This wonderful small growing Masdevallia flowers on and off throughout the year. It is possibly a natural hybrid and is found in Colombian cloud forest. One parent is probably Masdevallia filaria that it grows amongst but the other possible parent is a mystery – hence the name.

We grow this species in baskets, mounted and in pots in Cool Americas and when kept cool and damp rewards us with vigorous growth and regular flowering.

Yesterday’s orchid was a tiny flowered stelis species and a complete contrast we have our giant Vanda coerulea today in full flower with seven spikes and more than 10ft from top to toe (top bud to lowest root tip)

This wonderful species from North East India through to Thailand is one of the ones that stops visitors in their tracks with its large blue/purple flowers and intricate patterning, especially if it is the size of our specimen.

Unfortunately the attractiveness of the species has caused it to become very rare in the wild and it is designated as CITES appendix 1 to help protect surviving populations. It is widely grown from seed although nurseries tend to focus on large round flowered clones (like ours) for propagation rather than embracing the natural diversity within the species.

This makes this plant an ideal species to take to the Conference on the illegal trade in wildlife on Wednesday (see our recent post)

The plant is native to deciduous monsoon forest from 800 to 1700m which means it prefers cooler temperatures than most large growing lowland Vandas although selective breeding has tended to focus on plants that tolerate warmer conditions to suit commercial orchid production. We grow our plants in Warm Asia where they do very well and eventually produce side growths that produce flowers at the same time as the lead growth.

With less than a month to go until the British orchid show we are working hard to prepare everything including the greenhouses for the invasion of visitors keen to find out about our wonderful orchids.

We have been asked about buying tickets for the event and just to confirm, those coming for the whole weekend will need to register as registrants and then have access to scientific lectures, the Friday preview evening and all the show days. If you are coming for the day on Saturday or Sunday just buy a ticket on the door – we will have lots of signs to help you find your way.

With under a month to go until the opening of the British Orchid Show and Congress we are starting to wonder which of our orchids will be in flower for our big weekend.

One we are really hoping will still be inflower is Stelis polyantha. The exquisite spikes of tiny pinky brown flowers really need to be seen to be appreciated and really demonstrate the beauty of small flowered orchids.

Stelis polyantha is a small flowered species from Ecuador where it is found in cloud forest at around 3000m. The small size of the flowers is made up for in the number of flowers per spike and the number of spikes produces that give a pinky ‘cloud’ around the plant when in flower.

Just a reminder in case you missed it – all the latest news about the British orchid show and congress are in this month’s newsletter