Some orchid species have the wonderful habit of flowering twice a year and Coelogyne pulverula does so for us flowering in the Spring and Autumn.

The species is native to Malaysia, Thailand and Borneo where it grows on the trunks and lower branches of large trees in evergreen forest from 300 to 1800m. We find that the species enjoys growing warm but well shaded and kept moist throughout the year.  We find that leaves can become damaged by bright sun or by plants being allowed to become dry for long periods.

We saw a number of Coelogynes in the forests of Sarawak during our July visit including Coelogyne motleyi in flower and most were growing in shaded spots in the lower branches or on the trunks of trees where the large leaves are protected from too much intense equatorial sunshine.

The flowers do bruise quite easily and so it is worth moving a plant in spike to a safe place, like ours in the photo, for the flower spikes to grow where they won’t touch things or be knocked. We hope that the flowers will still be in good condition for the Pollination festival at Bristol University Botanic Gardens next weekend – I hope we see lots of our website followers there.