I have been pleasantly surprised with the flowering of some of my plants this year, and some of the growth put on in the last two. My Papilionanthe Amy literally went from a plant of about 40 cm long in October 2016 to just over 2 m tall today, having firmly cemented itself to a wooden pillar holding up the pergola. It flowered for the first time too, but beyond the height of the roof of the pergola which made it really interesting to photograph. I think the neighbours think I am crazy.
Papilionanthe Amy is a primary hybrid between
P. hookeriana (see link
here) and
P. tricuspidata, (see link
here) originally made in 1940. It has quite unusual flowers.
 |
| Papilionanthe Amy |
Other plants in flower include Myrmecophila tibicinis, and Cymbidium aloifolium. I was hoping I might get some Coelogyne parishii blooms this year, but all I got was foliage. A note on M. tibicinis - it has a very unique fragrance, almost a spicy mixed with a sweet smell which it seems to be able to switch on very rapidly indeed immediately after watering in the morning.
 |
| Myrmecophila tibicinis |
 |
| Cymbidium aloifolium |
 |
| Cymbidium aloifolium close-up of flower |
