Back to My First Love - Orchids

It has always been my first and foremost love, Orchids. But that doesn't mean i dont appreciate other ornamental plants; be it flowers, foliage, arrangements, bonsais, and others. Years ago i have some collections, even got a few from far provinces via domestic airlines. However,  my personal conditions and proximity to our garden did not allow me to maintain their good biological and aesthetic standing. I eventually resorted to having taught my sister to take care of them. She did a good job, as for several years they reached the peak of splendor, blooming profusely and looking great. Passers-by can't help but stay for sometime and appreciate them.  My sister even tells me that the healthy roots also look so beautiful themselves. We came close to almost selling some of them. After a few years and a few changes of the decayed driftwoods or tree trunks they clung on, getting these trunks becomes difficult, my sister also had to move house, and it became already very difficult to maintain the orchids in their original splendor. Transplanting them to renew vigor already became a big task , so it's a foregone endeavor. They also became old and eventually one-by-one started to get sick and die. Except for a few really resistant to neglect and long dry seasons, most of them are gone now.

With that story, now i have to go to orchid shows and plant exhibits to look and appreciate them. A lot of hybrids are very beautiful, but parent species are still maintaining their being at the hall of fame! Endemics or botanicals are also attracting attention of breeders and collectors.  I am more fascinated with Vanda species, and if I will have orchids again, i will still prefer them over the Catleya, Phalaenopsis, Rhenanthera, Oncidium, Bulbophylum, Paphiopedilum, Cymbidium, and others.

Vanda sanderiana, which is the ancestor of most Vanda hybrids today (sorry for not a very good resolution) is endemic to the Philippines

profuse flowers of V.sanderiana
 

Offsprings today, from the arduos tasks of breeders and collectors. Take for example the center bottom orange dotted flowers. It shows it passed several generations, and has  already traversed through several genus and species (e.g. intrageneric and intraspecific)

V. coerulea, V. sanderiana and V. rothschildiana gave way to the many dark bluish and violet colors now available.

Judging orchids follow a certain strict rules and standards, and properly implemented by professional orchid societies. Breeders consider these standards in choosing the parents they will be working on, as to which parent will provide a certain hue, and which parent will provide the best form. A good judgement will also tell which is the better mother or the better father. This entails a lot of understanding on which characteristics are easier transmitted via the pollen or via the egg. Breeding takes a lot of time, and choosing the best characters takes more, one best character even takes a lifetime. The best part of breeding orchids is that every offspring, notwithstanding getting not the characters you are intending to get, will still be appreciated by many, and will still be beautiful. If the breeder doesn't like the offspring, many enthusiasts will still do! I also know how to breed orchids and propagate them in tissue culture bottles, but i don't do it. Patience and waiting are not included in my most favored virtues. LOL.

Now, which colors do you prefer? For myself,  I am more leaning on the last colors - the blues, they seem to be so exotic and endearing for me. A violet or a blue Vanda, if given to me as a gift will be very much treasured as if i received a pair of pearl earings!

These photos (except the 2nd) are from the Philippine Orchid Society Show in Quezon Memorial Circle, Quezon City, Philippines, on Feb 24 to Mar 7, 2011.