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VANDA ALLIANCE

        Vandas are a natural genus of over thirty species, originating from a wide area of the Old World, from India, South-east Asia and Indonesia to the Phillipines, New Guinea and Australia. They head a huge alliance of intergeneric hybrid forms,which include other natural genera such as Ascocentrum, Rhynchostylis, Renanthera, Arachnis, and many others, including Phalaenopsis and Doritis. The majority of these plants are warm-growing, light-loving types that grow best in the tropics, where a massive breeding programme has continued apace. The results can be seen in florists' shops where the cut flowers are in great demand.

        Vanda are monopodial evergreen plants that grow from a central tip on an ever-extending rhizomes. As new, semirigid leaves are produced from the apex, the lower ones are eventually lost. After a few years, the plants becomes "leggy" with a length of bare stem above the pot. Stout aerial roots, formed along the base stem, are a feature of these plants. At the right stage, the plant can be reduced in length by cutting through the best rhizome below the aerial roots. The top portion is potted up, leaving the aerial roots outside the pot. In time, new root will be made inside the pot and the plant will continue its upward progression. The flower spikes emerge from the axils of the lower leaves at various times throughtout the year.

        Some varieties are more easily flowered than others. Try a few of the fantastic blue or mauve hybrids, containing the species Vanda coerulea and V.sanderiana. The crossing of these two plants produced the lovely, deep blue V. Rothchidiana, and this one hybrid hes done more to promote the genus in the northern hemisphere than any other orchid. V. Rothchidiana will grow with exceptional ease and bloom two or three times a year. The plants can grow considerably tall, up to 1 m, making an impressive specimen when in bloom. The large, rounded blooms are over 7 cm across and will last for several weeks at a time. In addition, there are other variously coloured vandas and intergeneric hybrids available. Look out for the brilliantly coloured, oftend smaller-flowered Ascocenda ( Vanda x Ascocentrum). These are often more popular than the pure vandas because of their neat habitat and upright flower spikes, which are crowded with beautiful, symetrical flowers in fiery reds, gorgous oranges and deep yellows. While some are self-coloured, others display extreme tessellating or mottling on the petals and sepals.