Dave, I love that Dendrobium, and the Bamboo orchid! Is it a species, or a hybrid - the Dendrobium?
Arch, you have to go back and get that bamboo orchid! It's beautiful!
Orchids then and now. The story of 13 orchids and counting..
The Dendrobium is supposed to be a wild species. I can't find a species to match though. The flowers measure 1 1/2 inches by 1 inch. I've been given a number of species over the years by nursery folks who say "It's a rare plant but I don't know what it is"! I still have several unknowns; this is one of them.
Here's another shot!
rather get those palms im addicted got a habit of 20$ a day addiction lol
I sure wish those bamboo orchids were wild in my area, what lovely plants you have in your garden Dave.
Here's the ionopsis. It's finally bloomed! The flowers are very small, about 2cm across at the widest point and about 2cm in length. I'll get another photo when the whole inflorescence is open.
Arch, I know what you mean about an addiction. There's always some plant you HAVE to get, even though there's no room for it!
yepp and when im out of the $$$$$$$ i always ALWAYS work something out to where i can get this plant that im so amazed by and want :P hope i can always werk it out :)
thats a siam ruby banana one i just HAD to get :P
Hey ArchAngel, is that Banana, Musa acuminata 'Rubra'?
Interesting to hear of all the talk on the expense of Orchids, etc. I bought a Haemaria discolor, Jewel Orchid, several years ago for $2.00. It's the only Orchid I ever purchased!
Dave, I love how your Dendrobium lives on the tree! You are so lucky to be able to give them the most natural conditions! Your flowers remind me of one of my NOID Dends (however, I think mine is a hybrid). But mine doesn't have the wavy-curly lips (see also the 7th pic in this thread for a close-up).
Yeah, Orchids can be pretty expensive here, on the continent, and in Europe, too. The cheapest I've ever seen were small seedlings for $5 each.
Gangajay, that's a beautiful little orchid! Love the blooms!
Arch, I am not yet bitten by the banana disease, I love bananas but I have none. But I can surely understand your passion, and that's a beautiful plant!
I am still enjoying all the Orchid bloom's everyone.
Dave, the Phal's and the Dendro's both sale here for around $20-25.00 dollar's a piece. The three different Phalaenopsis that I purchased last year were not cheap but have alway's been in bloom and still are. Thank goodness the Orchid bug has not grabbed me to purchase more.
Rachel
yes go bananas please hahahah and the banana is MUSA acuminata 'SIAM RUBY'
Yes, almost all of mine were purchases. They are a little cheaper here cos orchids are a significant export. I've always wanted to grow cymbidiums but they need a cooler climate :( . Dave, I am amazed you only ever purchased one orchid! How did you manage that?
I've never thought of bananas as an ornamental plant! It's beautiful, Arch! Does it fruit? Over here they are just grown for culinary purposes. Have any of you tried eating the flower? It can be cooked as a vegetable and it tastes pretty good.
I bought the ionopsis after seeing a prizewinning specimen at last year's flower show. The picture's a little blurry. It was very difficult to get close to the plants, not to mention having to snap a shot quickly before I was mown down by irate orchid lovers anxious to take their own photos! LOL
On the subject of cymbidiums, a question for the Hawaiian gardeners: is it cool enough for you to grow them there? I believe they need cooler nights to flower, and it rarely gets below 27C at night here, so I wondered if your climate was better for them.
Rachel, until I saw them at the show, I'd never heard of ionopsis either. In fact, when I first saw it I didn't think it was an orchid. It seems to be commonly known as the Violet Orchid. I don't know where it originates, or anything much about its growing conditions. I just thought it was very pretty. The show was interesting because it featured many small and miniature orchids. The top prize at the show went to a very tiny orchid. The whole plant, blooms included was no bigger than the size of my palm. I'll post a picture later, but it's very fuzzy.
this particular banana is extreamly new to the market and it is unknown weather it fruits or not,however all bananas fruit but most are seedy and inedible,this one is grown for its beutifull tropical appearance and variegated foliage,i have fruiting banana's as well but i havn't got my first harvest yet,i just moved so im looking forward to it,i never thought of eating the flowers! id leave it for fruit!! i geuss its so common there u guys have countless banana flowers :-)
Hi Arch, I think it's from the part of the flower at the end of the bunch. I'll have to ask my grandmother. She has a banana plant (or mini banana jungle to be more accurate) at the back of her house, and we usually get the banana flowers from her (not to mention tasty bananas!).
Ok here's the mini orchid from the show last year. I think it's hilarious the way the cup totally dwarfs the plant! Unfortunately it was in a cordoned off area, and I only have a point and shoot camera, so this is the best I could do. I have no idea what species it is.
Most common Orchids cost from $5 to $8 here; usually Dendrobiums, Oncidiums, or Phalenopsis. Rare Orchids cost more. The Garden Exchange in Hilo is a great place to find unusual types, for a decent price.
I have been given most of my Orchid plants, or gotten cuttings, from friends and neighbors. I would buy Angraecum Orchids for my Madagascar garden, but I've never seen any for sale, and don't know anyone who has any.
Are there any nurseries that flask (propagate) Orchids in Florida, Texas, or California? That would greatly reduce their cost.
Thailand has a lot of Orchid flasking businesses setting up which are supposed to give Hawai'i a lot of competition for Orchid sales in Japan, Hong Kong, and maybe the USA.
The photo shows why some Orchids show up in Hawaiian gardens as volunteers. It is Spathoglottis plicata producing seeds! When the seed capsules ripen, they split open and the tiny dust-like seeds go floating in the breeze.
Okay to slip an Orchid Cactus in here?
Wow that must be a nice surprise to see these volunteers. That's a nice orchid cactus, Metrosideros. The bloom looks very large. My grandmother used to have one called 'Queen of the Night'.
Do you have differently themed gardens? (since you mentioned a Madagascar one). That's really cool.
Sharing plants is great. I share herb cuttings with some of my friends. Most of my orchids were bought at fund raising bazaars, so I think I probably paid more than they were worth, but it was for a good cause. And they had babies, so that was good!
i like to plant orchids between my palm trees leaf bases/petioles
I'm sorry I've been missing... but everyone has beautiful pictures of beautiful plants! Thanks, GJ and Dave!
Of course the Orchid Cactus is wellcome! My Grandma used to have a huge one, I admired it for most of my life back home, though now I don't think we have it anymore. A beautiful red, day-flowering, every year full of flowers. I didn't know how they were called here, until a November night when I visited forums not known to me here, and I found the "Orchid Cactus Forum". That's when I found out their common and scientific names.
Late last fall, I've been gifted several cuttings of various types of Epiphyllums, most of them NOIDs (which really doesn't matter for me), but also 3 species and 2 named cultivars. Also purchased two more, both supposedly fragrant (a red and a pink). I am training my patience, so I'll be very happy when they'll start flowering.
Dave, do you have others as well? Is yours fragrant? Please show us more!
I wanted to tell you about the seedlings. I never tried them, as I was told they are fussier than the bigger plants (or divisions). The nursery I used to visit while in Miami has an internet offer this month, for vandaceous seedlings of their own crosses, 10 for $60, which I think it's a nice price. However, for some states (HI, AZ), the required phyto certificate rises the cost too much!
I have not found an orchid nursery close to me here, though there are some nurseries in TX, they are in the east and central TX. There is one in Phoenix, AZ, and I promised myself I'll go there when in Phoenix. We cannot find orchids cheap, not even Home Depot or the superstore here would sell an orchid for under $10! The species and named ones, we cannot find them in a box-store, well, not usually.
I still believe that on the continent the orchids are regarded as special plants, thus the higher costs? You have good friends and neighbors, that is for sure!
One of my expensive orchids (that died, btw) I bought together with my friend (it was $55), and when we left for El Paso, I didn't have the guts to divide her. After many "you take it", "no, you take it" it was decided to be mine - bad decision, it would have lived happily in Miami!
The same friend gifted me the little Tolumnia, in one of my visits to Miami last July-August. That is one of my happy campers here!
I cannot imagine how nice can it be to have seedlings growing in your garden! You have the blessed conditions for it!
Hugs,
Alexandra
For those of you that may have problems growing Phals.
I use clay orchid pots.....with the slots...and a fifty / fifty mix of one to two inch red lava rock and charcoal.
The nurseries grow mostly in sphagnum for the speed of development but this is done under very controlled watering regimens.
It often fails for the average hobbyist.
Tree fern works good too but the idiots rip 30 year old plants from the rainforest and shred them to sell to the slimy likes of Homeless Despot and Walmart.
Nice collection you have there. You have got the bug. I'd say you'll have a couple hundred in the next 5 years.
I bought 2 for my wife in 1986. In 1992 I had over 3000 which hurricane Andrew quickly destroyed. I have about 600 in cultivation and maybe 100 growing wild. Love 'em !
Here's my all time favorite which grows wild here.
Here is my second favorite growing wild. Fragrant too !
Toucan, beautiful orchids, and also so unusual forms!
I think that my Phal problem was indeed the potting mix. However, until I gathered the courage to move her into a bark-charcoal mix, her roots were almost gone. It lingered for about a month or two, and then I applied the "coup-de-grace" by moving in the desert. Once it started to decline, there was no way back!
I certainly got the bug! I think I learned a lot from my orchids, I was intimidated by them, even afraid of them! I'm still struggling to find the best conditions for them, given my location. It will not be soon, I believe, my next purchase... The emotional distress for every lost orchid, plus the financial aspect with some measure, keep me from purchases right now.
I have 2 more years of being in El Paso. If we're going to get out of the desert then (any place that has more than 30% humidity in the driest months would do, I think), I am sure the first thing I'll buy in the new place will be an orchid!
(I already have chosen which!!!!)
OK, my friends! Over the ocean and on the Old Continent, my sister got bitten by the Orchid Bug! Mission accomplished? I dunno! maybe she should have more than one to declare a full-fledged disease, but it's a start.
And guess what? She's trying my Nemesis... the Phalenopsis. Lookie here!
Hi Alexandra, nice to have you back! Good to hear you've made another orchid convert! Hi Toucan! Those are beautiful orchids. What species is the one in the first picture?
The ionopsis is now fully in bloom.
And check out the brassavola: it has sent out THREE stalks. I've never seen so many on this one before.
Gangajay, I'm never completely gone! Yes, things happen sometimes, internet failure, a migraine, insomnia followed by too much sleep, worries for the family back home, a bad mood (I avoid posting or phoning then)... But I always come back.
The Ionopsis has such delicate flowers! And I took my Brassavola and showed her your photo! She should see what she is supposed to do!
Gosh Alexandra, I hope you're taking it easy. Don't get too stressed.
I like that you showed your brassavola the photo! I often talk to my plants when they're not behaving.
Here's something else which has started to flower. It's a small dendrobium.
