James Keach
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jameskeach.bsky.social
James Keach
@jameskeach.bsky.social
20 followers 14 following 11 posts
Plant breeder by training, doing outreach about orchids 🏳️‍🌈
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jameskeach.bsky.social
On my way back from the Paph Guild's 3rd World Slipper Orchid Conference in Hilo! Feeling really inspired and downright buzzing with the sense of community! Pics of some of the slippers I saw - might post non-slippers later 😉
#Orchids #Hawaiʻi #Paphiopedilum #ScientificConference #SlipperOrchids
A collage of Paphiopedilum slipper orchids, with a large double-flowered red complex in the lower left, a pale Paph. insigne in the upper left, Paph. sukhakuli in the center top, Paph. hangianum or a hybrid in the upper right, a large-flowered yellow/tan complex in the middle right, and an viridiform sequential × multifloral in the lower right. The pictures are separated by pale yellow negative space.
January 21, 2025 at 4:05 AM
jameskeach.bsky.social
Repeat flowering of this remake of
Bc. Richard Mueller
(B. nodosa 'Orchid Eros' × C. milleri 'Fissure 8' FCC/AOS)
that I picked up at the Hilo Orchid Show
I feel so lucky to get to see so much local orchid breeding!
#Orchid #Cattleya #Hybrid #Hawaiʻi #PlantBreeding
Two stellate cattleya orchid flowers, showing classic Brassavola shape, with at least 2 buds along the flower spike. Sepals and petals are lanceolate (the dorsal sepal with a slight twist medially) and bright cherry-red, with occasional darker spotting and faint yellow venation basally. The lip is tubular, flaring out a bit distally, daffodil-yellow, and covered with blood-red spots and intermittent venation. The flowers have water droplets scattered across them. A greenhouse with black floors and benches of plants are visible in the background. A dried flower spike is photo-bombing in the upper right
December 1, 2024 at 11:54 AM
jameskeach.bsky.social
Lucked upon this
Paphiopedilum Rolfei
(bellatulum × rothschildianum)
at a local 'big box' store!

Looking at some previous awards for the grex, it's surprising how many only have 2 flowers. Hoping this one beats the odds next flowering 🤞😉
#Orchid #Hybrid #Hawaiʻi #Paph
Against mottled emerald-green leaves and a dark cream background, two ladyslipper orchid flowers face the camera, offset around 90 degrees from each other and 45 degrees from the view. The sepals and petals are a creamy light yellow-green with ragged maroon striations throughout (dissolving into spots on the petals) and a sericeous maroon picotee. The dorsal sepal is broadly obvate (nearly circular) and slightly forward, synsepal is obvate, petals are bluntly lanceolate and downswept with a loose medial curl. The pouch is a near-suffused tessellation of maroon with occasional glimpses of cream peeking through. A similar patterning covers the staminode, which is near-quadrangular and backswept radially from the center. A green twist-tie shows evidence of staking, and the thin profile of a yellow tag is visible.
November 26, 2024 at 3:26 AM
jameskeach.bsky.social

A surprise flower from Sauromatum venosum! We recently put in an ornamental turmeric trial and also stuck in some ornamental Amorphophallus for fun - this was labeled as A. paeoniifolius but obviously not! Always something new to learn!
#Aroid #TropicalFlowers #FlowerTrial #Sauromatumvenosum
A single flower emerging from a tilled field, next to drip tape. It has a strikingly long, gently-curving spadix in shades of brown and dark olive green. The spathe is slightly bulbous at the base and fully wraps around the bottom quarter of the spadix, with the upper half tapering and curling backwards until reaching the soil - the outside is green with fine, dark maroon stripes and the inside is light green with regular dark maroon splotches. A yellow tag is near the base of the flower, erroneously identifying it as Amorphophallus paeoniifolius.
November 24, 2024 at 11:34 AM
jameskeach.bsky.social
Holcovanstylis Paukaʻa Pearl
I got two plants of this from the breeder, and this is the first to bloom under my care! Intermittently fragrant. Strong V. falcata influence, from its grandparent

Growing in a basket with minimal media
#Vanda #Orchid #Flowers #Hawaiʻi
Four white vandaceous orchid flowers with backswept and lightly twisted, blunted falcate petals and sepals; lip similar morphology but without the twist and with light magenta venation inside the throat and spur; anther cap translucent white, showing yellow pollinia inside. Near-terete leaves are visible behind the flower spike. The blurred background shows the skeleton of a structure, other foliage, a lawn, and another faint structure in the distance.
November 20, 2024 at 6:57 AM
jameskeach.bsky.social
An unregistered #Cattleya hybrid:
Rth. Love Sound x Rlc. Pratum Green
#Orchid #Hawaiʻi #NotMyPlant #2019
A close-up of two bifoliate-type cattleya flowers shown on the plant, held against a cement background. Sepals are obvolanceolate, translucent pale olive green, faint magenta suffusion distally with irregular darker spots; petals broadly obvate, pale translucent pink, lime green basally, faint magenta suffusion marginally with occasional darker spots; lip enclosing column, pale green, throat yellow, total magenta suffusion distally; column white; another cap white with magenta suffusion centrally; appears lightly glossy.
November 18, 2024 at 2:51 AM
jameskeach.bsky.social
Dendrobium Roy Yahiro 'Blue Lip'
Named after a local orchid breeder. He registered a hybrid that had something like 12 genera in its ancestry (a record, I believe!). Haven't seen this plant in awhile, so hoping it survived the move a few years back... 😬
#Dendrobium #orchid #Hawaiʻi
November 16, 2024 at 11:03 PM
jameskeach.bsky.social
Den. Paskal Kuning 'Sheldon's Delight' AM/AOS
#Dendrobium #AwardWinning #orchid #Hawaiʻi
Two yellow-green phalaenopsis-type dendrobium orchid flowers with lips showing light fuchsia venation, held against finger pads with the background of a black seedling tray.
November 15, 2024 at 5:07 PM
jameskeach.bsky.social
Wanted to start cross-posting my #BlueNanta pics here:
Vanda Prao Sky Blue 'Phathai'
#Vanda #Orchid
Cluster of tessellated purplish-blue vanda orchid flowers in a sunlit area
November 15, 2024 at 4:32 AM