Bloom Event - Trichopilia turialbae

That I'm managing to write a post about this plant in bloom is something of a miracle. It is not that the plant doesn't bloom (fairly) regularly so much as that (a) the blooms are so short lived that I keep missing them and (b) the plant looks such a mess that I'm embarrassed to show it to you. At the time of writing, the flowers have already gone over but I did manage to get a decent photo of a flower this time round so I guess I'll have to show you - warts and all.

The plant is not ostensibly a difficult grower and should be adaptable to warm temperatures, hailing as it does from Costa Rica. It grows steadily and blooms occasionally so I should be happy, shouldn't I? Unfortunately, I have never seen such a 'dirty grower' as this, and its foliage is covered in black marks. It doesn't seem to make any difference to the health of the plant but it looks terrible. I am all the more bemused because I have a second Trichopilia species, T. hennisiana, that is definitely a cool grower but which grows well and which has nice and clean foliage. Go figure.

The flower on Trichopilia turialbae however, is lovely. It might not be the showiest of the species in the genus, but it is rather charming.

Flowers do not open fully, but retain a tubular appearance with the lip flaring out. Note the delicate yellow colouring at the centre. I have read that they are fragrant, but I haven't been able to detect any fragrance; presumably this varies from plant to plant. There were three flowers on the spike. One is open, one yet to open and one blasted.

And now for the embarrassing bit....I suppose I should show you what the plant looks like.

I know, it could be worse, but then again, it could be better. I'm intending to turn this out of its pot in the near future to replace the growing medium which must be getting old by now as I've had the plant for three years or more and I haven't had the nerve to change it yet. The other issue here is I'm not sure I'v ever seen a new root emerge on this plant. As it never shows signs of dehydration and the new growths do appear to be increasing in size I have no real reason to worry.