oncidium Twinkle "Red Fantasy" and Oncidium Gold Dust

[Laura81]

Here are my newest purchases, Oncidium Twinkle "Red Fantasy" and Oncidium Gold Dust, all the way from Hawaii! Gold Dust (on the right) appears to be further along in spiking. I'm wondering when they'll come into bloom. Anyone else own these same hybrids? When do they bloom for you? I've read that Red Fantasy tends to bloom in January, but I don't know about Gold Dust.

[navyderek]

Nice! The Onc. Twinkle's seem to do very well up here in Dayton, the are floriferous and usually have a strong scent of vanilla. Don't know much about the Gold Dust. By the way, its cool to have somebody else from Dayton on here, especially one with my birth year! ;-)

[Laura81]

Yeah! If you ever need an orchid-sitter, let me know!

[Coconutorchid]

Hi Laura,

Those are some really great orchids you have there! How often have they been blooming for you? Are they both fragrant I have the Sharry baby and it's pretty amazing!

Does the twinkle stay a pretty small size? I read that it is supposed to be a miniature Oncidium.

Great Buys,
Tommy

[Laura81]

Yes, they are both fragrant. These last bloomed around December, and right now I have one spike growing on the Onc. Twinkle.
They are definitely smaller than Sharry Baby. I would say the Twinkle is about 7-8 inches tall, and the Gold Dust maybe 12" tall.

[Coconutorchid]

O.K. They sound perfect. I might have to buy them along with some others. Haha. I have read that the Oncidium twinkle smells a bit like coconuts when in bloom? Has this been true for you?

[Laura81]

I would describe it as a sweet vanilla scent. They tend to only have a scent in the morning, it sort of goes away through the day. I think this is true for a lot of Oncidiums, and probably other orchids as well.

Photo of them in bloom

[cumulo]

When an orchid is fragrant depends on when the pollinators that locate the orchid by fragrance are naturally available. In the case of flowers that are pollinated by hummingbirds, you are much less likely to find a fragrance, and much more likely to find some reds, oranges, and some yellows.
For those species that are pollinated in the morning, the orchid is more likely to conserve its fragrance production for the morning; conversely, for those pollinated by night moths, you'll find more fragrance at night. The osmophores of Stanhopeas produce much fragrance at such hours as their bees might be around, but must save the plant's energy, producing much less at other hours. Some of us who favor growing these are thankful that certain species have a short period of the day when they are overloading the environment with their "fragrance." Some of you who grow certain Bulbophyllum species may be thankful that B. echinolobium is not fragrant 24/7, but the flies that pollinate it do just fine in the hours that it is heavily producing.
Hybrids of the Cattleyas that were formerly called Sophronitis with fragrant Cattleyas may have no fragrance in many cases; most that I've seen are dominated in that part of the flower by their hummingbird-pollinated parent, the Sophronitis. Whole lines of mini-Cattleyas have no fragrance because of their non-fragrant ancestor.
I can't smell every aromatic chemical produced by various orchids, of course, but I've not noticed any fragrance in those that are self-pollinating.
I wouldn't generalize on when in the day hybrid orchids might be fragrant without knowing what were the parent plants, and even then, having the plant is best for describing the timing.