With its very strong perfume of Marzipan this is definitely a ‘Christmas Orchid’. The colours aren’t traditionally festive, but close your eyes and you are in the middle of a sweet Christmas delight – perhaps we should guard this plant as it smells as if it could be Stollen!!!! (sorry that is an awful pun)

This unusual flower with bright pink sepal tips and a contrasting yellow lip is a fragrant addition to the greenhouse in winter. It has possibly the prettiest buds of any orchid species we grow.

This species is a terrestrial from Central America where it is found from 500-1500m in open forests. We find that the species prefers to grow cool (we grow it in Coll Americas min 12C) and can suffer with black areas on the leaves if exposed to too much sun or heat stress. Although we will try an fins a warm spot for it on Saturday so that its scent is on full power at Orchid Christmas.

On the Christmassy orchid theme, here are the Maxillaria sophronitis plans ready for sale on Saturday – don’t they look festive?