Mislabelled cattleya orchid

I had been anticipating the opening of these blooms ever since I confirmed flower buds were developing inside the sheath several months ago. The tag on this specimen indicated it was Cattleya intermedia var Orlata "Marble" x self but, once the flower began to open something clearly was amiss!
With the consultation of a few of my orchid friends, it was clear that the label had to be wrong since this plant looked nothing like Cattleya intermedia. For one thing, Cattleya intermedia is bifoliate and has thin long pseudobulbs while my plant had fat pseudobulbs and was unifoliate! Furthermore, Cattleya intermedia flowers are on the smaller side but mine measured almost 6" across! It bore a striking resemblance to my Cattleya mossiae x mossiea semi alba which bloomed earlier this year.

So, even though my specimen looks like Cattleya mossiae, it will forever be a NOID. Nonetheless, it is still very pretty and fragrant so worthy of being part of my collection in my eyes!

Mislabeled Cattleya type orchid, poss Cattleya mossiae

Cattleya mossiae x mossiae semi alba

Cattleya intermedia (source: AOS)

Newly registered orchid, Rhyncattleanthe DiCiommo Iris

I'm fortunate to have been able to grow this cattleya hybrid seedling to blooming. The plant was acquired through John Barnes in July of 2017 and produced its first blooms in January of 2019.  It is one of many wonderful cross from DiCiommo Orchids.

This blooming season (2nd) the flowers are a bit different; the lateral sepals are wider, less ruffled and the flares are not as prominent, giving the bloom a more uniformly colored appearance.  The color is best described as vibrant burnt orange and the petal surface is diamond dusted which gives it a shimmering effect when seen in bright light. The lip is solid deep cherry/magenta color and the blooms produce no significant fragrance.

It is possible that the difference in bloom appearance from a year ago can be attributed to growing the plant under artificial light (Jan 2019) vs natural window light ( Dec 2019).

You can view the registry information at the RHS website.

Dec 2019 blooms (grown with natural window light, SW exposure):

Jan 2019 blooms (grown under artificial LED's):

Newest cattleya from seedling (mossiae x mossiae semi alba)

After two years of growing this John Barnes seedling out, it finally surprised me yesterday with these giant eloquent blooms! Now I have to wait a few days to see if there is any fragrance to them.

I immediately crossed one of the blossoms with Potinara Sweet Chief Orange but those blooms were spent so the pollen may not be viable anymore. Only time will tell!
Meet Cattleya mossiae x  Cattleya mossiae semi alba

Potinara Sweet Chief Orange beside Cattleya mossiae x mossiae semi alba   17-09-2019

First re-bloom on Oncidium "Wild Willie"

After waiting almost 21 months, this clearance orchid I purchased at a nursery has finally decided it was happy enough to bloom. Sometimes, it may take a year or two for a newly acquired plant to acclimate to the different conditions that exist in our homes.   I'm hoping that it will now bloom reliably for me, season after season.

Since I purchased this orchid after it had finished blooming and the spike had been cut, even though a tag was included in the pot I could not confirm 100%  the identity until the new flowers opened. Sometimes, plants are mislabeled or tags can be accidentally switched during transplant or by being knocked out of a pot for example.

Now, all I'm waiting for is to sniff the delightful fragrance this hybrid is said to have!

Paphiopedilum insigne aka the Splendid Lady Slipper Orchid

This little gem is to join my collection in a few months when I pick it up at the Ottawa Orchid show. Most likely, the bloom will have fallen but if all goes well, it should reward me with a shoot that hopefully will subsequently bloom!
Many thanks to my friend John who picked this up for me at the SOOS show at the beginning of January. And the price wasn't bad either!

New Cattleya hybrid by Di Ciommo Greenhouse

 I’m elated this 4 year old seedling has just bloomed! After three false hopes (empty sheaths) she decided it was time to reward me with three nice blooms and there’s another bloom coming on a second pseudobulb! Thank you to John Barnes for entrusting me with this special beauty and to Joseph Di Ciommo for the outstanding cross! I’m still waiting to see if she will develop any fragrance 🤞

C. (Morning Call x Chianhao Beauty) x (Jungle Jewel x DiCiommo David)

First bloom, January 10 2019 

Update: Registered as Rhyncattleanthe Di Ciommo Iris