Dendrobium densiflorum flowering in SikkimI am often asked the question “which is your favourite orchid?” a question I always struggle to answer definitively. Howerver I can tell you what my favourite orchid is today – Dendrobium densiflorum. This stunning orchid is one I have had the pleasure of finding in the wild in the Sikkim Himalaya and have grown in cultivation since the age of 14 so it is rather close to my heart.

As you can see from the amazing specimen growing on its tree in Sikkim the plant produces pendulous racemes of yellow flowers from stiff pseudobulbs. It grows in warm monsoon forest at altitudes from 500m to 1200m. In cultivation this means warm wet summers and dryer winters with minimum temperatures of about 12 degrees. We have tiny seedlings of this orchid growing well in the school lab and can’t wait to get them up to size.