Pretty picture: Wilsonara Sheila Ann

For some reason, it seemed wrong to me that a Wilsonara could be yellow and orange like this, but it does happen. I've even posted pictures of yellow and orange Wilsonaras before, and there are plenty of them on-line. So I don't know where that feeling came from.


This second photo came out really blue when I uploaded it to the computer. I've complained before about my camera's automatic color balance being inconsistently useful, so I won't belabor it, but I wish I'd taken just a little more of the blue out before uploading.

Pretty picture: Wilsonara Lisa Devos

I haven't posted any orchid pictures in quite a while, because I just haven't been seeing anything terribly new or interesting lately. I'm not actually especially thrilled with this one either, which either means that I've become jaded already or that the orchid supplier for my ex-work is getting repetitive. Or maybe both!


Still, it's a nice picture, I guess. And actually the growers may not have had a lot of choice: with the recent weather in Florida, I understand a lot of producers lost a lot of plants. Selection is perhaps not what it used to be.

Wilsonara ("Wils.") is a man-made cross of plants from three different genus of orchids: Cochlioda ("Cda."), Odontoglossum ("Odm."), and Oncidium ("Onc."). I don't know anything about how they are to grow. As best as I could determine, the flowers don't have a scent.

The picture gets much bigger, if opened in a separate window. For those of you who are into big orchid pictures.

Pretty picture: Wilsonara Pacific Panache 'Keenan'

Wilsonara is a cross of Cochlioda, Odontoglossum, and Oncidium; I don't know much about it beyond that. These flowers were at my ex-job a few weeks ago (possibly the same visit when I got all the Phalaenopsis pictures: set 1, set 2, set 3).

This is a cool color for orchid flowers, but the size and shape don't do a lot for me. I'm still more of a fan of Beallara and Goodaleara, with the medium-sized star-shaped flowers. I'd rather have one biggish flower than a spray of tiny ones. I suppose I'd make an exception if it were an Oncidium 'Sharry Baby' or something: fragrance has priority over flower size.

Which reminds me: I still want to get a 'Sharry Baby' sometime. I should write this down.