New month and a new thread for our September flowers. We came from http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1203780/.
I would like to start off with a favorite that has bloomed regularly for years. Here is L. purpurata werkhauserie 'Monte' X C. gaskelliana coerulea.
Jim
This is a look at the entire spray. Anything with L. purpurata in it gets my attention.
Jim
This is the Tolumnia that I mounted on one of those lizzard logs from Pet Smart.
Jim
This is a NOID Dendrobium that used to be red, fell into the pool for a night and now blooms white. Stranger than truth.
Jim
My Grammatophylum scriptum bloomed right on schedule in June. Some of the flowers hung on for a long time and then developed what look like seed pods. I've never had this happen before.
Jim
So pleased to say I have scored a nice little Brassavola nodosa from Selby Gardens. Was going to go up to Plantio La Orchidea tomorrow, and thought I'd check if Selby's plant store had one. Sure enough, it was the first thing I saw when I walked in the door. Must have been meant for me! Cost less than Plantio, too. I get a discount as a Selby member, which also helped.
Will save a trip to Plantio for a birthday or something. Anyway, here's my new baby:
Nice, Elaine. Be advised that the roots may wrap themselves around the palm and you will have to remove it with a knife. It happened to me.
Jim
Thanks for the new thread and beautiful orchids, Jim. I am just getting back to Atlanta. No photos today. The Den, eriiflorum I got at Redlands is spiking. Have you checked yours? I see on Internet Species they say eriaeflorum is a misspelling. Huh? How can Andy be wrong? You might want to cut the pods off the Gram.. No use in having the plant waste energy holding on to pods for months to a year.
B. nodosa looks beautiful, Dyzzy. It's taken me three years to get my first one to that size. Jim's right...watch out for those roots. They're sneaky.
Thanks for the tip, Jim and Laurel. I like the idea of a sneaky orchid that grabs tree trunks!
This is just a temporary parking spot, as it's mounted on a piece of bark, and hanging on a little wire hook off a fern frond. I have to find a good permanent spot for it before that frond falls.
Of course I tenderly watered it when we got home, now it's raining cats and dogs. Hope the fern protects it a bit.
Jim, I found a seedpod on a phaius like that once. And if I'm not mistaken, it was this time of year...so yeah, they mature forever if you don't cut them. The seeds inside were separated already and smaller than specks of dust.
By the way, I mounted Little Stars on a cedar branch. As you said, it's healthier than I gave it credit for. The pb's have plumped-up a lot since I took it out of its plastic bag / purgatory. I like that white den-phal a lot! I have a solid green one (also NOID) that's showing a spike, finally. I need to stagger my orchid collection so I have more summer blooms...
Good job on that mount, Scott.
Jim
My Sherry Baby has been growing 2 spikes for months. They are getting longer & longer and branching. Hopefully it will eventually decide to bloom.
Where is Plantio--- Elaine-- MAy want to hit it on my way south. PLans have changed and I get to fly home on the 12th, then back to NJ on the 26th then drive home on 10/10 from NJ. Have to stop at our new little winter home in Ocala so may as well stop for orchids!
I think as soon as it cools off a bit and I can work outside without so much heat, I'm going to rearrange the orchids a bit. I seem to be acquiring phals again, so have to figure out a new spot for them. I have an urge to have misters put thru the entire pool cage-- so I need to go to orchids-anon for help!
Debi
Plantio La Orquidea is in the same block as Tropiflora (they have orchids too!) so it might be a really productive orchid stop on your trip. Plantio is only open by appointment though, so call first - 941-504-7737 and the address is 3480 Tallevast Road. They have a good website as well, www.plantiolaorquidea.com you might want to check out. You could shop online, then pick up your orchids on your way home.
They have some wonderful stuff, and two types of the brassavolas I was looking for, but their prices are high-ish, I thought.
These are not mine, saw them at Tropiflora last month.
Qwilter, I've got a Sharry Baby that's grown a lot this past year, but so far no spikes. I've been worried that things aren't getting enough light...although I'm giving them the most my yard will allow under all the trees. If it's time for Sharry Baby to set spikes, I hope I see some soon myself...
Jim, I wonder if your white orchid that changed from red after its swim in the pool might revert to red on its next bloom cycle? Just a thought after I saw the 'blue' orchids (ugh!) they are selling at Home Depot. It says on their label "will re-bloom white" so it seems they are feeding them some dye (?) that makes the flowers blue for one cycle, then they revert to their original. Interesting, using that theory you could make an orchid almost any color you wanted providing you figure out at what stage in the bloom cycle to administer dye (or pool chemical). Anyway, keep us informed on that one.
SC, maybe a strategic pruning of a branch or two off your trees would increase the light enough for things to bloom? I'm just a beginner at orchids, but my costus under the big oak tree was discovered and bloomed for the first time after we had the tree thinned. Not a bad idea to thin the trees with hurricane season just about to peak, too.
Another I am lusting after at Selby. Debi, let me know when you find our local orchids.anon?
It's bloomed white for a couple of years now. A gust from an overnight thunderstorm blew it into the pool and it sat upright on the bottom for about 7 hours. The next bloom cycle it came out white. It is just a NOID Dendrobium but this is interesting.
That last Selby orchid is worthy of your lust.
Jim
hi ive just been looking at all your lovely flowers because i have no new blooms to post yet. I had my sharry baby bloom a little while ago and them buds take ages to open. Sorry to say. I think most oncidiums types do don't they. The spikes grow so long than branches out then each little bud fattens up and finally....hehe!
This C. Guatemalensis x Lc trick or treat 'orange' is neally finished. Nice colour but small flowers.
My Paph Villosum is still open......
Paph Insigne is neally finished...
My Cymbidium One tree hill is neally finished, the red looks like it runs into the white when there just about to die.
and this Cymbidium i don't know the name of is still going but only has 3 flowers but it is a young looking plant.
Breeindy, those are all lovely! I'm especially impressed with the orange 'trick or treat' one. So bright and vivid.
Definitely, dyzzy. I think you're right - it could be selective and still make a difference. Our overnight temperatures are just now coming down to "breathable," and I'm hoping the cool-down will spur some to bloom. Hey, is costus that spiral plant in one of your pictures? I think I have a small, pitiful sample of that. I've called it spiral ginger, because of the way the stem curls as it grows. It bloomed once, years ago, but it was in lots of sun (and water) back then. I bring a pot of it indoors each year, doubting it would come back in this zone.
Bree, I like that orangy catt. She looks like she's holding her 'wings' up. I have a hybrid of Lc trick or treat and a little epidendrum native to SC's coast. I'm crossing my fingers for its first blooms this year. It's called Eplc Volcano Trick 'Fireball,' but I don't have a photo of my own.
[
Another I am lusting after at Selby. Debi, let me know when you find our local orchids.anon?[/quote]
Iwill be coming down I75 on or about 10/12 and am most up for an orchid hunt! You game?
Sure thing. I'd appreciate your guidance as I build up my collection. With the addition of my 'Lady' I am up to 5 orchids now, (if you count the ground orchids).
Population explosion at my house today - got two nice little Phals at IKEA for $10 apiece.
Help! Presuming they've been indoors in an a/c environment for who knows how long, will they be shocked to be put outside?
I will, of course, wait until tonight so it isn't suddenly 93deg. for them, and I have a spot outside a patio door that will also be a tad cooler than the rest of the garden. Advice, please?
Should I re-pot when the blooms are done? Will it be ok to take away those #%&@* stakes and let the flower spike trail?
Just beautiful flowers, all of you. Love watching to see what's blooming. I have some spiking, so I hope to be posting pictures soon.
If I had to pick an orchid that did not like a change in conditions, it would be a phal. While I was in the process of converting my lanai, my orchids spent 4 months or so at 'summer camp' out in the trees and bushes. I knew I would lose a few but the results were telling. Nine out of ten losses were phals. They don't like being moved or changes in light or temperature. You are right in taking things slow with them.
Jim
Hm, thanks Jim. Luckily with TS Lee going by we are in for a few cloudy cooler days. Might facilitate easing them outside. Just have to make sure they don't get drenched - will keep them under the overhang.
Who the heck told me phals were a good 'beginner' orchid? (it sure wasn't anyone on DG) I think my little brassavola is a lot less fussy.
What about re-potting? They are in solid plastic pots and sphagnum. The plastic pots worry me. Each has buds yet to open.
When my father was so sick at the end , Mom received many phals(she managed to kill 36 of them one memorable summer, leaving them out of their shade cloth, but that's another story). I shoved them at the edge of the wax plant pots and before I left this last time, I dumped(really) them into clay orchid pots and set them on an old copper shelf/stand. I shall be interested to see how they look after 2 weeks of this heavy rain. They are probably getting too much rain , but we shall see!
Dyzzy, I've tried moving phals from an upright to a hanging position before. But - in my experience - once their flowers are opened and "facing" a certain way, they won't change their orientation. The blooms are facing the direction they were trained to face. I'd wait and make changes later (after the blooms are spent) to suit personal tastes.
Keep in mind how long phals reward you with those blooms - much longer than most of the orchid types I grow, for sure. I completely understand not wanting them in an upright position, because that's how I've lost some over the years...with water accumulating in the crown without my realizing it. But take Jim's advice on not messing with their "chi" too much...especially while in bloom. Those unopened buds could blast easily if the plant loses its sense of stability. Cute little phals! Just enjoy them...especially while they're showing off. :-)
Thanks Debi, and SC. I am feeling a little more confident with these little guys now. I did ease one of them out of its pot, and the sphagnum is pretty soggy on the bottom so I put a sprinkle of orchid bark mix in the bottom and slipped it back in there. Tried removing the stake, and of course the flowers all faced down, so I replaced it. The little purple one was ok without its stake. It's confused and has flowers facing every which way.
Will hang the 'do not disturb' sign on them until the flowers finish.
SC, yes costus is aka spiral ginger for the corkscrew style stems. They do need a bit of sun to bloom, but don't want full sun. I have three different varieties, two of which were acquired as trades with a fellow DG member this spring. (excuse the non-orchid picture, all) Here's a pic of one of hers blooming on a plant grown from a cutting in April! They seem to do really well in the spotty shade of my biggest oak tree, and even compete with the oak tree roots fairly successfully. I think the flower in this pic rivals an orchid for detail. (gasp!)
Sorry, blurry picture. Here's a better one.
This message was edited Sep 4, 2011 2:09 PM
My C. chocolate drop 'Volcano Queen' is blooming and it looks like something took a bite out of it. Great fragrance.
Jim
Here is the spike. The second flower is not yet fully open.
Jim
dyzzypyxxy- as long as you don't keep keep wetting them they should dry out abit in the moss, don't watering again until there pretty much dried out and you can repot them after the flowers finish. Yeah the only Phals ive kept alive ive mounted on bark hanging down. They dry out quicker and as scbegoniaguy said 'don't get water in the crown'. They do take alot to get use to change in environment.
I'm so out of the loop, I'm sorry. Jim, I have a Chocolate Drop 'Kodama' raised from a seedling that is finally sheathing. Hope it blooms this winter.
We have had several months of terrible heat and drought. I think Scott can attest to how bad it's been. We are about to have boodles of rain over the next few days thanks to tropical storm, Lee, moving across from the Gulf. We frantically ran back to Maypop today and started seeding and mulching all those prepared beds that have been waiting for a drought break. I had not time to take orchid photos but am enjoying the chats and need to answer some mail. The next few rainy days should give me more down time.
I can definitely attest to the drought. So far today, we're not getting much rain, but I'm hoping the remnants of Lee keep on coming! A good tropical system is just what the doctor ordered. And it gives me an excuse to sit in this recliner all day. :-D
We're busy packing today. We leave tomorrow for Barcelona for a couple of days and then hop a cruise ship for 10 days in the Mediterranean. Keep the blooms coming while I'm away.
Jim
