I went to an artesania fair yesterday and while there were a lot of things I'd love to have, I resisted. The one booth I kept going back to though was full of orchids and bromeliads mounted on logs. I finally bought one that is 3.5 feet tall and has 5 orchids and several bromeliads on it. I'll try and get a more detailed pic of the individual plants later but this is the whole thing leaning against a column on my terrace. I have to figure out where to hang it now.
Some other ones for sale.
a few more
I don't know what these are, they were on several of the mounts. Really primodial looking, he said they were an orchid but I didn't understand the name.
Those are really neat looking!!!!
WOW! That's lovely - please show us pictures when it blooms!
Beautiful ideas....
There is a tree Acnistus arboresences (Solanaceae) which has a corky bark. It is special to grow orchids. This bark maintains the humidity and having a non smooth surface helps the roots to get attached. I don t use baskets at all to grow orchids. I plant all my orchids directly to the trunk or branches of this tree. Trees of Crescentia cujete or alata (Bignoniaceae) also have same characteristics of Acnistus.
Last picture, some options Schomburgkia, Mormodes, Catasetum. Some of this genus has in the pseudobulb teminal showing some spines
I looked up all of the ones you mentioned for the last picture, I hate it that usually orchid pictures are just of the blooms not the plant. I did find one picture of a Mormodes that showed part of the stem and it looks similar. I wish now that I had gotten one of them as well, they are so primordial looking even without a bloom.
I recognize the Acnistus arboresences, it's called a squash tree here (arbol de calabazas). The fruit are used for bowls and lamps and other things.
I found this site (http://darnis.inbio.ac.cr/ubis/FMPro?-DB=UBIPUB.fp3&-lay=WebAll&-error=norec.html&-Format=detail.html&-Op=eq&id=7124&-Find) about the Acnistus arborescens in Costa Rica. It says that it is called a Güitite there. It also looks familiar and I am pretty sure it is common up here as well but I don't recognize that name, it could be different here. The leaves and flowers look very familiar and I think I've seen it mainly in the country with tons of epiphytes in the branches. I will look for it now out in the country and in nurseries.
I don't have a lot of room for even medium sized trees to put my orchids on, I have several attached to the rock wall and I am adding a Flor de Mayo (Plumeria) to put some others on. I live in the center of a mid-size city (Mérida, Yucatan) in an old colonial without a large yard.
Hello extranjera Acnistus arborescenes has small orange fruits (berries) Solanaceae. The one called calabaza is Crescentia big fruits and as you mentioned these kind of fruits are used to make different ornaments. Flor de mayo has a relative smooth bark and milky sap, so I will choose another tree, You can find a tree of the species that I mentioned before and cut a large branch. So you can attach some orchids and hang it to a wall. You are not going to believe but here the material used for attaching orchids to a tree are strips of nylon stockings. This material is very flexible and is porous so it will never damage the roots.
That's a good idea, attaching the branch to the wall. I have used stockings as well to tie epiphytes to a branch, at another home. I also have some thin strips of a soft rubber like drawer liner ( left from cutting it to fit the drawers) and I've used that so far. It's not porous but it is soft and flexible.
Are you in the highlands of Costa Rica? I know, I should just look up Atenas.
Atenas is located at 700-800 meters above sea leve, Pacific Sidel. In this area you can find Guarianthe skinneri other Cattleyas, Brassavolas, Oncidium etc. Two seasons wet (part of May to part of Npvember) and dry (December to May) seasons. Int his week I am going to the southern part of Costa Rica. it is so rich in vegetation and wild animals. I am going to look for seeds of Serjania (Sapindaceae) . I am going to start a business raising butterflies (Callicore pitheas). So the host plant of this butterfly is Sapindaceae. How about Merida?
Hey, Extranjera!I just saw this, such a beautiful acquisition! Congrats!
Thanks goofybulb. So far it looks happy where I've put it, I'm spraying it with water every day because we are in our dry season and the humidity is down around 50% with hot dry winds.
Mérida is on the northern tip of the Yucatan peninsula of México, about 20 miles inland from the Gulf coast. It is the capitol of the state of Yucatán, one of 3 states on the peninsula of the same name. We are the top of the 'thumb' of Mexico that separates the Gulf of Mexico from the Carribbean. Sea level, warm to hot most of the time with a distinct rainy and dry season. Our rains usually start in June or July and extend through the end of November but last year they started late and we are in a drought now. Generally the hottest times of the year are May to June or whenever the rains start but we had a week of 40°C+ (104°F) temps at the end of March this year. I hope the drought does not continue, we need the rains to come on time. I live in an old colonial stone and mortar house in the historical center of the city, I have a pond and pool in the back but not a lot of garden space so most of my plants are in pots on terraces. Currently I have some giant bamboo and heliconia along the back wall and we are planning on replacing the stone outside terrace with more plants and a smaller hardscape.
Most of my energy this past month has been towards getting the outside pond working and planted. I was fortunate to meet a important importer and collector of tropical water lilies and I just got 5 named beauties from him for the pond. N. 'Director GT Moore', N. 'Foxfire', N. 'Red Cup', N. 'Wood's Blue Goddess' and a species N. capensis. I'm not actually sure about the species until it blooms as he wasn't sure and my research shows a different pad color. It will be wonderful whatever it is though.
This is a bad time to plant in the ground and so I'm putting off re-doing the garden until the rains start. It's a good excuse anyway, I really don't have the time or energy right now.
Here's a pic of the pond after I got the lilies planted yesterday.
Nice little pond! Do you have a good spot for the orchid tree around the pond? Should increase the local humidity.
No, not unless I use Bignonia's idea and mount a limb on the wall. That area though is full sun, which is good for the lilies, but not so good for the orchids. Most of the year we don't need any help with humidity ;) Our summers are similar to the Gulf coast below Houston, hot and humid. Winter's are better though with the night lows rarely getting below 15°C or 60°F and warm, sunny days.
mmmmm... Paradise!
Yes, I think it is paradise. But, I like warmth and the heat doesn't make life bad. I didn't say that well, but if I am cold I can't think of anything else and it ruins my whole outlook on everything. If I am hot, well I just slow down and adjust but it doesn't take over my world or make everything unbearable the way cold does. So, I have adjusted to the heat and now if it gets to 20°C (70°F or below) I am really chilly and have to get the sweats on and the jacket. It's 38°C (100°F) today and I'm comfortable sitting out on the covered terrace on the computer.
Such a pretty pond extranjera, and nice to hear all about your place in Merida - it sounds wonderful!
Jenn
Thanks, we've been renovating the house for over a year and just moved in last February. I'm just starting to work on the pond and the yard, in fact I think I'm going to make some major changes in the yard. I'm not thrilled with the rough stone that most of it is covered with, I want more space for plants and a smoother surface for walking. It's the beginning of the journey for the garden.
Hola extranjera, How are your orchids doing? Adios
It seems to be doing really well. The bud spike that was already started has gotten a lot longer and I can see small buds on the end now.
There is also a spike starting from the mule-ear "oncidium" Lophiaris, that is the ID I was given on an orchid forum. You can see it just to the right in the large, purple leaved orchid at top.
Here is the whole tree with the incredibly long spike coming up. Several of the Bromeliads seem to be putting out bloom stalks as well. No real color on them yet. The roots all look healthy and I think it likes its location. Lots of light but nothing direct and it is near the edge of the terrace so lots of air movement too. I'm still spraying it daily, sometimes twice, as it has been very hot and dry. Once the rains start it should be much happier.
I just found several new blooms coming out on the heliconia as well, that's making me very happy. They had looked a little shocked for awhile and it was not really a good time to plant them, better would have been after the rains start. I spray them down every day as well, trying to keep them happy and it seems to be working.
Yes, eventually I would like to see the pictures of those orchids that are in bloom!.
Everything seems to revolve around the rainy season in the garden. Officially our rainy season ends today, tomorrow will be the dry season. There's a number of plants I didn't get a chance to plant out so looks like they'll be spending more time in pots, at least until the end of the year when the ground's soaked again.
Here in Costa Rica the rainy season will begin in approximately 15 days. I am desperate because plants are very dry.
I wish we could be sure when the rains would start. Last year they were very late, into late July. We are officially in a drought this year. Usually they come sometime in June. It's very dry here as well. I spray everything once or twice a day but when I don't get there morning and evening, I can see the stress and drying. The last few days there have been clouds and muggy weather but no rain, it clears and the dry winds come back. We too are very dependent on the rainy season, I think it is a given in the sub tropics that have these 2 seasons. I follow a blog of a gardener in Panama and she is getting desperate as well, she's spending 6+ hours a day watering. She planted a lot of trees and fruits thinking the rains had started but it was a false start. She's lived there for years, even the old timers get fooled.
The last two days it was very cloudy, even we heard thunders, as you said false alarm. Only hope that the wather will behave and the rainy season will begin as usually in the middle of May. I am going to start to reproduce butterflies but I depend on the rainy season because first I have to start reproducing th host plant. I have to go to the jungle pick up Serjania sp (Sapindaceae) and plant them in pots, if I do that right now it will not work watering them with a hose. In my opinion, !Nothing is better then the water coming from the rain.!
April can sometimes be our wettest month for the rainy season. Any month from December to April can. But this April was one of the driest, the wet season ended really early. About 500 kms to our east they've still been getting heavy rain but nothing here. I'm afraid this is going to be a long, dry and hot dry season.
I have been in Australia. I read that Noonamah is in northern part of Australia. Actually the first place that we visited was Cairns, that area looked like to some of the jungle of Costa Rica.
I remember you mentioning that before. The east coast has the highest rainfall with the tropical parts getting rain right through the year, although a lot less during the dry season. Here, further west, the dry season is hot and very dry, the wet season hot and wet. We're also closer to the equator than Cairns.
The first spike is blooming! One opened today and the others are starting to open.
closer
closest
Its looks like Myrmecophila = Schomburgkia
Looks gorgeous, Extranjera! So delicate!
What a pity!
Those botanical plants have probably been taken from the wild.
May be they are endangered species.
They are much more difficult to care than usual hybrids sold ěn the shops.
Hangs them under a tree and FORGET them.
Doing so, You'll be lucky if they are still alive in 6 months !
Yes, I think it is a Schomburgkia, Myrmecophila is accurate too as there are a species of ant that inhabits them and is symbiotic with them.
Petibon, it is true that the original plant was no doubt taken from the wild. However, the 'wild' here is a relative term as there are no areas that are completely wild and these orchids thrive in all areas around here, including in trees in the city. I'm not hanging it in a tree and forgetting it, nor have I removed it from its native area. It is hanging on my terrace and I have been spraying it twice a day lately because the rains are not here. I also fertilize it weakly because the ants seem to have moved on. I saw a few in the beginning and made a silent deal with them that they could live in the orchid but needed to stay out of my house. They didn't move into the house but I no longer see them on the orchid either. Now, with the nectar hanging on the blooms I think I would see them. I doubt these are an endangered species here in the Yucatan since I see them in trees all over, including in vacant lots in the middle of the city. But whatever, we see it differently. I live in an area where the only orchids sold in nurseries are native orchids that originated somewhere here in the 'wild'. I feel as long as they stay here in their native area, they will thrive and reproduce.
