Meanwhile, Back at the Atlanta Orchid Conservatory 6/13/2012

[mauraec]

Yes - could be a Paphinia ; I have grown and flowered P.herrera - and that had the same hanging flowers - big ones too - but about five in the head of flowers, and they were pink, not yellow . Unfortunately, not easy to grow and keep alive for more than 1 flowering in my experiences - I have tried three times - but my latest plant is a small one, maybe 2 or 3 years away from FS , and that is not doing well either.
As to Paph violascens , I never had that in my collection ; years ago ( many ! ) when there were I think only 65 undisputed species - before all the Chinese discoveries, I had the UK National Collection , and I reckoned that I had 62 of the 65. I found violascens ( at a US dealer - CITES was no problem then - but baulked at paying a few thousand dollars for a smallish plant or indeed for any plant !)

Can't say I'm surprised that Paphinias are hard to grow - you are right that this bloom was quite large - about 6-7" across, I'd say, but, as you noted, it was yellowish-white, and I've only ever seen photos of P. bougainvillea, which are a different color altogether. The conservatory in Atlanta is funny that way - they have all sorts of unusual species and a lot of very common ones, and very few in-between. I suppose the Paph. violascens could have been tagged with a cultivar name, which might explain why it looked different from those I've seen.

On another matter altogether - You've had the UK National Collection of Paphs???!!!??? I think I should probably shut up about knowing anything whatsoever about identifying or growing them. I'm beyond impressed, but then, that's not an unusual occurrence, is it? By the way, the E. fragrans is thriving, although little movement in the spiking area. When are they supposed to bloom?

[mauraec]

Thanks to everyone for the warm wishes!!! Still not 100% yet, but things are headed in the right direction....

Phillip took some of these and I took others - all with a rather unsatisfactory cellphone camera, but other people were getting annoyed with the whole tripod setup!

[mauraec]

More...







(yours truly getting in everyone's way)

[mauraec]

A few more...

These hibiscus are about 10-12" across - unbelievably stunning!

[mauraec]

And just a few more - this is all for now!

[Teena]

Oh what a wonderful tour, thanks so much Maura, glad to know you're feeling better. - martha

[catttan]

Thoroughly enjoyed the tour! Glad to see you are up and about again.

[Dorsetman]

- By the way, the E. fragrans is thriving, although little movement in the spiking area. When are they supposed to bloom?

Here is another div. of the same plant, snapped today - going over a bit I think, could have been out a few weeks.
All the laeliniae can be quite teasers , forming spathes and doing nothing , then suddenly finding buds. I can only say that when old enough and strong enough, then it just blooms.

[mauraec]

Here is another div. of the same plant, snapped today - going over a bit I think, could have been out a few weeks.
All the laeliniae can be quite teasers , forming spathes and doing nothing , then suddenly finding buds. I can only say that when old enough and strong enough, then it just blooms.

Thank you for the photo!!! Well, it is being a teaser - and must be somewhat less pleased with its conditions here than yours across the pond. Has had 2 spathes (a new term for me) with no sign of any other activity, but it IS growing and seems to be thriving. It's outside in indirect sun, so I do think it's getting enough light. I have it on the same watering schedule as my catts, but perhaps it needs more?