Den. bensoniae waking up
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Many of my Dens. go dormant and leafless during the winter and produce new growth + flowers in the spring. Most are small, and I don't bother to dry them out. But Den. bensoniae is a special case. It is on the larger side - canes about 12 inches (30 cm) and mounted on a big slab of cork. It is very reliable about losing all of its leaves in the fall. (Others of my my larger deciduous Dens may keep a few) This one I do dry out - it gets totally ignored all winter. But as others are waking up, this one just sits there until I wonder if it will ever wake up - it doesn't show any signs of action until early June even if I give it an occasional drink of water (I can't resist) But now it is really getting started. Here are some photos. You can see a really old cane (totally shriveled), several that are 2-3 years old that have bloomed in the past - the plant's reserves, Then, last year's canes just starting to show buds. (I'll show it in bloom in a few weeks) And new growth starting.
I have had it for about 4 years, so I should be used to its pattern by now, but each year it still amazes me. |
Yes, she's a big girl. I've just started with Dens. the last 2yrs or so and my chrysotoxum has rewarded me. You're obviously used to the yellow canes on the bensoniae but if I didn't know that was normal, I'd be upset with myself for bad growing. Looking forward to fotos, Roberta!
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The yellow canes are the older ones. Force of nature. (They look yellower in the early morning light, but they are definitely yellow) Some are starting to get a bit soft - they're getting sucked dry slowly. The canes from last year (that are developing the buds) have a whitish layer over the green, making them look pale and sickly, but they are very firm. But given the propensity for the various parts to look dead when they aren't, I don't cut anything that isn't totally shriveled. (There's one in the photo with the new growth that will be a candidate to trim but that is the only one) That's true of deciduous Dens in general - flowers may emerge from canes that you're sure are dead. This one actually does bloom on a given cane only once, but there are others that do it over multiple years.
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Interesting Den Roberta, nothing I'd ever grow I'll admit.
I will add my Dendrobium Chrysanthum which might get too big, it was an impulse buy and the size might become an issue but I have no idea how big it will become. It's been waking up for a while, since beginning of the year and has amazed me by producing 13 leaves already on the new Cane in less than 6 months. In comparrison to some slower growing ones I think that is pretty good from a Dendrobium. |
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Finally! Bloomed while I was away for 10 days. But fortunately, these are long-lived flowers. They are lightly fragrant.
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great display!!!, awesome plant and culture,
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Thanks! This one, for my conditions, is really easy because the plant tells exactly what it wants. Reliably loses leaves in the fall, one of the few things that I actually dry out, I fear that it will never wake up, and suddenly new growth in June, long after everything else is active.
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