This is adorable. The flowers remind me of little candies.

Saw this little beauty at the show, but it only had about a 1/4 of the blooms

That is a cutie! Until I saw the last picture, I thought a species of portulaca.

Now they are all open, looks Xmassy.

Nick

Wow, those colors really pop!

Very cool! Never saw this one. Do you show these plants?

Jane

Only at a meeting. did not bloom in time for a show. Do you want a piece?

Nick

Nick, I would love to try it but you said you grow it cool! I'm in Florida. I don't have anyway to keep it cool. Do you think it could take the heat and humidity?

Jane

It will grow intermediate but likes a lot of water. I'll send you a piece, try it.

Nick

I'd hate to lose it but will give it a shot. Very unusual.

Thank you Nick, as usual you are so generous.

Hugs,

Jane

Well worth a try! Over the years I've seen a few at shows or at orchid society meetings, always grown as per Nick's plant in a shallow tray.

A small division is on it's way.

Nick

This plant is the perfect example of what makes a successful (genius) grower. I have been ad it for 20 years. Most of the plants in my greenhouse are fairly large, robustly growing specimens. That leads people to conclude that I'm a brilliant orchid grower.

Actually, I've been throwing plants against the wall for 20 years, the ones that like my conditions thrive and stick, the rest go to orchid heaven. I remove all traces of them as I don't need to be reminded of my failures. The casual visitor sees only the successes and has no idea how many cubic feet, make that cu yards of dead plants have gone into the trash.

Nick

Thanks Nick! Your failures help me validate mine! I keep the tags as reminders. Like dog tags...

Hi Nick. I normally start heating my warm loving orchids in November. For the first time it was not needed until mid January. There is one spike just starting to show and it might not make it due to temperature. At least there is a reason why not. And these extreme weather conditions are not likely to repeat.

However I have speciousum curvicaule with 8 spikes. Maybe curvicaule likes warmer weather more than hillii.

curvicaule below...I hope it does not blast...

Nick, thank you. I got the lovely division and potted it in a small pot with sphag. So petty.

Can I ask how you grow it? What are you using for the medium? It looks succulent but you mention it like lots of water. So, I planted it in pure, damp sphag. It was 88F degrees today. I worry about the heat here. Are you growing this in high light?

Thank you so much,

Jane

The big one is in small bark, I also have a couple of mounted ones using moss. Seems to make no difference. Grow it in the warmest spot of the cool greenhouse, there is a paradox for you. Water every 2 days. Their roots are quite shallow and fine. Good luck

Nick

Thanks, Nick. No cool greenhouse here. When I win the lottery!

What about light?

I'll give it my best try. Thanks so much. I'll post some photos and if you see anything you like, let me know.

Thanks again,

Jane

Until it's established I'd keep it shady and as cool as possible. Air conditioned house?

Nick

Yes, AC but not a lot of light. I could set up a light unit. No problem.

Jane