Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Phaius tankervilleae orchid






These beautiful orchids native to India, Southern Asia, New Guinea, Australia and many islands of the pacific very popular with gardeners and orchid collectors. There are currently about 50 species in phaius genus and tankervilleae is one of them. In nature they can be found in a variety of habitats and altitudes. They have squat pseudobulbs and large, pleated leaves. The flower spikes erect with several large, colorful flowers.

These species are terrestrial, which means that they happily grow in the garden and present great opportunity for landscaping with orchids in mild climates. They quite easy to grow and to flower, providing some of their requirements are met - they love organically rich soil, they prefer to be kept moist year-round and fertilized while actively growing. Plants of this very popular species will grow and flower under direct sunlight, but the best results are achieved with shaded conditions. If you have shaded spot in the garden and would like to grow an orchid or two, try phaius - they quite hardy and easy to grow and will reward you with many beautiful blooms.

There are other colorful phaius varieties - for instance phaius flavus have huge yellow/red color blooms, phaius pulchellus blooms with dark burgundy color flowers, there are others with lime green or dark brown or orange/ copper colored flowers, presenting quite a range for landscaping with orchids.





11 comments:

  1. Its not a very scientific comment - but what a beauty.

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  2. This is beautiful and I like the fact that it is hardy. I intend to make some space for hardy orchids in the near future.

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  3. I have this orchid in a pot. Thanks for all the tips to make it flower.

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  4. We nearly won one of these last month at our Orchid Society's raffle, but we decided that with something like 2m flower spikes, it was a bit too huge for our little balcony garden and went for a Cymbidium instead. Incidentally the talk at that meeting was on "Orchids Down Under"!

    You'd keep the botanists happy by capitalising the P of Phaius. :)

    Thanks for an interesting post :)

    Orchids On A Balcony

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  5. I am new to growing orchids, so I look forward to learning more about them through your blog! Thank you...

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  6. exceptionally beautiful, but i haven't seen it yet. Maybe it doesn't like the hot weather we have here!

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  7. Thank you all for your comments and for able to share with you this Phaius beauty from my garden.

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  8. Funny story...I was at the botanical gardens and asked the clerk for an orchid to buy, different than the varieties that I own. They have many Phalaenopsis. She tells me I am getting a Sarcochilus and I am eying it suspiciously. But since she is a botanical worker, I trust her. It is way too cheap and not in flower. I am wary, but buy it anyway. It starts to bud a couple of weeks later and I realize that it is a Stephanotis. Boy was she wrong. Now I own a Jasmine. Someday I will have a new orchid like your pretty Phaius. But for now, I have a common Southern Jasmine. LOL.

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  9. Although Im not an orchid grower, I do admire and love orchids. This one Ive never seen before. a great beauty!

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  10. Orchids are the one plant I'm most afraid of growing. I've tried twice to grow them as houseplants, but they languished and died. I hope to learn from you what I'm doing wrong! Maybe I wasn't watering them enough? I tend to err on the side of underwatering.

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  11. Your orchids as so perfect - they look like they are made of wax

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