Miltonia Robsan's Blush

[MrHappyRotter]

Miltonia Robsan's Blush (Miltonia Jim Mackinney x Miltonia spectabilis)

This is a delightful small growing Miltonia hybrid I bought from Lenette Greenhouses, perhaps 15 years ago before they went out of business. According to Bluenanta, the hybrid is 59.38% Milt. spectabilis, 25.0% Milt. regnellii, 12.5% Milt. clowesii, and 3.13% Milt. flavescens.

Miltonias are warm growing Brazillian orchids, not to be confused with the cooler growing highland genus Miltoniopsis. I mostly grow this hybrid indoors, though I kept one of the divisions outdoors last year and it handled the hot Southeast US summer weather just fine. It blooms reliably each year in the same amount of light I grow my Paphs and Phrags which is what I'd call bright shade. They need to stay moist year round or they are susceptible to "accordion leaves". Most years I do okay, though I will admit that this past year was rough and so many of the leaves are pleated. As you can see though, it doesn't affect blooming! I grow these a lot like I grow my Phrags. They grow with just a bit of water in the saucer at all times and I do my best to keep the plant from drying out. I use mostly rain water and I feed lightly with each watering, taking care to flush with pure water at least once a month to get rid of excess nutrients and minerals.

These bloom throughout the year. This year the big blooming season appears to be in the spring, but it has bloomed in the past in pretty much every season. The flowers aren't the biggest compared to other Miltonias, but the blush color of the petals and lovely deep lavender lip are quite attractive. Truth be told, the main reason I like this plant and flowers is for the terrific fragrance. It's strongest in bright light. It's a sweet floral scent with a notable similarity to cinnamon and clove. Very, very nice!

[wisdomseeker]

Gorgeous! Nice description (good information) accompanying your photos.

[Dollythehun]

Very pretty, delicate, and petite.

[MrHappyRotter]

Originally Posted by wisdomseeker

Gorgeous! Nice description (good information) accompanying your photos.

Thanks! I like to provide as much info as I can for folks who might happen upon this thread at some point in the future.

---------- Post added at 06:16 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:15 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Dollythehun

Very pretty, delicate, and petite.

I agree. It's a lovely hybrid and highly recommended, especially for folks who might be new to the genus Miltonia.

[DeaC]

Lovely. As these are ramblers,what would be your plan when repotting becomes necessary?

[MrHappyRotter]

Originally Posted by DeaC

Lovely. As these are ramblers,what would be your plan when repotting becomes necessary?

There are lots of options. I typically move the plant to a wider pot, sticking with shallow bulb pans. Once it gets too large, I divide it and start over.

Last year I had an even larger cluster than this one, probably twice the size. When it was time to bring plants in for the fall/winter, I divided it up into a number of small clumps and placed those into individual pots.

In the past I've used a slatted wood basket for this, but come repotting time, it's a pain to pry the plant off since the roots adhere to the wood and have to be broken off. Because it grows so quickly and spreads so fast, and because I only have so much space for growing, in more recent years I've opted to use plastic pots. They help reduce trauma to the plant when repotted, since the roots don't stick to the plastic quite they way they do to a mount or to those wood baskets.

[DeaC]

Originally Posted by MrHappyRotter

There are lots of options. I typically move the plant to a wider pot, sticking with shallow bulb pans. Once it gets too large, I divide it and start over.

Last year I had an even larger cluster than this one, probably twice the size. When it was time to bring plants in for the fall/winter, I divided it up into a number of small clumps and placed those into individual pots.

In the past I've used a slatted wood basket for this, but come repotting time, it's a pain to pry the plant off since the roots adhere to the wood and have to be broken off. Because it grows so quickly and spreads so fast, and because I only have so much space for growing, in more recent years I've opted to use plastic pots. They help reduce trauma to the plant when repotted, since the roots don't stick to the plastic quite they way they do to a mount or to those wood baskets.

TY. I had a spectabulis var. moreliana sev. yrs ago. The purple blooms had a licorice fragrance and foliage was more yellow which I read was normal. My culture was not the best but I'll try again and see where it takes me!

[Luv2lopeqhs]

Oh How Lovely!!! I was really excited to see this post....as I just purchased a Miltonia Robsan's Blush from a local grower this past weekend. I didn't know exactly what the flower looked like she said it was a pink/light lilac color and I really have liked a lot of the miltona's and miltassia's I've seen so
I bought it. Now I Can't wait to flower mine out
Kathy

[MrHappyRotter]

Originally Posted by Luv2lopeqhs

Oh How Lovely!!! I was really excited to see this post....as I just purchased a Miltonia Robsan's Blush from a local grower this past weekend. I didn't know exactly what the flower looked like she said it was a pink/light lilac color and I really have liked a lot of the miltona's and miltassia's I've seen so
I bought it. Now I Can't wait to flower mine out
Kathy

What a coincidence, huh?

I've never seen this hybrid for sale other than all those years ago when I bought it, but I'm glad to hear other people still have it and are still selling it.

I've got some small divisions I'm working with now. The problem is, I let the other clump get too big and go too long before dividing it and repotting. Then it got to the point where I had to do it, but it was the wrong time of year (mid-winter) so they struggled a bit.

[Luv2lopeqhs]

Yes....the grower I bought it from is retiring...she’s a long time orchid grower here in Florida. I’m positive they were from one of her larger specimen plants as she is in the process of condensing/consilidating down for retirement so there were maybe 3-4 divisions left when I grabbed this up. I couldn’t even find pics of the cross on the web when I googled it so was truly excited to see yours made me even happier I picked it up!!
Thank you for sharing!!
Kathy