Orchids growing in Kenya - Part 2 Ansellia africana galore

The next location I found orchids was about 100 miles north of Nairobi just outside Nakuru in Rongai, only a few miles from the Equator. Another garden, my Aunt this time. Its drier and warmer than Nairobi and the bush is sparser and more scrub like rather than forested. There are swathes of  Aloe which were in flower, shades of red and orange glowing like coals,  it was that time of year when a lot of the shrubs and trees come into bloom. The Jacaranda's with their impossibly violety blue flowers that carpet the ground and the cloudy white of candyfloss Acaicia's buzzing with insects.

 The Pepper tree at the back of the house is filled with orchids among which several Ansellia africana. It is their bloom time as they were in flower at this and another location where the flowers were slightly different.

Most notable was that the flower spikes emerge from nodes quite far back on the canes of which I was unaware. I believed they flowered only  from the tip of the newest canes and had never noticed this before.

The flowers on these Ansellia were quite large, darker and more densely spotted compared with plants at a later location. Also there were no seed pods here. The scent was not strong at the time I sniffed them but was faintly a honeyed musk. I didn't find it pleasant.

This orchid had formed a thick rope of roots and clumps of psuedobulbs along a length of branch or vine, that was lying across the tree branch. It had flowered at some point recently as there were dried flower spikes and some seed pods that are visible below.

 The upright root basket collects a lot of debris.

This large clump of orchid had lots of keiki's.

The upright roots are very prickly and dense, some of the canes on these Ansellia africana were well over a meter in length. I put my hand in the picture as a rough guide to their girth. I have quite large hands (for a woman!)

This Cymbidium was a surprise growing in a bucket. 

Trip to Kenya - Part 1 Orchids and Warthogs

Mavis relaxing 

I have been very negligent with this blog - my new years resolution is to resurrect it and actually make some posts !

I feel very inspired due to my most recent trip home to Kenya to visit family and since I got back to England I have been extra nice to all my orchids which have sadly been neglected due to a house move just a few weeks ago. It  has been an extremely busy time with moving and then going away for a few weeks so they have been left to their own ends somewhat. (I think my Chiloschista may have expired)

I made a special effort to photograph all the orchids I came across, I did have a few camera malfunctions but I hope this gives an idea of where and how these orchids grow.

Despite my love of orchids I am afraid I have no idea which these Kenyan orchids are. (I have requested Orchids of Kenya by Joyce Stewart for my birthday!)  I did ask for names but no one knew, they are just "orchids"! They grow like weeds and you know how it is with the weeds in your own garden - you don't really pay much attention to them but might keep the ones with the pretty flowers!
In Kenya, orchids are often given when you visit friends or relatives and have a stroll around the garden. Cuttings are given of various plants you admire, and the orchids are just another plant to break a piece off. Its so easy to grow them out there, you just take it home find a tree with a fork or convenient nook and either just place it if it will stay, or tie it on with a bit of old string and forget about it. In a few months they look as though they have always been there - oh the envy!

These photos were taken in Nairobi in the garden of one of my cousins just before Christmas. It is laid to lawn with indigenous trees. She enjoys her garden but is unable to have flowerbeds as such as the suburb she lives in is adjacent to Nairobi National Park. This means there is a Warthog highway which runs through the area as they are very partial to a nice spot of grazing and rooting in a lushly watered garden or two! Mavis until recently has been the resident Warthog, a somewhat matronly and very tame animal that made her residence underneath the guest house. Visitors were not known to have a good nights sleep when competing with the snores emanating from Mavis's burrow beneath the floor boards! 

My cousin resigned herself to the fact that Mavis had every right to stay so had to garden accordingly. Mavis loved to sunbathe on the lawn with the dogs in relative peace until unwelcome suitors came to court her. She was an old girl and pretty much past it, so my cousin would rush to her aid when they came calling. She made it quite clear that in her retirement she had no interest in Hogs, and merely wanted a quiet life lying about or having a roll in the shade. Poor Mavis went off one day and never re-appeared. We still remember Mavis very fondly and the stories about defending her honour are retold and cause much hilarity, she did after all help shape this garden where most things are out of reach, hence the orchids and air plants.

Our holiday was just at the tail end of the short rains in December and daytime temps were just a little over the mid 20's c. Night  temps were in high teens to low 20's c. The humidity was moderate but not uncomfortable. It can get very cold at certain times of the year down to 8 or so degrees c at night.

Two orchids at the edge of the garden in a tree in shade most of the day. The garden has been cleared from the surrounding bush and woodland and grass planted. There is no fence as you can see behind this tree where the edge of the garden is, immediately the thick bush starts.

 

This orchid had been moved recently and was not very happy, I suggested a cooler more shady spot as it was in a very exposed, hot part of the garden.

 The basket and orchid above came from her mother in laws garden, the name tag is nothing to do with the orchid. As far as I could tell the baskets were filled with a mixture of leaf litter and twigs that had broken down to a loose but dry composty consistency.

An air plant flowering.

Below - this air plant had the tiniest green flowers.

 The only orchid in flower (apart from Ansellia africana in a later post)

Seedlings - sibling rivalry

Lovely as it is to buy a fully grown, flowering sized orchid, don't you wonder where its been all its life? Usually a considerable few years before it comes to you.

Its always satisfying keeping your orchids alive and coaxing them into re-flowering for you. Of course if you buy a fully grown near blooming size plant, the chances are considerably greater and the wait is much much shorter than if you start with a seedling. The reward of growing seedlings into 'grown up' plants is all the sweeter when the work has been all your own. ( Well mostly, apart from the the pollinating and the flasking and then the de-flasking!)

Seedlings can be much more sensitive to a change in culture conditions, and prefer to be slightly warmer and not dry out too much.
Saying that, I don't pander to them too much as I feel if they cant adapt to my growing conditions quickly, then the sooner they turn their toes up the better!
So far they have all accepted their fate and done supprisingly well and proved to be far tougher than I always believed.
I keep my seedlings amongst my other orchids and make sure that I check they don't dry out, or get any direct sunlight on them.

My smallest seedlings are in two inch community pots of Dendrobium primulinum and Dendrobium anosmum. I have had them since Feburary and they are doing well. There are about four or five seedlings in each pot with seedling bark. To prevent the tiny peices of bark from either being tipped out or flushed out whenever I move or water them, I cut up an old pair of winter tights into small circles - snipped a tiny hole which I then stretch and secure over the top of the pot.
The seedlings are so tiny and with not enough root system to secure them into their pots, they uproot easily if they are disturbed in any way. And being such teeny lightweight pots they have a tendancy to tip over or move with the slightest touch, the fabric makes them much  more secure and easier to handle.

They have begun to produce tiny new growths but I have noticed that some of them seem to be growing on top of their neighbours! Not only on top of but abut half way up too. I can only presume when they were crowded in the flask that they took root and began to develop as and where they were. When they were de-flasked they were obviously potted in their little clumps to disturb them as little as possible.
My dilemma at the moment is whether I try to separate them now before they get too attached to each other or leave them for a while...

Update;

Above and below are recent photos after almost exactly a year - I wrote the draft for this post and quite a while ago. 

I have separated some of the seedlings as the ones not growing directly in the bark started to die off as their hosts got taller and their little roots got further away from the bark. I potted them into little clay pots with slightly larger bark and they are now about double in size. A few of the smaller seedlings died off but I still have more than enough to experiment with.