Orchids Winter 2009

[Oron Peri]

First two species for this seoson, both photos taken on Mt. Carmel
Ophrys israelitica [syn. O fleischmannii] and Orchis saccata.

[Maggi Young]

I was about to ask you how these species could avoid  being grazed by hungry animals at this time of year , when such plants must offer a tempting mouthful, but then I spotted the sharp thorns around the Orchis saccata..... so I know how that one protects itself! 

[Joakim B]

Nice ones Oron
Is there a breeder in Israel of these orchids? You (in Israel) seem to have the biotech knowledge so there might be some? Most other breeder seem to be further north from BeNeLux and above and hence can not grow all the ophrys outside.
I have not heard of any breeder / sower on the Iberian peninsula and none elsewhere around the Mediterranean so my hope goes towards Israel in this regard. Israel also have some nice orchids that are not existing on the north side of the Mediterranean if I remember correctly.
Hope You will show us more and I will soon have to start looking for orchids here in Portugal s that I can contribute with some.

Kind regards
Joakim

[Oron Peri]

Joakim,
I'm afraid there isn't any commercial grower down here since
 all wild Orchids are strictly protected by Israeli low.
I do know that there are a few growers in Germany and some species are even in commerce in England where it seems that the BA ticket price is included

[Craig]

Oron - thats a real tonic after just looking at my frozen pots outside. This winters going to be reveal quite a bit about the hardiness of some Mediterranean & Australian species, I just hope they're better at coping with cold than I am !

Joakim - I never tried to buy anything from them 'cos it looked like a palava payment & postal wise, but what about http://www.eurorchids.com/nosotros/   ?

All the best,

Craig

[Joakim B]

Oron I think the orchids are protected all over the world and I meant that seed where taken and used to produce plants. It would be a more natural rhythm to do it in natural lights rather than greenhouse and extra lights.

Craig.
Nice link I must have missed it. The English is not that bad to understand for a Swede with some good will.
Must look closer to it. It looks really interesting with some plants that is not that common.
Has anyone have bought from them?

Kind regards
Joakim

[LarsB]

Hi Joakim,

Apart from the commecial sources usually mentioned here and in the terestrial forum, there are amateurs growing Orphrys, Orchis and others from seeds. Sometimes you can trade and get plants. What is common for one grower is a rare find for another. I've swapped Disas for very exciting plants, at least in my eyes, even though the people I swapped with sometimes felt that the plants they could offer in return for Disas were probably of no interest to me because they were so common.

Kind regards

Lars

[Joakim B]

Lars I was thinking on that for a commercial grower it would be easier (and cheaper) to grow without the need of heated greenhouse.
Some of the ophrys are not so hardy due to them being winter growers so they need protection in northen Europe. Around the Mediterranean it would be possible to have commercial seed-sowing and growing of other sorts than what most vender's offer.
With persons with a special interest it might be easy to find the not so easy but these people are not always easy to find.
All the best
Joakim

[LarsB]

Hi Joakim. I'm trying to grow some of these Orphrys and Orchis for the first time this year. It was some i swapped for some other orchids with a guy from Greece who are growing them from seeds. He's an amatuer, but as you point out it is much easier for him to grow them because he doesn't need a greenhouse. Naturally, i have to keep them indoors, which is what makes it so difficult to grow them here. I hope i will succeed. So far I've only lost one, probably the compost was too wet, even though I hardly water them. It is a very delicate balance.

Lars

[Oron Peri]

Orchis punctulata starts to bloom now,
this is a rare Eastern Mediterranean species growing in  Greece [some of the islands],Cyprus, Israel, Turkey to Iran.
In Israel it grows in a few localities in the north. color range from yellow to dark redish-brown, some individuals can reach more then 80cm bearing hundreds of flowers.

[ranunculus]

Excellent images of beautiful orchids, Oron ... many thanks for posting.

[dan_t]

These are fantastic photos - thanks for posting them.

I am attempting to sow out some Ophrys and Cypripedium seeds this year for the first time, so it should be interested how they do. The Ophrys apifera I'm sowing it a selfing I made last year of one of my plants, and the Cypripedium acaule I got hold of from Aaron Hicks. My aim, in the future, is to swap Ophrys/Orchis/Cyp etc seeds and increase the number of in vitro propagated plants available, perhaps even put some back in the wild.
Well, you've got to start by aiming high!!


Dan

[Oron Peri]

Another Ophrys starts to flower now:
O. umbilicata [syn. O. carmeli], this is the most common Ophrys here, growing in all type of soils.
It has green or white sepals.
In some areas it can be found growing in big groups consists of hundreds of plants.

[arillady]

Oron how difficult are Ophrys o grow from seed?
Pat T

[Anthony Darby]

They need to be sown in a special sterile agar-based medium designed for the purpose, and then grown in flasks for a year. The seeds also need to be sterilised. I mean to have a go sometime.

Oron, O. umbilicata sounds like it would be a good one for cultivation, as most Ophrys spp. don't usually clump up? I rarely get offsets from mine.