Cypripediums 2016

[Steve Garvie]

Cypripedium cordigerum

[Alex]

Hi Steve,

Thanks for this. I scrutinize the Schreiner lists closely, but I'm sure I never saw a montanum, I would have jumped on it if I had! It must have been available in very small numbers only, I know he has a few things that are. Do you do anything unusual for its culture? It has a reputation for being extremely difficult....

I don't have a rebunense, but last year was extremely tempted by the beautiful plants being offered by this Japanese nursery; they have lots of very tempting things including a really nice (at least in the photos!) yellow rebunense, although it's not available at the moment:

http://www.yuzawa-engei.net/07Overseas/index.html

Alex

[Alex]

As an addendum, I must say I have found that, while the Schreiner plants arrive inn excellent condition, they have a huge tendency to go backwards in the first year in a way that others (Perner etc.) don't. This is true with both Pleiones and Cyps for me. In subsequent years, they then improve again. Have you noticed this? I think it is due to the fact that they receive completely optimized conditions and nutrition in the de Jong greenhouse, then naturally suffer for a while when this is withdrawn! Eventually, they acclimatize to the new conditions of course.

Alex

[Steve Garvie]

Cypripedium flavum -I got this plant about 18 years ago. It was planted in a very free-draining pumice mix in a shaded area and did well initially. For a number of years I lost interest in my plants. The garden cyps were ravished by slugs and overgrown by Ground-elder. Almost all died and this poor plant barely survived. More recently with judicious weeding, gentle feeding and slug protection it now has two flowering stems and stands over 80cm tall -last summer it was a victim of strong winds!

[Steve Garvie]

Cypripedium farreri -Second year of flowering.


I bought four de-flasked farreri seedlings from Albiflora a couple of years ago. They were tiny and delicate on arrival but now two years later are growing on strongly.

[Steve Garvie]

Cypripedium lichiangense -A macro image of the flower which is apparently pollinated by Flat-footed Flies (which feed on fungi such as Cladosporium). The flower is said to resemble fungus-infected foliage which draws in these flies. The ironic reality is that in cultivation these plants often succumb to fungal infection.

[Steve Garvie]

Cypripedium micranthum -Surprisingly straight-forward to grow if presented with frequent saucers of milk and fed Whiskas de-luxe cat food. It has been de-wormed and treated twice for fur-balls.


A somewhat underwhelming wee plant, that nevertheless has some charm when viewed up close.

[ichristie]

The cat's got the cream there Steve just fantastic, cheers.

[Alex]

Awesome micranthum - I've been looking for that for a while - may I ask (once again) where you got it? Schreiner?

Here are a few Cyps flowering in my greenhouse at the moment: C. farreri (from Holger), C. lichiangense and C. bardolphianum (yellow form).

Alex

[Steve Garvie]

Very nice looking Cyps Alex!!!

My micranthum was bought through an intermediary as I do not speak/read German. I believe the initial source was here: http://www.gartenorchideen-shop.de/Orchideen/Cypripedium-Frauenschuh/

[Alex]

Thanks, Steve. Wow, what a list they have! I'll certainly be making enquiries.

Alex

[Steve Garvie]

Cypripedium aff. tibeticum -Could this be yunnanense? It has a smallish dark flower on a fairly long scape with the flower relatively upright rather than nodding.



Cypripedium hotei-atsumorianum -My favourite Cypripedium.

[Maren]

Hi Steve,

your Cypripedium hotei-atsumorianum is a stunner. Where did you get it from? I'd love one or two, just in case.

Regarding Schreiner plants, I agree, they arrive in superb condition and size and then they spend a year sulking or worse. A couple of years ago a friend alerted me to a sale of Anthura cypripediums at a local garden centre. They went for £4 a piece, marked down from £18 each. So I stocked up thinking that this was a really good deal.

Upon return to my nursery, I potted them up immediately. The pots were far too small and when I took the plants out of the pots, there was hardly any compost because the pots were just full of roots. The sad outcome is that none survived, while all my other plants from Frosch / Weinert are doing rather well.

I tried to tackle Camiel de Jong about this when he came to London last to give talk about the work at Anthura, but I didn't get very far. Basically, all one has to do is replicate the conditions pertaining at Anthura (which are not documented in any detail eg. temperature, feeding, water etc.) and then everything should be fine. Sigh!

[sjusovare]

The cyps I got from Garden Orchids/ Anthura survived so far, but after 2 years I am yet to see them flower again, which is more than I expected when I got them considering the roots were going outside the pots and that most of those were rotten (but then I would suspect the garden center to be the cause of the rot rather than Anthura)

[Steve Garvie]

Hi Steve,

your Cypripedium hotei-atsumorianum is a stunner. Where did you get it from? I'd love one or two, just in case.

Thanks Maren.
The hotei-atsumorianum came from Christian Schreiner.

I have a number of Cyps of various species that I have bought from Christian. The vast majority have settled in and grow without any problems. In my personal experience plants from this source have without exception been consistently robust and healthy-looking. They are clearly grown in optimal conditions to achieve this level of vitality. Of the few that fail to thrive I find that, in  retrospect there are issues with my culture of them that have led to their setback. This may be due to fairly subtle changes -for instance last year I ran out of a coarse gravel that I use for top-dressing and instead I used a finer silicaceous grit (normally used within soil mixes); the new grit was too hydrophilic holding too much moisture around the collar of the plants creating collar rot (I am always heavy-handed and in a hurry when watering).

 I accept that when a plant grown in optimal conditions is then grown in a more challenging environment losses might occur but surely that is not the fault of the original grower.