The perfect orchid to follow yesterday’s Dendrobium x suffusum is it’s pink parent Dendrobium kingianum.

Small growing, free flowering, scented and easy to propagate, Dendrobium kingianum is a brilliant little orchid. It is another of the Australian dendrobiums found on the Queensland and New South Wales coast and mountains. It grows as a lithophyte earning it the common name of Pink Rock Orchid. The colour of the flowers varies greatly from dark pinks and purples through to white.

We grow the species in Cool Asia with a minimum of 10C but it also does well in our Temperate section with temperatures falling to 6C. We have friends who grow this species very successfully on windowsills too.

The plant propagates by growing keikis (small plants) on the top of older bulbs and these can be removed and potted when they have plenty of their own roots or left on the old plant and sprayed to grow it into more of a multi story bush. We have also found the species quick to flower from seed.

Our Australian dendrobiums are flowering about three to four weeks earlier this year than in 2018 possibly due to the mild winter – I wonder if other growers are finding the same?