Cirrhopetalum Elizabeth Ann Buckleberry (in bloom)

[Bud]

Finally ! I have one of my bulbos in bloom...I thought none of them will bloom this season.
PRESENTING: Cirrhopetalum Elizabeth Ann Buckleberry

This primary hybrid between Cirrhopetalum longissimum and Cirrhopetalum rothschildianum was given the highest award, an FCC, by the American Orchid Society. An amazing flower! This is four years old but on its first year it barely wanted to grow; and when it got used to its environment and watering regimen it grew bulbs and there is no stopping it: it is getting out of the basket now. Blooms well in a redwood basket with sphagnum moss hanging on the bay window in winters but has been growing well outdoors too on the fire escape in the summers. Temperature tolerant. Likes to be damp but not soaking wet and I fertilize it with seaweed mix once a week. It might be that the growths inside the basket were just not mature enough to bloom yet, and one mature growth just happened to grow outside of it, on the perimeter. I don't think that being inside or outside the basket has much of a bearing on whether a particular growth will bloom, unless conditions inside the basket are being kept too wet because of the sphagnum. I am highly intrigued by the flower formation, its shape and texture…nature engineered the design in such a way that it traps and attracts insects…