FIRST ORCHID IN BLOOM
( Hosannah! )
Remember that trip to Waldor Orchids? Well, the first of those orchids I'd bought is finally blooming. Looks like the microclimate I've made in the wardian case is keeping them happy (60-watt fluorescent lighting, keeping the orchids clustered to better maintain humidity, placing a substrate of riverstones and a little water under the pots, allowing ventilation, etc).
It's always very exciting when an orchid actually blooms, much like when a moth ecloses.
This Paphiopedilum is going to be a dark purplish black, quite dramatic. More pictures as it unfurls!
~W