Saturday, January 8, 2011

The Cymbidium Sad Story

This is the profuse growth of my native Cymbidium orchids. It started as a few plants clasping a lanzones tree, which through the years have grown to this size. We can see that a hen cannot resist the temptation of using its center as a nest, maybe it looks so cozy for her to lay her eggs on.



It has been producing lots of cascading inflorescences through the years. The flowers are slightly fragrant, which open in succession in one spike. Each spike lasted for ~1 week, when other spikes begin to grow , so the whole series of flower show lasts for about 2 months.

It is a native species,  C. finlaysonianum, and you can see the elongated internodes of the spikes, reaching more than one meter in length. Another native species of the country is the reddish colored C. atropurpureum. These species, unlike the hybrids, can tolerate neglect and lengthy dry season. However, dry season last year maybe overly long that killed most of the plants.



  Above shows the newly growing spike of this plant from the remnant of the long dry season last year.


You can see the extent of drying in this photo. Most plants died, leaving only a few green at the back. Despite that,  some spikes are still produced by the survivors. The hens cannot nest on it anymore, as the eggs will be vulnerable and  will easily slide down. My mother removed this large chunk of dead remains, leaving only the few green ones.

I forgot to say, the lanzones tree also died leaving the orchid unshaded. I hope it tolerates the coming dry season, which hopefully will not be as long as last year.
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The above 2 photos, at the left shows the dead plants with a few remaining greens, and at the right with only the remaining green plants. It would probably be years before inflourescences will come out again consecutively. More vegetative growth is needed first before regaining the old clump size. No more sweet fragrance from it for the next few years. Definitely, we will miss it.

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27 comments:

  1. What a cute white hen. :) How on earth did you manage to take such a unique photo of those cascading flowers with beautiful sun rays?

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  2. Hahaha One, it was taken by Sony Digicam point and shoot, i dont know how it happened. I also got a better one with amazing rays in Ooty, India. It's in my FB whatever album.

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  3. That is a sad story. But how lucky you are to have such a beautiful specimen of an orchid in the first place! At least it's alive, right?

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  4. Andrea,

    I'm sure as nature works you'll discover new plants growing in the trees and a new cycle moves in.

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  5. I'll suggest consulting an agricultural expert for the survival of this beautiful species. The picture of flowers with sun rays is my favorite.

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  6. This is really sad story ;( But you captured beautiful moment with cute white hen. These cymbidium can grow easily, don't worry.

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  7. I hope your orchid will grow back fast, with the vitamins and minerals from heaven. Hey, I saw the rainbow colours of sunrays sending out its powerful magic. Long live your orchid. Your pictures are beautiful!

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  8. I'm always impressed with stuff that lives despite so much death surrounding it. I hope the plants recover!

    Oh, and the sun rays in the picture are called lens flare. If you would like to recreate it again, here's a list of tips: http://www.digital-photography-school.com/5-tips-for-achieving-artistic-lens-flare-how-to

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  9. I am sure your plant will recover, natives are always very tough when it comes to survival. Just as insurance, though, I'd take a pice of it and mount it on the other tree somewhere, it may even benefit from being split up a bit and the wonderful cycle will continue.

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  10. Did the Lanzones die because of drought too?

    Forget the orchid, I love that big earthen vessel (Banga?)!

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  11. Andrea, I hope your Cymbidium orchids recover -- both for your sake and for the hen's. :-) -Jean

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  12. The lanzones tree died? One of the fruits I am fond of is the lanzones.

    Ooops, sorry, the Cymbidium was your subject at length and I commented on the Lanzones which you just mentioned in passing :)

    There is still hope with your Cymbidium. It's resilient enough to survive last year's drought.

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  13. Dry seasons can be so devastating to plants, but as this is a native I'm sure it will come back. I think I'd probably take some of it and mount it elsewhere under some shade, just to be sure!

    It certainly was a wonderful ordhid when flourishing ... so I hope it makes a fantastic comeback!

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  14. LOVED the sun rays showing in your second picture! The hen reminded me of seeing a similar site in Hawaii. I never knew hens roosted in trees until I saw it in Hawaii.

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  15. I have the same comments as One. The hen is darling and the sunlight is stunning in that shot.

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  16. Hello everyone, i am very glad to entice your enthusiasm with my post. I surely deeply appreciate all your kind concerns and expert's suggestions. May i say that if you are not living with your plants, anything can happen with them. These are the plants which can thrive on neglect because i am living in the city far from where these plants are. They seem like they are living in their natural habitat, coz not getting much attention.

    Floridagirl
    Randy
    Klara ~~~yes we have many specimens of these in the locality still, so i dont worry. I actually have another one in a clump which did not suffer much, though not as prolific as this one because it is much shaded.

    Orchid de Dangao~~yes no worries. we still have them elsewhere.

    Birdy~~no worries Birdy, i am an agricultural expert, if i may say so. A PhD in Plant Physiology can assure you that. It actually is not in the expertise which matters, it is in the actual implementation of what is in the head, and most of all, i am not living near these plants. Also lack of water and manpower in the province is the culprit. haha! An 80 yr old person is supposed-to-be its owner.

    Autumn Belle~~thank you, yes i am not worried, there's a lot yet where they came from.

    Mark and Gaz~~i am almost sure you are from here esp Mark. I notice that in your profile photo and your inclination with tropical plants even in your temperate location now. Yes that banga is an heirloom. Another one broke already. Maybe you're from the region where it's made, La Union.

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  17. NotSoAngryRedhead~~thank you so much for the link, i actually know that but haven't been reading more, lazy! I promise to learn the lens flares and recreate them. No worries, orchids like cactus, are difficult to kill, most especially if they are natives in the place.

    Jean~~ yes as i wrote above, they are difficult to kill, so they will be bouncing back in no time. Thank you.

    Solitude Rising~~no worries about the Cymbidium, it is native so will be coming back soon. About the lanzones, actually 4 of them died, and they are already about to fruit. Remember my post about them earlier, we have a few trees near the house. At least more sunlight can penetrate to the ground now. But they might not survive in your area, as they need shorter dry season.

    Bernie~~i'm actually not worried as you said, they are native, they will bounce back, and if not, there's a lot where they came from.

    Linda~~ ah the hen, yes if all the nests are occupied and she already feels like the egg is already due, she will find for anything suitable even the ground if she cant resist it anymore! haha.

    Donna~~yes i intentionally looked for that shot to put here, even if it's taken long ago, to show the orchid's importance both for the hen and for us. Thanks for always coming over and commenting. I surely appreciate it.

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  18. Your photographs are lovely Andrea! I love the rays of light coming down and the hanging orchid blooms! It is too bad about the once bountiful orchid and tree. I hope you do not have a repeat this year. I am glad that some of the orchid lives on and in time it will flower again and perhaps become a nest again for a sweet hen. ;>)

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  19. Its a pity to note that the orchids didn't quite survive the onslaught of the weather.
    Hope the rainy season helps the plant to recover.

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  20. Hi Andrea, thank you for visiting my blog. You do indeed garden in a very different climate to me! Sad about your lovely native orchids, sounds as if they will be missed by the hens as well as you! Hope both host and orchid spring back in to life.

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  21. Hi Andrea
    So its called lens flare, see comments can be useful. Thanks for visiting my site. I have also not stopped laughing at your honest comments, it was fantastic. I guess I have been fooling myself. So this is the conclusion, we can write crap but if we comment on someone else's post they will get back and flatter us anyway.

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  22. Carol~~yes the orchid will be back, especially now that it's La Nina season here, maybe the dry season wont be too long this year, and hope the hens will be happy. Thanks for your visit.

    James ~~ don't worry, they will grow again like the former size, it is difficult to kill orchids.

    Plantaslicious ~~ yes our world is alien to yours, just like yours to us. I wonder why some of my travels abroad always coincide with spring so i haven't enjoyed the snow yet in natural setting.

    Alistair ~~ yes comments are always lovely, even if they are so restricted to niceties, hehe. It's wonderful to feel good isnt it! Do you know that i normally read comments also in other blogs i comment on? I also laughed at others comments, and sometimes i reply also to the replies, or uphold others comments which i fully know about. I laughed at yours too, i can see my strategy also worked with you, haha!

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  23. How lovely to have a native orchid cascading from a tree like that! Loved the picture of the hen and the sun rays...!!! So beautiful!!

    Hope your cymbidiums will still cascade down like that in a few years' time.

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  24. Thank you, Andrea, for your helpful comment on my blog about the Mermaid's Purse: I will recognise one better next time!

    Your hen looks amazingly settled in the photo, though I gather from your post that all is not quite as settled for her as it seems!

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  25. So sad to hear your plants did not make it. But I am sure those last ones will do.

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  26. oh my gosh - that hen up there is the funniest thing I've ever seen!!

    The flowers trailing down are just gorgeous.

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  27. I can totally relate to your experience with the C. finlaysonianum. It happened exactly as you described it. And from last year's El Nino season too.

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