Tropical Gardens and Plants #106

The tag says Phal. amabillis var. formosanium varieg........ and that is as far as I can read. It looks very healthy and it is beautiful with that variegation.

Thanks Ardesia, I didn't see that tag. Could be because I'm surfing Daves' on my iPhone as I walk the Las Vegas strip. By the way I can recommend the gardens inside the Bellagio if you are into the whimsical.

homer1958, Yes a Dendrobium Chrysotoxum. Bought in 2007. From Andy's Orchids on the web.

So, if those are roots, it's trying to crawl out of its pot? Think this would be a good time to move it to the top of the fence under the old oak tree? Give it a basket of moss and let it fend for itself?

Yes, it is 'var. formosanum 'Variegata'' Alice. And it seems to be pretty healthy other than not blooming. They both had a bit of a rough go during our two vacations this spring, when I parked them under the mango tree. Turned out there was a gap in the leaf canopy at a critical spot and they were getting some strong sun for a little while each day and probably too much water. Both had burnt spots on a couple of leaves. But . . . well they're both making new leaves so, I just don't know what else to do except maybe sacrifice them to the wild jungle gods and see if they make themselves at home.

Daughter (dd?) would be upset with me if I lost them both - argh.

dyzzy,
My phal's that are not under lights or any other artificial growing conditions usually start blooming in January inside where they get light from a south window. They are just now finishing up. I bet if you start with a half strength fertilizer now for growth then switch to half strength bloom for orchids in late fall it will bloom for you. Just make sure you address the sun/light situation. I'd be happy to baby sit it for you if needed...( she say's with sheepish grin..........)

Hi Everyone!!

Rj,It is very nice to see a picture from Jungle Heights!

Tommyr2006, that is Awesome picture.

olddude, did you take any pictures of those gardens at the Bellagio?

BUFFY690, welcome to the thread! This is the place to be whenever it is too hot to garden outside.

Kay and mjsponies, my hanging basket mixes consist of MG potting soil, organic landscapers mix (fine bark pieces), peat moss, perlite and a generous portion of Medina Organic granular fertilizer (mostly chicken-poo) added to basket at planting.
I always have a good quantity of this mixture ready and use it when planting in the ground or pots.

mjs, your dance is already working, it was mostly cloudy today which is a little relief in itself.

Please don't laugh at my basket, the squirrels had their way with the variegated sweet potato vine that was growing in with the variegated bougie.

homer1958, I took a second look at your pictures and was surprised to not find a thorn or scorched leaf in the lot. Burle Marx will probably be a monster this time next year!!

RachelLF, I apologize for missing your Magnificent Philo.magnifcumx papillilaminum last night. A new leaf is something very special in our world. lol

dyzzy, that orchid is a keeper even without blooms, lovely variegated foliage. Your dd should be very proud of you for keeping it healthy and thriving!
That was a very good idea, getting your neighbour to take pictures of your streak Dr. Moy bloom. It should be interesting to see.

This is Polianthes 'Chirp' starting to bloom, it is a interesting plant I bought from Yucca-Do nursery last year. I am unable to find anything on it so far. It now has 4 spikes, last year it had one.

P. Chirp

Joeswife, I have a 10 ft. Queen Palm that I am using as a canopy. Your three palms would help immensely with your sun problems, plus they would add a lot to the tropical look you are creating.
That is awesome that you have caladiums coming back from last year. You must have done a great job protecting that spot.


plantladylin, I missed your offer of white 4 O' Clock seeds in the previous thread. I sure would appreciate it if you could send me a couple of seeds after the blooming season is over. I will repay somehow. Thanks.
Do you recognize this little bird? It has been visiting our pond almost every morning. My DH is curious as to what it is. I am just happy to have it visit.

Anthurium

Rita, would you mind rooting me some cuttings? Dmail me and we can set up a trade.

You guys are probably going to scoff at this, but here we go... We have had blazing sun for about a week and a half straight ... Temps. and heat indexes between 105-110... last day like that was Wednesday... Friday; drizzle all day with a high of 70. Today;drizzle on and off, with a high of 74.

Rita, Thanks as you know it is very hard and rewarding work!

This message was edited Jul 16, 2011 8:18 PM

Thanks mj, and glad you got some good rain! We got a couple of inches finally this afternoon, too.

I have been using the half strength fert, but not the bloom for orchids. Will try that in the fall. Their home is an east-facing stand inside the pool cage, gets a little morning sun through the oak tree branches. I figured since the other phal bloomed well, it might not have been the light issue. But maybe I let them get too cold through the winter and the variegated one was more tender. Only brought them indoors on the coldest nights. Guess I won't banish them to the jungle just yet.

Rita,
What a pretty bird, and snow white! Is he/she the only one you have ever seen?

Love all the pictures...

Rita, nicely grown Alocasia lutea and I'm glad you got your shingle plant to root and you know I love those Anthuriums too. All of the plants that I've been showing are nothing you've not seen before;o)

Drew, your Burle Marx will grow pretty quick and the leaves will get a bit bigger too. Enjoy.

I love that bird, rita. so hot today, I feel bad for people without a/c. anyway while it was kinda cool, I managed to get some shots..
this one does not mind the blazing sun and hotness..it is so loaded it smells good when you go outside..
I am listening to the news, it only got up to 106 today, someone left their small babies in a car with only a small crack, I hope they save them tonight while they are in the ER.

I caught this moth.. on camera this am..

and this bird, which is not in our bird book..

a lonely special hige..
I thought the queen palms required medium light, I will move them to the south fence, they were all brown on the fronds, so I cut them off..

RJ, it is always good to see you, how is your Garden doing ? oldude and tommie, hello from the "land of blahs" LOL

Prita, yep I did get some images at the Bellagio but I can't post from this iPad. Is your anthurium in your last image A. Pseudospectabile ? Thanks for the welcome, joeswife!,
Scott

This message was edited Jul 16, 2011 10:36 PM

joeswife, love the picture of your woodpecker, we had tons of them come to the feeders when we lived in northern ohio.

Jan

is it a woodpecker then? LOL he doesn't look like the flickkas I am used to seeing here, he must be lost. poor thing.
I found my anthuriums, they are sdtill alive, but they are just a solid bottom, no leaves..
I love orchids, I just hav'nt grown one yet..
this is not a tropcial, but was thrilled to see my giant white zinnias back.

I have white 4 o clock plants, too Rita. Will get some to you..
these, I DID plant. I planted them in this basket along with all kinds of seeds. I have already pulled out 6 salvias, three yellow dwark daiseys, and some ageratum, since it wasn't being to visiable with these things.

Debra, Your woodpecker is a "Red Bellied Woodpecker" you are at their most western zones I think.

Rita- I'm curious about your little white bird too..Is there a bird id forum ?

I agree it is a red bellied woodpecker, we have them by the gazillions around here which would have to be their eastern most zone.

I am curious about how Debra is going to keep the Queen palms over the winter? My son has several at his home, they grow well in full sun and he fertilizes heavily. But, they are huge, they are almost as tall as his 2 story pool enclosure.

Was the white bird a pigeon or a dove?

This message was edited Jul 17, 2011 9:06 AM

looks like a dove to me too, and if it ism how special is that?
moving the palms to south fence today, in tubs, to come in for winter.
thanks for the id on the bird..

I have one of those woodpeckers that is the bully at my birdfeeder. I thought they ate insects, but he sure likes seeds! There is a forum on DG called 'Birding' I think. I went there when I first put up my feeder for info.

our woodpeckers would take over at the feeders, but when the bluejays showed up the woodpeckers were gone and back to the trees for the bugs. I thought that was the right name for him but I'm not that knowledgeable about them, just love watching them from time to time.

Jan

Joe and I are happy to have any bird. We love them. The tags on the palms say Majesty Palm..."Ravena"
brought them inside for now, it is 106 or higher all the rest of this coming week.
this is a picture from the south fence , same date of july 2010.

added more soil and hay straw to the pots and planters around the patio.. so hot I can only work in 1 hour increments. ugh. this is a shot from last year looking due south.. across from the patio.. not like this now..

Debra, Not that it matters (hot is hot)! What type of humidity do you guys have out there?

JMHO, Deb, but I think the a/c might not be great for your palms. They're going to think it's winter if you take them indoors, into cool temps and dry air. Down here, palms stand up all day to the blazing Florida sun and killer humidity. It may not be as hot on the thermometer here, but our sun is more intense than yours because it's straight overhead. Plus the 'weather liars' as Alice likes to call them, tell us "the feels-like temp today was 110".

Don't forget, not all tropical plants are 'understory' plants like the orchids, philos and (maybe?) aroids. Lots of plants grow all day in the full sun here and thrive. In Hawaii I saw Brugs 12ft. tall and 15ft. wide blooming their hearts out in the full sun.

Hey, I had an idea to help Joe with the mowing headache under the pear tree - spread some wood-chip mulch all over the shady area under the tree where you have your potted plants. Not only will it keep the grass from growing under there, it will also help the pear tree keep its roots cooler and hold in moisture (as opposed to the grass that's actually stealing water from the tree. Down here we never grow grass under fruit trees for that reason.

Here are my little pygmy date palms at the end of our driveway - newly planted about 2 months ago. In full, blazing sun all day except in winter when the big oaks across the street shade them.

It's been driving me crazy as to what Rita's little white bird is...
Rita are it's eyes Pink ? Could it be an albino ? "something...What bird looks like that in a different color?

Yes, Martha - it's an albino - possibly a house finch. I have seen albino blue jays, sparrows and other bigger birds, but not one like this little fella.

Here is a link to an albino house finch:

http://nature-as-is.blogspot.com/2010/05/albino-house-finch.html

The albino finch pictured in that link has dark eyes; I thought albinos had no pigment anywhere. The few albino animals I have seen all had pink eyes but I certainly have seen very,very few so my knowlege is limited at best. I admit I did not read the whole page it is possible they explained that.

Just had a minute to pop in and scan the posts and I sure enjoy viewing everyone's beautiful tropical plants and gardens!

Rita: I'm not certain but your bird looks like a white Zebra Finch: http://www.google.com/search?q=white+zebra+finch&hl=en&biw=1260&bih=802&prmd=ivns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=al0jTrSSKM-30AGjmsWpAw&sqi=2&ved=0CDQQsAQ Sure is a beauty!

If you'd rather not wait for seeds I can send you big bulbs/tubers of the white Four O'clocks ... d-mail me your address.

Debra: Yep, that's definitely a Red-bellied Woodpecker in your photo. We have tons of them down here, they are year round residents. They love raisins, peanuts, berries and peanut butter but will eat seeds as well. I don't have a problem with them being bully birds at all ... the Jays, Woodpeckers, Cardinals, Doves etc. all take turns at the feeders ... but I've got a lot of feeders to keep them all happy. This is a picture last month of a Jay and Red-bellied at an old birdbath together: