Pretty picture: Miltoniopsis Evergreen Premier

It's possible that there were other Miltoniopsis present at the show, but this is the only one I remember seeing, and the only one I got photos of. Evergreen Premier is as disgustingly cheerful as all the other Miltoniopsis; the most unusual thing about it is probably the yellow in the center, which we've only seen a couple times before.

I can't confirm that the plant was identified correctly. The only on-line source I could find with any picture of an "Evergreen Premier" was seattleorchid.com, but neither the genus nor the photos match in that case. The genus name may or may not be relevant -- the International Orchid Registry lists Miltonia as a synonym for this plant -- but the photo still seems relevant. Feels to me like either that one, or this one, has to be misidentified, though I suppose it's also possible that we're looking at different clones from the same grex.

Miltoniopsis Evergreen Premier = Miltoniopsis Limelight x Miltoniopsis Lilac Time (Ref.)

In unrelated news, a couple of comments about the previous post:

I did start, or try to start, cuttings from the 'Caribbean Dancer' that imploded. (Nine pots' worth, at nine or ten cuttings per pot, because I expect a lot of them to fail.) The one branch that survived the implosion remains intact, which I wasn't expecting, but I'm not sure it matters long-term: it seems too heavy to be able to hold itself up even if it's fine, and there are some indications that its lower segments are rotting, just like on the other branches, and the rot is just slower in this particular case.

There are indications that the Aloe variegata with root rot might have at least a small root system in place now. It doesn't come out of the soil if I pull on it gently, at least. Since I've had pretty crappy luck with Aloes w/r/t scale,¹ I may decide to throw it out anyway -- and I probably ought to² -- but the decision is still up in the air for the moment.

It's certainly possible that the potting soil for the Beaucarnea recurvata held water too well; I think I probably mixed in some "aquatic soil" / bits of fired clay when I up-potted it, but I don't remember for sure, and obviously the plant isn't around to ask anymore. I also have a hazy memory of it being in a spot where water was draining directly into the pot from overhead when I first put it outside, but I moved it out of the way once I noticed, and it grew fine for two or three months afterward. Doesn't mean that wasn't still the problem, but cause and effect are difficult to disentangle in cases like this.

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¹ And although I had forgotten about it, my records tell me that I threw out an A. variegata in October 2013 because of scale, so I know the species isn't immune.
² I've toyed with the idea of throwing out all the plants, infested or not, that come from genera that the scale seem to like: Agave, Aloe, Haworthia, Gasterworthia, whatever Yuccas I can bear to part with. Haven't done it yet. Maybe won't. I mean, the most obvious solution here is to throw a bunch of plants out, and if I'm doing that, then the plants I should throw out should be the ones I expect to make me unhappy later. But it's hard to punish plants for crimes they haven't committed yet.
An alternate plan is/was to throw out every plant that is not currently delightful: all the plants I've been hanging onto in the hopes that they'd turn themselves around and look nice again, all the plants that I know will eventually look shitty in the future because that's just how that plant's habit is or whatever, all the plants where I've ever thought to myself, oh, I should probably just throw that one out. Same problem with that plan, though.

Pretty picture: Miltoniopsis Echo Bay 'Midnight Tears'

It seems likely that the repeat orchids (previously: 2012, 2013) are the same specimens, being grown by the same people, coming back to the show year after year, but I've never asked.

You would think I could just compare the photos from year to year. Does it look like the same plant? Is it the same name tag? Well, then it's probably the same plant. The displays differ from year to year, though, and it's not always possible to get a whole-plant photo to compare. Like, this year, it was pretty difficult to get photos of entire plants without incorporating neighboring foliage and blooms (and ribbons, and name tags, etc.) in the shot as well, so crammed together were many of the displays. And I don't usually keep the pictures of the name tags once they've served their purpose, so I can't look at those either. So I don't know.

I like to imagine they're the same plants coming back year after year, though. Sort of a hey, good to see you, how've you been, mind if I get your picture? kind of thing. Or at least that's how it feels from my end.¹

Miltoniopsis Echo Bay 'Midnight Tears' = Miltoniopsis Woodlands x Miltoniopsis Rose Bay (Ref.)

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¹ I imagine the orchids think something along the lines of Oh, great, *this* asshole again.

Pretty picture: Miltoniopsis Hajime Ono

Not much to say, and little time or energy with which to say it, so:

This is a nice enough flower and plant, but I'm getting a little sick of only ever seeing red, dark red, or pinkish-red Miltoniopsis. It's not that it's not a nice color, it's just that I know there are other colors out there, and I wish I could see them occasionally.

Miltoniopsis Hajime Ono = Miltoniopsis Martin Orenstein x Miltoniopsis Pearl Ono (Ref.)

Pretty pictures: Miltoniopsis (Dearest x Butterfly Primrose)

I'm assuming that the reason for the two sets of flowers being different colors is that they change over time, like so many other kinds of flowers do. (The lighter-colored ones do seem a little more beaten-up than the darker blooms.)

Another explanation is that the darker ones are just in shadow, or that my camera is making up colors again, as it often does when photographic subjects are at the extreme red or violet ends of the spectrum. Either way.

Miltoniopsis blooms are nice, but the ones at the orchid show always seem to be basically the same flower -- red or magenta, with varying degrees of spots and stripes near the lip -- with one yellow exception (Miltoniopsis Andrea West).

More typical: Keiko Komoda (from the 2010 show), Morris Chestnut (2010), Arnold Linsman (2011), Lennart Karl Gottling (2012), Echo Bay 'Midnight Tears' (2013, Echo Bay (2013). Surprisingly, most of the ones that come up in an image search are white, which I think I like better than the red / magenta? Not sure.

Pretty picture: Miltoniopsis Echo Bay

Previously.

Miltoniopsis Echo Bay = Miltoniopsis Woodlands x Miltoniopsis Rose Bay

Pretty pictures: Miltoniopsis Echo Bay 'Midnight Tears'

Pretty picture: Miltoniopsis Lennart Karl Gottling

The tag said "Miltoniopsis Lenart Karl Gotting." Google finds "about 19,700 results" for Lenart/Gotting, "about 19,500 results" for Lennart/Gotting, and only 996 for Lennart/Gottling, but it suggests the Lennart/Gottling version when you search for the others, and The International Orchid Register says the last one is the correct spelling. Which means we have another error to log on the Big Board of Orchid Show Name Errors:

wrong tags: 7
incomplete tags: 1
missing tags: 9

I realize that most of you probably do not care even slightly about these things, and that you probably make tsk-tsk noises with your tongue, roll your eyes, or make jerking-off motions with your hands whenever I do this, with the specific response depending on your age and gender. And I'm sorry about that. If you object strongly enough to want to do something, start by contacting your local orchid society. Ask them if you can give them a brief presentation titled Why Proofreading Your Show ID Tags Is Important 'Cause Seriously, It's Like Six Words Max, And How Can You Be So Busy That Proofing Six Words Is Some Kind Of Major Imposition, Goddamnit, You Assholes.¹

Miltoniopsis Lennart Karl Gottling is a cross of Mltnps.² Timberline and Mltnps. Pearl Ono.

Oh, and it's pretty:


In other news, we have a Scalepocalypse 2012 update:

Aspidistra elatior (16 Oct 2012, basement) -- neemed.
Asplundia 'Jungle Drum' (16 Oct 2012, basement) -- neemed.

The scale on the Aspidistra was different than the ones I'd been seeing previously (small and black, instead of large and brown), which could mean that it's something other than scale,³ or it may mean that there's another scale infestation on top of the three I was aware of already.

There's some good news, in that I think the Philodendron scale was discovered quickly enough, and treated aggressively enough, that it's probably over. I also haven't found new cases of scale in the plant room for quite a while, though I'm hesitant to say that that one is definitely over. They could just be regrouping.

Tomorrow: a big list post, which is sort of by request of Kenneth Moore, in the comments from this post.

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¹ (I'm waiting to hear back from the Illowa Orchid people, but I'm optimistic that they're going to want to hear what I have to say.)^a
a (I have not actually contacted the Illowa Orchid Society about this, nor will I.)
² Some websites say the proper orchid abbreviation for Miltoniopsis is Mps, not Mltnps., but those people are wrong. I think. Which brings me to my second orchid-related lecture series, No You Don't Get To Invent Your Own List Of Abbreviations All Willy-Nilly Just Because You're Too Lazy To Look Things Up.
³ Like maybe mechanical damage? I've been fooled into thinking that I saw scale on Euphorbias and Ficus benjamina before, when it was really only dried sap from minor wounds. Unlikely, but it'd make me happy if this were what was going on.

Pretty picture: Miltoniopsis Andrea West

tag: Milt. Andrea West

Pretty picture: Miltoniopsis Arnold Linsman

The formal announcement of the Rumble winner goes up this afternoon (not that we don't all already know who won, but, you know, this makes it official, and I get to make a speech or something), so I've been working on a couple posts related to that. Plus some stuff going on here at the house for the last few days: I consider myself lucky to be keeping up with the plants, never mind the blog. Therefore, an orchid, even though we just had an orchid. It's a prettier one than the last one, at least:





When I googled the name, I got a hit for a video, which is unusual. This is not quite the same plant, but it's similar. (The video is for Miltoniopsis Arnold Linsman 'Hot & Spicy;' I didn't get a clone name for the plant in my pictures, and in fact all of the photos for Mltnps. Arnold Linsman I found through Google look like the flowers in the video, not the ones in my photos. It wouldn't be surprising if the plant were misidentified at the show -- indeed, it'd be more surprising if they had the right name on it -- but I only have the name I have, and am not enough of an expert on orchids to provide a better ID, so.)

Pretty picture: Miltoniopsis Morris Chestnut

Miltoniopsis come from Costa Rica, Panama, Peru, Columbia and Ecuador. There's a fair amount of agreement that they're not particularly easy orchids to grow, since they require high humidity (one site said minimum of 55-65% humidity), and the watering appears to be difficult to get right. The flowers are pretty, obviously. I like this one better than the previous Miltoniopsis, but they're all nice, really. Supposedly the flowers have a rose-like fragrance, though it was basically impossible to check fragrances at the orchid show last March -- too hard to get close to the plants, the air was swirling all over the place, there were lots of other people there, quite a few of whom had their own fragrances -- so I can't actually confirm this.

There is no chance I will ever own one of these, though I think they are pretty, because one is never ever supposed to let these dry out. Every plant I own will, sooner or later, get completely dry. I mean, I try to keep them all happy, but I do miss waterings sometimes. This is just a fact, and I accept it. I may be seeing them more often in the stores, though: my ex-job had a couple around not too long ago, and I'd never seen them there previously. Granted, I think that's the only place I've seen them for sale in a regular everyday retail kind of setting (there were vendors at Wallace's selling them, when we visited), but if they were cheap enough and available enough for us to get them, then they have to be cheap enough and available enough that other places could get them too. I'll have to try to check on this rose-like fragrance thing, next time I see one.

Pretty picture: Miltoniopsis Keiko Komoda

Another orchid picture from the show in Bettendorf last Saturday. Before sitting down to write this post, I'd thought that Miltoniopsis was a multigeneric hybrid (a hybrid from two or more genera of plant, as opposed to the more typical hybrids from multiple species within a genus) of some kind, maybe Miltonia crossed with Phalaenopsis or something, but it turns out that no, Miltoniopsis is in fact its own genus of six species (wikiposedly), from Central America and the northernmost parts of South America. They're always quite pretty in the pictures (and not bad in real life either, as far as it goes), though one doesn't see them for sale very often.


These are the orchids called "pansy orchids," for their resemblance to pansies (Viola cvv.). It's not a perfect similarity, but I can see where they get the name.