. So, I know what it is like with space.
I'd moved from a nice country house about 5 years and my collection of several hundred orchids had to go.

I kept a few plants, but a few did not like being in an apartment.

I'll probably get some more at the Dublin Orchid Fayre at the beginning of April.

The old lady.... she did love the plants, but as many of the ones I gave her are some of the most difficult to grow (and cannot be got just any where) she probably killed them all by accident.

ian

igmillichip wrote:

I gave all of these away to an old lady about 500 years old. Some are pretty difficult to grow, and are probably dead now….. but at least she would have got some enjoyment out of them for a short while.

Ian.

my bet is that the very old woman and the orchids are thriving.



great post ian, beautiful orchids. i would love to know more about them.

flowers ian, flowers?

this site has lost the plot altogether, lol nice shots, i bought my late mother one of these but my aquatic plant slaughtering syndrome works on all plants, broke my heart that dam plant, i was like

"i'm a murderer, i'm a murderer, i'm a mur'diddly'urder"

Very nice!

I can sympathise on the apartment scenario.
I moved from an east-facing to west-facing one about 2.5 years ago.
Some plants liked it. Some didn't.
However, this winter was too cold for some of them.
Mostly Odontoglossom, although Brassia (rex?)is ok (as is Rosioglossum)
However, some coelogyne cristata (and alba) flowered for the first time this month.
There's a paphiopedilum hybrid (something like cyclops, but taller flower stem) that still has it's flower that opened in the middle of january!
The aussie dendrobiums (kingianum, johnsons glory etc.)are late flowering this year. Hopefully they are ok.


P.s What's the orange one?
Brassia?

@ Derek.....the old lady is 80 (I went to her 80th a few weeks ago), and whizzing up and down like a fit-person.


@Dar....flowers....yes flowers Dar. I am a good enough death metal guitarist to not worry about people say about my flower growing. Anyway, some orchids will grow in your fish tanks (well, maybe mot your fish tank, but in other peoples at least).

@Murph....you're an orchid grower I see. The orange flower....very close guess at a Brassia, but it's an Ada (A aurantiaca based if my memory serves me well...and I think it was a hybrid). But, with some of the hybrids it is not always easy to tell if there is another genus in the mix....and Brassi and Ada can form intergeneric hybrids (=Brassada).

ian

Hi Ian....
Do you know Ellis Eyre.
Regards
C

Cheers Ian.
Must look that one up./
Scratch that, just did!
Cool growing. Must get one!
Looking at Ada Allenii, I can see it is one of the ingredients in the "Cambria" hybrids.
(Note to self: re-pot the Tahoma soon!!)

See you on the 9th, hopefully!

murph wrote:

Cheers Ian.
Must look that one up./
Scratch that, just did!
Cool growing. Must get one!
Looking at Ada Allenii, I can see it is one of the ingredients in the "Cambria" hybrids.
(Note to self: re-pot the Tahoma soon!!)

See you on the 9th, hopefully!

'Cambria'.....nope. Ada is not a parent in 'Cambria'. BUT, there are loads of orchids sold as 'cambria'.
Cambria is a famous tri-intergeneric hybrid between Odontoglossum, Miltonia (not miltoniopsis) and Cochlioda to make the artifical hybrid genus "Vuylstekeara".

I see loads of plants with a 'cambria' label stuck in them in garden centres when they are not. A bit like putting a label 'Angel Fish' on every fish in a shop. !

@Puddlefish....I do not know Ellis Eyre.

ian

I think the Cambria label currently refers to a specific nursery/breeder in the far-east, as opposed to grouping/taxionomy. Hence the labels.
Allenii "looks" like a constituent of a lot of the brownish versions....

Most of the orchids I see labelled as 'Cambria' are Beallara. That is a intergeneric genus of the genera making up Vuylstekeara plus having Brassia thrown in (ie Odontoglossum x Mitonia X Cochlioda x Brassia).
It is wider spread bad practice for the 'cambria' label to be thrown into pots than teh scenario a single company named 'Cambria'.

What seems to have happened is that this is the trade making up its own names for orchids based upon the name of a spectactular hybrid of many years ago....viz, the Vyl. Cambria 'Plush' hybrid.
Yet has made out that the name 'Cambria' is the proper name for all of those different plants we seen in Tesco or Woodies....a bit naughty really.

Worse still, is that I now even seen Oncidium (a natural genus) or Miltoniopsis (a natural genus) and Brassia (a natural genus)labelled as 'Cambria'. It does almost seem as though anything in the Oncidium tribe is labelled as 'Cambria'.

What is the world coming to?

ian

Yup, seen Oncidium labeled as such alright. Haven't seen a Miltoniopsis called that. Yet.

Miltoniopsis often get mis-labelled as Miltonia (easier to spell and pronounce maybe ).
If only Miltonia were as easy to grow, on the whole, as Miltoniopsis.

But, having said all of that..... there are some very nice hybrids in places like woodies and tesco and for next to nothing in price (6 euro etc); if many of them actually had their full RHS hybrid name on the label then prices would probably be much higher.
If you know what you're looking for, there are some good bargains in non-specialist shops.

I actually managed to get a superb Brassi from woodies a few years (actually I bought a few of them) for something like 7 euro. Large plant with loads of spikes.... of course I didn't care what label they had stuck in the pot .

ian

Puddlefish wrote:

Hi Ian....
Do you know Ellis Eyre.
Regards
C

is this another frisky old woman with a penchant for killing orchids through neglect.



sorry ian, could'nt resist. will stop now as i am enjoying this very educational and interesting post and dont want to annoy you.

Ditto!.
I got the Rexish version (I think it's eternal wild, plant same size a most Oncidium, i.e. not huge, spikes only 2.5ft high, about 15-20 flowers per spike,individual flowers about 8" from top to tail? Great scent!) in the junk pile of an expensive c.c florist for €1 (Had finished flowering).
Also got this amazing pink phrag for €5 in similar circumstances. (no idea what it is. Don't care.... Pretty.)

My first orchid was a bargain-bin thing....

way back in 1981/82 I was at a garden center in the UK showing a load of spectacular Cymbidiums (they were McBean's orchids)....at silly prices (and McBeans are still silly prices).

Then I saw one orchid in the Bargain Bin at 50 pence. It said Odontoglossum etc, and was a single big bulb in a flower-pot. I bought it and a book for about 7 or 8 pound on orchid growing.

When I read the book, it effectively said "the Odontoglossum you have just bought was dead when you bought it" (well...not in those words of course ).

Anyway, I had to justify paying 7 or 8 pound for the book..... and so my 30 years of orchid began. !!!

My lads grew up with orchids and some knowledge of orchids; I showed them how to pollinate orchids.
What is relevance of that?
well, Jon (my eldsest son) when a youngster was very interested in orchids, was always tempted to the massive show-type Cymbidiums, and would rush off in garden centers and then come back to me to show me which orchids he'd been 'breeding'.
Surprise, surprise..... the flowers were all dead the next week......and a nice plant was to be had (for any lucky person being observant) in the bargain bins. Sinful....but what can one do about a young lad who had an interest.

I'm getting a little confused here. Is this a flower forum or a fish forum?

The things certain people get away with. I rest my case.

Dave

DJK wrote:

I'm getting a little confused here. Is this a flower forum or a fish forum?

The things certain people get away with. I rest my case.

Dave

Orchids? and aquatics? is there a connection? of course there is.....

a) some orchids can grow in water and would make good aquatic plants (as good as many of the non-aquatic plants sold in fish shops)
b) I used to use orchids in my overhead trickle filter systems. Great set-up.
c) aquatic?? Ummm, let me think.....certain parts of the demi-god Orchis were thrown into the ocean as a punishment to the male demi-god, and where they met the water the water frothed and gave forth Aphrodites.
d) I keep fish and orchids.... and so does Murph (not that I've met Murph)....and I bet Stretnik would also be an admirer of orchid biology.

I rest my case.
Also, this is in a non-fish section of the forum.....even if the discussion here is a bit fishy at times

ian

No offence meant Ian, but I thought 'non-fish' items are supposed to be in the Social and Rubbish Section.

Dave

I am reminded of a quote from a panto I did sound for in UCD way back when (written by Cormack Funge, directed by Brenda Donaghue; Mikel Murfi, Derbhela Crotty, Helen Norton, Fergus Lenihan etc in cast.)


The catch line of the ugly sister was: "Don't be so fucking pedantic".
Brought the house down. Every utterance.....

i am absolutely in favour of this and similar posts. they are informative and enjoyable especially when illustrated with such beautiful photographs. ian has been a great asset to this forum and is obviously very knowledgable on a range of subjects connected with nature and i hope he continues to share his knowledge with us re plants, reptiles and water quality etc. i have met 100s of fishkeepers through the last 30 years and the vast majority are interested in all aspects of the natural world.
it is not as if we are swamped under with large amounts of fishkeeping posts, as the bulk of recent posts are usually arthur daleys selling this that and the other . there is a place for the buying and selling posts and i use this facility myself but we also need interesting fishkeeping or other nature oriented threads that provoke debate and discussion. this is what keeps forums alive.

Maybe this could be in different section. But...

I don't take offense to anything really, so no worries there. I've been around too long to take offense.

Sometimes it is good to get away from talking about nerdy fish stuff...I certainly need something to keep me away from chemistry;
and part of being a scientist is also to be a poet and whisper with the wind as we spew our dry thoughts of nature to meander across whatever topic and paper it happens to land.

One of the subjects that I used to lecture on was Orchid Cultivation and Science.....but anyone doing my course didn't just hear about orchids: one lecture would be dedicated to astrologers (yep, star signs and all that non-sciency stuff), and another (as I do with all my subjects) was on chocolate (one of my favourite foods)
And when I did talks on brain biochemistry...chocolate also came into that.

If, as a fishkeeper and a scientist, I didn't venture into art, food, poetry and music then I would be a very poor scientist and have probably never worked in the early development of aquatic technologies.
As with good scientists, and many of the people who put fish-keeping on the map, included more than just fish or science in their original essays. If they just kept to fish, then no-one would have listened.

@Murph... ah, now I see the connection with another (slightly off-topic) discussion on a thread about amps and earths: you work with amps.

ian

different section true but what a collection regardless of any association with botany theyre magnificent!

absolutely stunning pics there Ian. fair play to you.

Yup Ian,
Day job is concerts/clubs/X-factor loosers etc. From mixing them to fixing the damage caused by wet patches to designing the stuff that makes them "louder" or "better" as the case may be. (Although, the off button is sometimes the best one for the audience's ears)
Degree is electronic engineering, UCD.
Also into food (cooking it!), good wine, science fiction/fantasy reading and classical organ. (occasionaly particle physics)

Should be enough to confuse most!

murph wrote:

Yup Ian,
Day job is concerts/clubs/X-factor loosers etc. From mixing them to fixing the damage caused by wet patches to designing the stuff that makes them "louder" or "better" as the case may be. (Although, the off button is sometimes the best one for the audience's ears)
Degree is electronic engineering, UCD.
Also into food (cooking it!), good wine, science fiction/fantasy reading and classical organ. (occasionaly particle physics)

Should be enough to confuse most!

yes namedropping and spoofing should really confuse the peasants.

murph wrote:

Yup Ian,
Day job is concerts/clubs/X-factor loosers etc. From mixing them to fixing the damage caused by wet patches to designing the stuff that makes them "louder" or "better" as the case may be. (Although, the off button is sometimes the best one for the audience's ears)
Degree is electronic engineering, UCD.
Also into food (cooking it!), good wine, science fiction/fantasy reading and classical organ. (occasionaly particle physics)

Should be enough to confuse most!

As I always say, life is one big tapestry....once we jump into life we jump into all subjects and topics within life and often find that they are amazingly linked.

So, you're one our graduates?

I have the privilege of being able to call electronic engineering a bit nerdy because....
Before becoming a biochemist/toxicologist I did electronic engineering and used the principles of that in some of my theories of energy production in the brain (as well as designing and making some of my own synthesisers and guitar effects pedals way way back !!..but the keys and boxes were too expensive back then, so they looked rubbish but sounded great).
And, I also did a degree in Physics (optics and imaging systems....and uber nerdy maths).
I also have had proper jobs paying taxes.

I also love good food.....spices, fruits and nuts..yum....but hate Italian food (and I'm half Italian).

A bit of name dropping? well....it all helps to gain an insight into how wrong one may be about something or other.

Synths and pedals?
Cv, fm or sampled synths? (Mono or polyphonic?)
I have to agree, home-made pedals always sound the best. I just hate the metal-work.

Energy production in the brain.
Were you using capacitive charge for neorons followed by semi-conductor behaviour of synapses?
Or something similar?(not really my area.)


Indian, Mexican, South-african food good!!!!!
So is Italian, once you remember: K.I.S.,S.


P.s. Freinds from clooege ain't name dropping.
The recent client list would be.