Flowers 2018

Leo in N E Illinois

The Professor
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on the IL-WI border, a mile from ''da Lake''
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@Anthony
Hi, there are so many orchid hybrids, that it is difficult to nail it down to an exact name, but I can get you go the Genus of the likely parents.
This is a hybrid dominated by Cattleya parentage, horticulture would be as for Cattleya. The orange color most likely comes from Cattleya aurantiaca. The orange species, is most likely 3 or 4 generations back, the flower is too shapely and large for C. aurantiaca to be a recent progenitor. Likely several other Cattleya species are involved. All have similar horticulture. Laelia is very closely related to Cattleya, and could have been included in the ancestry.

The form of the lip suggests that one of the Brassavola species is an ancestor, likely a grandparent, 2 generations back. The somewhat narrow for Cattleya, heavy, slightly folded leaves is also from the Brassavola grandparent. The Brassavola species used was most likely B. nodosa, as it has the largest flower of the genus, and is common in collections, so is available. Brassavola hybrids will tolerate more sun than Cattleya - if there is good air movement. Sun + still air is bad for most orchids, a light breeze keeps leaves cool. Brassavola species in particular can be found on most of the larger islands in the Caribbean, and are native to Central and South America, often in lowland forest edge settings. Obviously the hybrid likes your island.

The hybrid genus name is Brassocattleya if there is a little Laelia in the background, it would be Brassolaeliocattleya.

Nice flower, very cheerful orange. I like it.
 

my nellie

Masterpiece
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Athens, Greece
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@Anthony
Thank you very much for those very beautiful photos.
Like @CamdenJim I haven't seen this plant Petrea until you showed to us.
Mauve is my favorite colour!
 

AlainK

Imperial Masterpiece
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Iris reticulata (10-15 cm high). Two weeks earlier than in the previous years:

iris-r_180203a.jpg

Abeliophyllum, a shrub known here as "white Forsythia". I've never seen one in a garden but I thought that maybe one day, I could try making a bonsai out of it. Won't be easy though. Is it common in other countries, has anyone tried it as bonsai?...

It flowers even earlier than Forsythia:

abeliophyllum_180203a.jpg

abeliophyllum_180203b.jpg
 
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