One of my First Scented Orchids is About to Bloom Again!

When I was down in Florida last April visiting with friends and family, I made a stop by an orchid shop in Orlando called City Oasis (P.S. if you are ever in the area, go check them out!)  On that trip, I purchased two orchids, both very new to me and very fragrant.  I purchased a Galeopetalum Starburst Parkside and a Coconut Orchid (Maxillaria tenufolia).  I was super excited to add these two unique orchids to my collection.  

The Galeopetalum, we'll just call it Starburst for the duration of this post, has bloomed a total of two times since I brought it home back in April.  It has been thriving in the environment I have set up for it and it's so happy, it's about to bloom again for a third time!  When in bloom, it has bright spotted green and purple blooms.  To describe the smell of these blooms, to me, it's a bit sweet and spicy; it's definitely unique in its fragrance.

an image sourced online of the blooms

This particular orchid was my first foray into orchids with large pseudobulbs.  When I purchased the orchid, it already had several pseudobulbs with it that had had blooms on them at some point but no longer had leaves on them.  I wasn't quite sure what to do with them, I wasn't sure if I should cut the other pseudobulbs off or leave them.  From what I was told, the pseudobulbs are basically like camel humps, they store energy and nutrients for the rest of the plant.  Since April 2024, it has grown a new pseudobulb and is starting on another one!

image showing the pseudobulbs mentioned above

So, since Christmas 2024, this orchid has been in my plant cabinet under grow lights and in humidity that it is happiest with.  I noticed several weeks ago that it had new flower stems growing from the new pseudobulb.  It now has several buds at the end of its two flower stems.  Within my plant cabinet, it sits on the shelf that has the most height allowance possible.  In the past couple of days, I have had to reposition the plant at least three times because it keeps getting taller!

image of the stems with several buds almost touching the glass shelf above

One day, the tip of the bud was just barely under the grow light, the next day it was pretty much touching the grow light to which I immediately repositioned it so the light wouldn't burn the plant (because they can do that!).  I have moved it again and its nearly touching the glass shelf directly above it.  When the blooms start to open, I will have to take it out of the cabinet because it doesn't have enough space for it to fully bloom without pressing against the glass or potentially touching the grow light.    The height of the space that the shelf allows is roughly 19 3/4" tall and the height of the tallest stem, from the top of its pot is 14 3/4" tall.  The other flower stem is a couple inches shorter than the tallest stem.

The last time this orchid bloomed was back in September 2024.  When it bloomed, I only had two stems and 2 blooms.  My best guess is that it wasn't getting the humidity it really needed or the environment it was growing in (pre-plant cabinet) wasn't the greatest for it to produce more buds.  The flower stems from the September bloom were rather short compared to this time as well.  This time around, I have two stems and will have a total of eight buds, which makes me SUPER happy because that means its happy with where it's at.

bloom from September 2024

It's crazy to actually see how fast these orchids grow though.  One day you look at the plant and it doesn't look like it's doing much, then the next day, you have to reposition it a couple of times because it's just grown that much!

When these buds do open up, I'll be sure to share images with you and share in my excitement!

My coconut orchid that I got at the same time as the orchid mentioned above has grown new pseudobulbs, but it hasn't produced anything that looks like it will bloom at any time soon.  From my research, I've found that the coconut orchid blooms once a year given the right conditions so if I see anything, I should expect to see blooms in/around April.  

coconut orchid, photo taken April 2024

The coconut orchid is also a fragrant orchid as well!

Stay tuned as I'll be posting again soon!