The Mystery of the Orchid Continues...

The Mothers' Day orchid is in flower again, with yet another subtle variation.

These are the flowers produced in May; dark pink with a slightly speckled effect on the lower half.


These were produced in September; red and cream with pronounced speckles. I thought there was a slight possibility that there were two different plants in one pot, but...


... here we are in December, and these flowers have opened; they are on the very same stem as the May flowers, but rather than being dark pink, are the red of the September flowers, without any speckles.

I need to do more research...

Mystery

These two flower spikes are growing from the same plant. The dark pinky red flowers are the ones it had in May when I bought it, and the spotty ones are the ones it has grown since I have had it in my care. I wonder how it did that? Maybe I'm not doing something I should be doing...

Too big for its boots

Since this orchid was moved out to the snug, it has gone from strength to strength. Its aerial roots have infiltrated the space between the inner and outer pots, they have grown down the outside of the outer pot and circled around the drip tray, and a few stray roots are making their way up under the window ledge. As you can see, this year there are three flower spikes. I haven't bothered to count the individual flowers, and a dozen or so have already dropped off, but last year there were 29 flowers on the single spike, and they lasted from June through to August.

Edit: Yesterday I uploaded a crop of this picture using Picasa. For some reason, it has flown off into cyberspace, so here is the original un-cropped picture uploaded the conventional way. Thanks for letting me know, Eve. I have now counted the flowers. There are 49, not counting uncoloured buds, or the dozen or so that have already fallen off.