Coelogyne fimbriata currently has the most flowers on it ever. Usually they appear one at a time but not this year. I bought it a couple of years ago at the TOS Auction, I think. It had formed a mat, so about a year ago I transplanted it to a ponga pot and used some fishing line to pull the mat edges towards the ponga.

I keep the pot in a tray so that moisture is continually wicked up to where the roots are. It’s sprayed over once a day, and fed once a week. Cool growing outside all year, in bright shade.

Cochlanthes aromatica currently has two flowers open and another unopened spike (last year it only had the one flower). As the name suggests it’s very sweet smelling, a bit like sherbet-dip! I grow it cool and outside here in Bellevue (central Tauranga). It’s usually bright shade, mild and watered daily. Purchased a year and a half ago from Leroy Orchids.

Aspasia lunata x Miltonia Connie Warne has done well this year with 9 flower spikes. It’s cool growing, and didn’t look its best over the long summer, but has certainly perked up since we’ve been getting cooler nights. I would have purchased this plant from either the Tauranga show (our sales stand) or one of our Auctions. I’ve had this plant about 2 years and have divided it once already and donated the division to this year’s auction.

Oncidium sotoanum (previously ornithorhynchum) never fails, smells great and has sprays from 13 flower spikes. This also looked a little worse for wear over the summer but loves the extra moisture and cooler nights it gets now. I grow this outside hung about 6ft off the ground, 50% shade cloth and out in the wind, and rain. This was a purchase from Tuckers 4-5 years ago, but in the past 2 years I’ve only just started to realise how to grow it! 

At present I’m transitioning my plants to their winter quarters (greenhouse). Anything that needs a dry winter rest or is intermediate or warm growing is now in the greenhouse. Remaining plants outside are the cool growers. I’ve been in Bellevue for the last three years and temperatures during winter rarely go below 5 degrees. A few nights a year, it’s about 3 degrees just before dawn. On those mornings the wetlands surrounding Bellevue (Carmichael Reserve and Carlton Reserve) all get frosts. But, then the sun is up and temperatures rise rapidly.