Part of me feels like I ought to defend long-lasting Phals: I find their
enduring beauty somewhat surreal and awe-inspiring. And I feel guilty over
not being appreciative enough of my Phal Zuma Confection that bloomed for
five months, most of it without changing. But alas, I too prefered activity.
However, even among Phals and Dtps some are more active than others: I
really appreciate sequential bloomers. My very favorite a semi-peloric Dtps
Talitha Gem has been blooming for four months, but it looks completely
different now than it did to begin with! At first it had a spike going
straight up with up to 15 flowers at once. Then its older flowers started
falling off as new ones opened, and its like a clump of flowers moving
steadily further toward the window ... up the spike, then down (as the spike
curved under its own weight), now up again. I keep counting and recounting
how many flowers it lost, how many are currently in bloom and how many new
buds are forming ... no, it's not done yet forming new buds, it's up to a
total of 20 former flowers, 7 currently in bloom, and at least 6 buds
remaining, and about 4 feet of spike. I have not had a boring week with this
plant. :-)

So even a Phal or Dtps can be very exiting.

Joanna

"Diana Kulaga" wrote in message news:1YQwb.21905
As for longevity, my Phals provide a long lasting background for more
transient flowers. Recently, I cut off two or three old, but still
blooming
spikes on Phals because the plants were throwing off new spikes and needed
a
bit of a rest.

Bottom line: I think we are fickle, us orchid growers. There must be
people who grow only certain types of orchids, but I imagine that most of
us
like variety. And, we're suckers for something new!