Awesome April Orchids

Haha . . . yes, I usually let my phals bloom 'au natural' as well. This was actually the first year I tried staking them, mainly to get them to fit in my windows better!

Thanks, Jim!

I like what Doritaenopsis adds to Phals.. The hybrids are always so nice. A little harder to grow, IMO.

Elaine, it takes several months to get the garden in and is close to a full time job. We not only grow much of what we eat but we also trial seed for other growers. We started in March with clearing, tilling and planting peas, cilantro, parsley, arugaula and hardy perennials while still tending overwintered veggies. I've got one head of cabbage left from fall planting and forty young plants to go in by Sunday. There are all kinds of red lettuces and buttercrunches. The fava beans overwinter too. Next week we'll plant out broccoli, broccoli rabe, kale and chard. The first of eight or ten varieties of heirloom beans and southern peas will get planted. I've grown out over two hundred heirloom/open pollinated tomatoes and over one hundred heirloom/open pollinated peppers and eggplants. They will go out from late April to early May. Okra, summeer and winter squashes will fit in somewhere. I transplanted Japanese Soyu cukes today. Several other varieties will get planted over the next few months. Did I mention tomatillos? You'll have to make sure Jim takes his medication before the shopping trip otherwise there will be no stopping him.

Yikes! Ok, I'm tired just from reading all that. Here I thought keeping my seven Earth Boxes going was hard work.

I sure hope you have lots of good help with all that wonderful bounty you're growing.

My help is an old hippie who needs a new hip. Still, he's working hard. I'll keep him.

I don't blame you one bit. I like that old one hipped hippie too. :>)

I'm back from the long trip to Bartow and am now the proud owner of an Allagoptera arenaria, aka Seashore Palm. That makes 30 different kinds of palms I have growing on the property. I also picked up another Cycad. I know it is a Zamia but need to search some to nail down which one. My guess is it is fairly rare.

Happy Easter everyone.

Jim

Happy Easter and tonight at sundown is the beginning of Passover. We are having a mountain seder...matzo ball soup with chicken and veggies, leg of lamb that daughter slaughtered and butchered, garden cabbage and the ritual foods on the seder plate.

Congrats on your new palm, Jim. I keep thinking palm is the first syllable in palmetto bug. Another reason I don't miss FL. Your place must be looking like Jurassic Park what with the palms and cycads.

Hippies are great helpers!!

I'm not the biggest phan of phals, but they sure do look like Easter. Here's the phamily. Hope everybody has a wonderful day...

Now that's a happy phamily, Scott.

I have been gardening for hours this morning. Most of the cabbages are in. We are returning to Atlanta today just to check on things and then back for more planting. This reminds me to go check the status on that Calanthe discolor.

I agree they are phussy, and imho whoever decided they should be the "beginner" orchid was a mean person. But . . when all's said and done, awfully pretty, very long lasting flowers.

Scott that's a lovely picture.

This message was edited Apr 8, 2012 8:50 PM

Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday. Den. Yellow Song Canary and Sea Marian

Wow! Your Canary sure looks alot better than mine! I got two little spikes, and a bunch of kikis.

wow nice Phals guys and love that yellow Den.!
Heres a better look at a tiny Den i have flowering, the flowers are about 3cm wide and scented.

This message was edited Apr 9, 2012 3:42 AM

I like that yellow Den. too, Ted.

Bree, does your Den have a name? It's lovely.

Bree, I love that little Den!

Scott, nice phamily photo.

Very nice Dens.

As for me, my voice is returning slowly. Four days in a row with several songs per service has done it in.

Here is an update on my Encyclia cordigera, var. rosea:

Jim

My Cattleya maxima now has 6 huge flowers open on a single spike with one bud remaining. What a majestic plant!

Jim

Finally, a first time bloomer for me is Epc. Rene Marques 'Tyler'.

Jim

No my Den doesn't have a name Laurel. It was given to me by a grower when i bought another orchid from them, think they had grown it from seed but it didnt have a tag.
Maxima is excellent Jim, it would be up there with my few favourites like purp.

I agree, Bree. I posted a list of my top 8 must have orchids somewhere and the C. maxima and L. purpurata were both among them. Some orchids are great enough to rise above the bumbling of us amateur care givers.

Jim

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend!

Wow, some great photos posted. Scott, your phals are particularly "Eastery." Very nice! Ted, I love Yellow Song 'Canary.' Just beautiful. And Bree, your den. is very sweet looking. Jim, maxima is breathtaking. And your encyclia . . . my little plant with the 5 or so flowers . . . every once in awhile those flowers release an amazing vanilla-y scent. I can't imagine how your multitude of flowers must scent the air. I've some so close to purchasing a Epc. Rene Marques 'Tyler' several times. The color combination is superb.

Maypop, I was going to go on about my tilling and gardening efforts over the weekend, but hearing of all of your endeavors greatly humbles me. Do you post about your gardening on another thread? Would love to read about your experiences.

Hope to have some photos to post soon!

Jim I've been eyeballing that Epc. Rene Marques 'Tyler', It's got color and form I really like.

Sorry, but I just couldn't resist posting a pic of my jacaranda tree in full bloom. It's a traffic stopper.

Jim

Jim, your Jacaranda tree is beautiful. Thanks for posting the photo!

Jim they have a Jacaranda festival here in Grafton, theres streets with them growing along both sides and when there all out in full bloom they have the festival, its every year.

I'm all over that Encyclia, Jim. Three spikes makes for a plethora of flowers! How hardy is the Jacaranda?

Bree, what a beautiful picture.

Pinetop, my most recent posted garden photos are on the Georgia forum where I started this thread. http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1217421/ I started a thread here on Orchids several years ago titled "What's In Your Garden" that went on for a number of installments. It's there if you go back over old threads. I didn't go back to review but there are surely photos of both houses and the gardens of other DG members past and present.

Jacarandas are good in zones 9b and above.

Tomorrow I'm leaving early for Sarasota where I hook up with Elaine for a discount orchid hunt. I've cleaned the turbo fuel filters on my buying shoes and everything worked well on a test run. I'm taking extra meds just in case.

Jim

I'm just hoping I can keep up with Jim. An extra shot of espresso in my latte tomorrow, for sure!

I called today to ask if they take credit cards and they do - arghh. So much for restraint! We are taking the big truck, too. Whee ha!

Look what I found while misting the orchids this afternoon. This is Enc. atropene, var. alba 'Jim' X Bepi. Bradly's Judy 'Spots'.

Jim

Have fun and come home with lots of photogenic beauties. With our temperatures flying up and down there's been no time for photos. Either I'm rushing around opening up the greenhut during sunny days or sealing it up and setting the heaters up for cold nights. I'm hauling tray after tray of veggie seedlings out every morning and back in at night too. The greenhut is too big (or maybe there are to many orchids?) to accommodate veggies.

LOL! Laurel, I took all my 'chids that could hang out to get a good soaking and washing last night. It didn't get below 52. Well, the big storm pretty much passed us by and they didn't even get a decent watering. Tonight, it's back to the heater as temps are dropping again. SIGH... I still have to fill my water features. I know this sounds silly to y'all, but I'm just so sick of this rollercoaster ride. My plumerias have inflos, but are dropping the leaves they held on to all winter, my bulbs are about finished, my lilies are comming up (one is in full bloom), I have one over-zealous daylily scaping, but I can't plant my tomatos yet. I hope "MOTHER" is done punishing us for our sins against her....

Carol, we have trees that have bloomed and leafed out and trees that are still bare! Our giant old redbud that used to overhang the deck and be covered in spring flowers is dead. I have been very good to MOTHER. She should treat me kindly.

Here is the young Calanthe at Maypop. It didn't open by the time we left. Looks pretty in the shade garden. Hopefully it will still be in bloom when we return.

Posadaara Orchidum 'Magician'. This intergeneric Tolumnia hybrid has been in bloom for several months. I don't think the RHS recognizes this grex.

Miami neighbor gave me a few pbs of her NOID Oncidium three years ago. It's grown very rapidly and is blooming for the first time. Got lots of hairy roots.I can see this one as getting too big for my space.

This Paph. is taking it's sweet time to open.

Dendrobium unicum is in full bloom. That's Procyclea Little Nuggets in the background.

Procyclea Little Nuggets 'Mendenhall' HCC/AOS has eight spikes. I'll try to round them up when it is in more full bloom.

A favorite Tolumnia Memoria Ralph Yagi 'Palola' AM/AOS. SEveral months ago this plant had two spikes full of flowers mysteriously abort. Maybe that was when the greenhut got so cold. Now there is this back bloom of a few sweet flowers.