Very cute

Great color.

Hi, Darlene. I have this one as well and it does not look very happy either. It came with one almost gone flower in March and has not really done anything over the summer. At least yours is blooming again, do you keep it more on the moist or dry side? I read it has Den. fleckeri in it and that likes a little more moisture. I`m sure Arthur can correct me if I`m wrong. I also noticed it likes less sun than my other Aussie Dendros. What lighting do you give yours?

Scratched around a bit and found stuff on the university of google that says it is AM/AOS.

Den. fleckeri contributes the colour but it is back in the ancestry. It is a typical Australian Dendrobium, all the usual suspects are there kingianum, speciosum, tetragonum + fleckeri and falcorostrum.

So i think culture/climate is the problem......give the plants to OrchidNick for rest and recuperation. Sorry, couldn't resist. But it would be easier to grow in parts of California.

I guess that boils down to less watering/ more misting, which I am doing now that fall is finally here anyway.

Thanks Arthur, but I`m not jet giving up on 'Natalie'.

More MIsting??????!!!!!!!!. You jest. The ancestors come from Eastern Australia. Not many mist forests around these parts. Maybe a fog or two in the early morning in winter. It either rains heaps or nothing. Not many days with drizzle.

Average winter day Minimum 7C. might be some dew on the lawn. The sun shines. the westerly wind blows. the average maximum temp gets to about 17C The humidity near the max temp might be 30%. If you must mist, do it in the early morning.

I never mist any of mine. If it doesn't rain I might water them once a week with the hose, but only on a day that promises to be sunny

Charles grows some of these Australian Native Hybrids to perfection. Maybe he can give you some hints.

I think over the summer it needs a good deal of water. When I acquired it, it was in coarse bark. Soon I could not meet its moisture needs. So I potted it in a clay pot with sphagnum moss. That really, really helped it. Shortly after that it sent out a new growth.

Additionally, I have noticed that it does significantly better with cooler temperatures, such as highs in the low 70s. I kept it shaded during the warmer months but it is receive pretty bright light now that it is cooler outside.

Arthur, that is an interesting note about the humdity. Anything less than 50% and mine aborts spikes and flowers.

One of the ancestors Den. falcorostrum comes from places with a bit of elevation and is cool tolerant down to Zero Centigrade.

When I was talking about the low humidity it apples especially to winter when the prevailing wind is west across a dry continent. 30% humidity is not a problem at 17C ....a different animal if it is 30C with 17% humidity.

Today, the weather is summer pattern. Wind is coming in from the Pacific and the temp at noon is 24C with 53% humidity

Coarse bark is too arid, needs medium bark plus perlite or small pebbles

Watered it a lot over the summer just like all my outside plants. Than it must be the Texas heat that makes it sulk. Highs in the low 70s we might get between November and February. Keeping it inside in summer creates the low humidity problem...

Just a bit more. Summer daily average temps here 17 to 27C

Temperature extremes in my yard Low 2C High 42C only a few days a year near those . No snow ever.

The shade on the shade-house is two layers of 50% shade-cloth. One layer removed mid autumn and put back on mid spring.