Q:I'm looking for a Phalaenopsis that is orange with blue spots or blue with orange. I'm hoping for University of Virginia colors. Is this possible? -- Andrew N.

Answer: If only orchid buying was like selecting wallpaper or designer outfits . . . mix and match. Orange and blue are rare hues in orchids, even rarer in Phals, and the odds of the two together defy calculation.

These tropical wonders are predominantly found in whites, pinky-purples and yellows. Orange, a secondary color mix between red and yellow, is possible and the well-known hybrid P. Baldan's Kaleidoscope, though technically yellow with red stripes, does give an orangish appearance. Blue, a primary color, doesn't exist in the moth orchid family. The closest thing is bluish shades of violet, called blue violet or indigo, and these are miniature flowers about the size of a dime. An artist's color wheel is helpful in identifying exact shades. Vandas boast the large stereotypical ocean blue blossoms and though they breed with Phals to make Vandopsis, there have been no successful large blue offspring thus far.

Spots (and stripes) have been in circulation for some time, thanks to the breeding influences of the species P stuartiana from the Philippines, but not much progress has been made toward other popular patterns, such as plaids, paisleys and pentagrams.

In the jungle, pollinators are attracted to the blooms for any number of reasons -- enticing shapes, irresistible fragrances, sexy color, etc. Man-made hybrids, on the other hand, are not bound by the same constraint of having to attract insects; their mission is to attract man. And man apparently wants something a little different.

. . .

Q:I received a white Phalaenopsis as a departing gift from my job. It had been in the car before they gave it to me and the petals were already drooping. I tried misting it but that hasn't helped. Is there any way to revive it? -- Laura M.

 

Answer: It doesn't take long for a blooming beauty such as this to lose its pizazz when subjected to high temperatures. A hot car can reach 150 degrees and that is no match for the delicate blossoms of an orchid that starts to get restless at 95 degrees. Twenty minutes in the direct sun will kill a plant by blackening the leaves. The employer should have parked the car in the shade or brought the plant inside.

Once an orchid has suffered "heat stroke" and the blossoms are wilted, sadly the best course of action is to cut off the flower spike and give the plant a rest. Limp flowers will not reinvigorate no matter how much love is thrown their way.

The good news, of course, is that even a damaged orchid should bloom again. In another year, the leaves will be bigger, the roots stronger and who knows, maybe the floral display even grander.

. . .

Q:For Mother's Day, I was given a lovely orchid but I don't know its name because there was no tag. It came from a grocery store. How do I care for it? -- Clareta C.

 

Answer: As you become more accomplished as an orchid hobbyist, you begin to recognize orchids by their leaves regardless of what the flowers look like. Most grocery store plants do not come with botanical nametags so you have to be a detective to identify them. One clue is that all leaves have the same shape -- Phalaenopsis, wide, flat supple foliage that grows out of the center of itself (monopodial growth habit). Cattleyas, Dendrobiums and Oncidiums have pseudo-bulbs of varying shapes and sizes that travel across the pot (sympodial growth habit).

While the hybrid name may never be known, the orchid's foliage gives away the genus and the culture can then be researched.