Orchids Spring 2009

[Anthony Darby]

Had some fun pollinating Ophrys tenthredinifera this afternoon, using a wooden cocktail stick. Then I went into the greenhouse the repeat the trick with my Barlia robertiana, only to find a bumble bee (Bombus terrestris) had beaten me to it.

[Guus]

Wow, these are very nice indeed! Are you living near that places? You are really lucky then..

[Tony Willis]

Lovely to see the orchids in the wild.

Here is one of mine in captivity

Ophrys scolopax

[Craig]

Mr Hristo,
I have dribbled over my laptop & am holding you personally responsible!  >: ( The bill will be in the post unless more photos of this ilk (& of your home sowing techniques) are forthcoming! (I shall equip myself with a bib in preparation) 

[Craig]

Anthony,
Beautifully grown plants, congratulations! Do you do anything that helps the leaves stay green & active with your  Ophrys ? These tenthredinifera look immaculate. I find most of my Ophrys are pretty tatty in the leaf department by flowering time.
Great Bumblee Bee shot. It seems like a pretty tough life, weighed down with mites on one side and beautiful bluey pollinia on the other. I'm feeling especially sympathetic towards Bees tonight, having just watched the incredible Natural World programme about the Giant Hornet in Japan. If anyone hasn't seen it, it's  on the IPlayer at the mo. & apart from everything else, features the astonishing pollination strategy of Cymbidium pumilum: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0079736/Natural_World_Buddha_Bees_and_the_Giant_Hornet_Queen/

[Tony Willis]

Nice one Tony! Will you give it a go outdoors if it bulks up?

Not unless you can convince me its a bog plant! Outside is instant death here.

[Guus]

dear Hristo, I see you are an orchid sower. Am I right? Could I make you happy with some O.apifera seed? Or is that too common for you as a specialist?
I have some friends with more Ophrys species, I could ask them what they have to offer...
What media do you use? M&S? BM? We could exchange some recepies for media we use...
Greetings, Guus

[Tony Willis]

hi Hristio

when I lived in Notts(I wish I still did) it was very dry just Lincolnshire.My garden is wet heavy clay and it rained nearly every day last year which is great for lots of plants but not for ophrys. I have dactylorhiza as weeds in every possible place.I am sat typing this because it is raining!

Orchis and ophrys are much to expensive to take a chance with and only rarely obtainable.Apart from a couple of species they never increase with me.

here are pictures of another three probably wrongly named
Ophyrs scolopax
Orchis italica
Orchis morio

[Miriam]

Wonderful Orchids!!

Here is Orchis sancta- an east Mediterranean species.
It has a very nice fragrance!

[Anthony Darby]

Anthony,
Beautifully grown plants, congratulations! Do you do anything that helps the leaves stay green & active with your  Ophrys ? These tenthredinifera look immaculate. I find most of my Ophrys are pretty tatty in the leaf department by flowering time.
Great Bumblee Bee shot. It seems like a pretty tough life, weighed down with mites on one side and beautiful bluey pollinia on the other. I'm feeling especially sympathetic towards Bees tonight, having just watched the incredible Natural World programme about the Giant Hornet in Japan. If anyone hasn't seen it, it's  on the IPlayer at the mo. & apart from everything else, features the astonishing pollination strategy of Cymbidium pumilum: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0 ... net_Queen/

Hi Craig
I just grow them in the frost-free greenhouse in very well drained 80% inorganic mix (mostly perlite). This season I put a gritty JI3 mix in the bottom third of the pot. I have some others flowering soon.

[Craig]

  Lots more great photos. As I mentioned before, the recent DNA testing which indicated only 10 distinct species of Ophrys & the sheer variation that can come from one selfed seed pod make me less than inclined to get into the game of trying to work out which Delforgian species is which (although it is a lovely book) Add to that the enormous potential for naturally occurring  hybrids in an Orchid paradise like Greece...
Very interesting that you used to grow Serapias lingua outside Hristo. I seem to have lost about 90 of my pot grown 95 S.lingua this winter & thought it was the harsh frost we had this year which had done for them. S.neglecta & cordigera were in the sand plunge though & look fine.
Tony:In the Pedersen & Faurholdt book on Ophrys, Richard Manuel says he grows Ophrys successfully in his garden on heavy clay but on a bank steep enough to avoid inundation in heavy rain. The pain of losing these little beauties is always felt in the wallet as well, as you point out. Just keep sowing into that Cyclamen pot though & you'll soon be supplying all of us!

[Oron Peri]

Hristo, Tony, Miriam
great photos of so many lovely species, certainly the Peloponnese is one paradise on Earth.

Here it is Orchids time as well with many species in bloom at the same time, attached  a few samples.
more to come....

[Miriam]

Oron,

Fantastic photos!

[Anthony Darby]

Almost as big as Serapias neglecta?

[Tony Willis]

Oron great pictures,you are so far ahead of us here. My cephalanthra and epipactis are just putting their  nose above the soil.

Dactylorhiza sambucina (romana) purple form