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Monday, April 18, 2011

Koleksi orkid 1- Species & hybrids

This is some of my orchid collections. They are varied from the common types to the rarely seen ones.
Ini adalah sebahagian daripada koleksi orkid yang saya simpan. Ada yang biasa dan ada antaranya yang agak pelik dan jarang dilihat.


A selected Coelogyne pandurata
 Liparis lacerata


 Dendrobium chrysotoxum. A common species

Dendrobium hybrid with splash petals (lupa nama)


A hybrid. Dendrobium Chao Phraya River x Den.Bush Pansy


 Some of my Coelogyne collections


Cattleya hybrid, Lc Purple Cascade.


Some of my Cattleya collections. The plant in front is Rhyncholaelia digbyana. A species.


 Some of my mixed dendrobium species and hybrids, hanging in a row under the car shade.


 Mixed orchids Brassavola, cymbidium, catasetum and encyclia.

.
 Phalaenopsis violacea 'Malayan type'


This one is a bit odd. Trigonidium eagertonianum A species from South America.  
Rajin berbunga tanpa ada musim.

The all yellow Dendrobium farmeri. some says that this is a Burmese type. Quite rare and a bit expensive.  
Pokok ini masih kecil tetapi sudah boleh berbunga walaupun tidak banyak.


 Epicattleya Joseph Roman var. Roman Holiday


 Catasetum pileatum 'yellow'. A species.


Catasetum Memoria Lum Hon

Catasetum yang berwarna hampir gelap 100%  ini amat jarang dijumpai. Saya bernasib baik kerana dapat membelinya ketika ia baru kembang jika tidak, ada kemungkinan ia akan dijual..


Unknown cattleya hybrids


 
Chysis limminghei.  
Spesis yang jarang dilihat. Pokok ini masih kecil jadi bunga yang dikeluarkan juga sedikit.


 A mini Dendrobium hybrid


 Dendrobium hybrid


Cymbidium Golden Elf, a heat tolerant hybrid.  
Hybird ini boleh ditanam di kawasan tanah rendah dan senang berbunga, walaupun bunganya tidak sehebat hybridnya di kawasan cuaca sederhana, tetapi ia tetap cantik.


Bc. Memoria Vida Lee 'limelight'


Aganisia cyanea. Previous name is Acacallis. A species from South America.  
Pokok ini senang berbunga dan ada yang berbunga putih (alba).

More coming soon...



"Bread feeds the body indeed, but the flowers also feed the soul."
-  The Koran

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Jalan-jalan jumpa orkid : Shah Alam


Orchid is a state flower of Selangor..
Orkid adalah bunga rasmi negeri Selangor..



Spathoglottis and Arundina were mixed together in a landscape
Rimbunan orkid tanah ini memang cantik ditanam secara berkumpulan untuk hiasan lanskap kerana pengeluaran bunganya tidak bermusim.

Other view of the same spot..

another view..


Arundina graminifolia aka bamboo orchid aka Tapah weed a species that is
                                         very easy to grow, makes a nice orchid for landscaping.

Arundina close up..

 A path across the garden..
                                                teamed with orchids growing on a tree trunk..
Orkid epifit seperti phalaenopsis dan oncidium dilekatkan di batang-batang pokok..

Assorted spathoglottis hybrids and a fountain. 
Pelbagai warna orkid spathoglottis kacukan..

Phalaenopsis on a mangosteen trunk..



A signboard about the orchids on display..
Papan tanda bermaklumat untuk menambahkan ilmu..

Vanda Miss Joachim on a wooden pole..
Orkid dari jenis monopodial ini disusun di satu sudut..

Orchid information..

Peristeria elata..Panama's national flower.
Orkid spesis yang berasal dari Amerika Selatan yang sedang berbunga.

Phaius tankervilliae among other ornamentals.
Spesis orkid tanah yang juga mudah ditanam..
"In my garden there is a large place for sentiment.  
My garden of flowers is also my garden of thoughts and dreams.  
The thoughts grow as freely as the flowers, 
and the dreams are as beautiful."
-  Abram L. Urban

Monday, April 4, 2011

Orchids 'shopping' - A few tips...

       I began my collection by focusing mainly on species orchids at first, though I have a few hybrids here and there. But since I've been entering orchid shows and competitions. My collection began to expand towards both hybrids and species. I've learned a lot by joining local orchids societies. Getting to know a lot of people with the same interest, educate you more about orchids in an informal way. Because of this I began to be more selective. Obtaining selected hybrids and species are sometimes as a matter of luck and you got to have quite a persuasive power to get the orchid you wanted especially from the orchid vendors or individual who reluctant to sell their plant. Well..sometimes you succeed, sometimes you don't..no sweat..at least you've tried..

       Here is a few tips that you should remember if you want to find a good quality orchid plants.

- The flower must have a good colouration, striking, with a good contrast between light and dark.  

 Warna bunga orkid itu hendaklah terang dan mempunyai kontras yang jelas di antara warna gelap dan cerah. Bunga kelihatan 'bersih' walaupun mempunyai bintik atau garis-garis atau ton warna

- The arrangement of the flowers ( if they are in long spike) are not too crammed or too loose..and they are uniform and elegantly arranged.  

Susunan bunga jangan terlalu rapat atau terlalu renggang. Seragam dan tersusun.

- The shape of the individual flower- generally full rounded flowers are preferred ( this depend on the genera).  
Secara amnya bentuk bunga yang bulat lebih menjadi pilihan. (Ini bergantung kepada jenis orkid)

- The texture of the petals must be thick and overall look 'heavy' and solid.

Kelopak bunga seboleh-bolehnya kelihatan tebal dan bunga nampak 'berat'.

- All the flowers must be uniformly perfect with no deformity or less flower than the plants normally have.  

Semua bunga pada satu tangkai hendaklah sempurna, tidak cacat walaupun sekuntum dan mempunyai jumlah bunga yang sepatutnya ada pada jenis pokok tersebut.

- If the flowers are in long spray look for the one that open at the end or in the middle of the spray first cause they tend to last longer.( this especially good for Rhyncostylis, Liparis, Dendrochilum, Coelogyne or Eria)  

Jika kuntuman bunga di dalam satu tangkai yang panjang, cari yang bunganya kembang di bahagian tengah atau hujung terlebih dahulu kerana keseluruhan tangkai bunga akan lebih tahan lama.( Contoh: Rhyncostylis, Liparis, Dendrochilum, Coelogyne atau Eria)

- Try as you can, look for the plant that is healthy, leaves should be free of blemishes or rusty spots and streaks. Grow vigorously with the newest lead are bigger than the previous ones with a good root system.  

Cuba cari pokok yang  sihat, daun-daunnya bebas dari tompok-tompok, bintik hitam/kuning atau coklat. Tumbuh segar dengan cabang yang terbaru lebih besar dari yang sebelumnya dan mempunyai pertumbuhan akar yang sihat.

- If you buy a small plant grown from seedling or clones, this is a bit of a gamble actually cause sometimes they are not the plants that has been shown..( not that the vendors try to trick you but seedlings looks quite samey that even they got confused). And seedlings can produce a slightly different flowers than the mother plants sometimes less, sometimes even better.

Jika hendak membeli anak orkid dari biji benih atau klon, sedikit sebanyak ia bergantung kepada nasib kerana ada kalanya pokok yang ditunjukkan tidak betul. ( bukan kerana penjual orkid hendak menipu tetapi kadang-kadang mereka juga tersilap atau keliru kerana kebanyakan anak orkid kelihatan sama). Adalah lebih baik membeli pokok yang sudah berbunga kerana kita tidak tersilap kerana bila berbunga orkid itu akan sedikit berbeza daripada pokok induknya, sama ada kurang baik, sama, atau lebih cantik.

       So..basically these are a few characteristics that you should think and be familiar with, before buying or trying to identify a good plant. In order to have a good eye on selecting orchids for your collection you have to look at a lot of orchid pictures, so you can judge it by yourself..plus it could save you from frustrations later on..more tips coming soon..

Ini adalah sedikit panduan kepada mereka yang baru hendak berjinak-jinak dengan orkid. Banyak-banyakkan melihat gambar untuk melatih mata kita, membaca buku berkenaan orkid dan bertanya mereka yang lebih arif. Perkara-perkara di atas perlu kita ingat sebelum hendak membeli pokok orkid yang diidamkan supaya kita tidak kecewa kelak..Lebih banyak panduan akan saya berikan nanti..



"Gardens and flowers have a way of bringing people together, 
drawing them from their homes."
-  Clare Ansberry, The Women of Troy Hill 

Friday, April 1, 2011

My journey into the orchid world..

           When I first started collecting orchids seriously in 2000, It was all by myself. I hardly knew any hobbyist, orchid nurseries or vendors, so to get more information about orchid I've bought a book on how to grow botanical orchids since it was my first interest. During that time all I think about was orchid almost 24/7. It was crazy..I took whatever wild species of orchid that I've found. The excitement when finding wild orchids gave me some sort of feeling like I've found a living treasure.. The urge to collect more orchid made me do some ridiculous or sometimes kind a dangerous act that I wouldn't say it here.. :) Officially, orchids took over my life. It was quite an adventure in a sense of all that I've been doing are quite foolish and some, kind a extreme..anyway its part of the life experiences that I'll never forget..but what can you say once an orchid fever struck you, it would never heal..
           As days gone by I began to know more people who has the same interest. Growing orchid made me realized that there are more to them than meets the eye. Each has their own personality that I need to understand, so that they could reward me with their beautiful bloom. They are so diverse and unique that none of other plants could match.

I will be using both English and Malay language in this blog, so feel free to comment in either language..




This plant grow so big now even without much care and soon I need to find a larger container..


Dendrobium leonis ini juga hampir seusia dengan Coel. asperata yang saya jumpa di satu kawasan air terjun. 

This dendrobium was also among the earliest orchids that I've collected.


Dendrobium farmeri yang saya beli pada tahun 2001 di Pesta Bunga Pulau Pinang.

A beautiful local species that is still growing strong, though the flowers lasts for only about a week.



"A flower at my window satisfies me more than the metaphysics of books."
-  Walt Whitman