Blooms and Spikes and Leaves—Oh My!

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted any updates on my orchid collection because there hasn’t been a whole lot going on other than the blooming of the mystery dendrobium, which, by the way, now has two blooms. Each has taken on a more pinkish and greenish tinge in the throat than when they first opened. The faint coloring is a little hard to capture in a photo, but you get the idea:

Beautiful mystery blooms!
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My Mystery Dendrobium Has Bloomed!!

Sorry that I’ve been MIA for awhile—I have just been lame and not doing my Orchid of the Week posts, and then for the past week and a half I’ve been sick. I’m still sick—might have pneumonia, actually—but something exciting happened yesterday that I have to share. My mystery dendrobium that I bought early this year at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden shop has finally bloomed! It’s a pretty, small white bloom:

Mystery Dendrobium Bloom!

It may be a little hard to see, but there is a very faint pink tinge way back in the throat of the bloom:

Pink-tinged throat

As you can see, a second bud is developing so this bloom will soon have a buddy. At this point, it only looks like the spike is putting out two blooms. Hopefully it will produce some more in the future!

Second bud is growing

I am so proud that I’ve kept this orchid healthy enough to bloom for me! The other orchid that I bought at the same time, an odontoglossum, bit the dust awhile back.

OK, back to resting and drinking lots and lots of water. Once I’ve fully recovered I am going to get back on the orchid blogging horse and will work on updating more regularly!

Mystery Dendrobium in Spike

Wow, so I totally skipped doing an Orchid of the Week post last Friday, for no good reason. I guess I just wasn’t really in the mood. But something that has gotten me in the mood to post is that my mystery Dendrobium is in spike! Check out the nubbin I noticed within some of its leaves a couple weeks ago:

Dendrobium spike
The beginnings of a spike

I bought this guy on sale for $12 at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden shop, along with an Odontoglossom Geyser Gold that has since died. This Dendrobium, which wasn’t in bloom when I bought it, has been flourishing and putting out new growths every so often. And now, it looks like it’s gearing up to finally bloom for me! The nubbin has turned into a spike for sure:

Dendrobium spike
Bloom for me, baby!

Getting this orchid to bloom is particularly exciting for me, because it had no tag when I bought it and I have absolutely no idea what its flowers are going to look like. For all I know it’s not even a Dendrobium (though its foliage and canes suggest that it is).

So I will wait patiently for the mystery blooms to open up. Whatever they end up looking like, they will be a nice surprise. Stay tuned!