My New Phalenopsis

We were in a store. I was at a store computer looking up something  I'd seen online that nobody in the store could find. 

I'd already mentioned that I needed a new yard rake. I said to He-Who-Mows, "Can you find me a rake and get one of those orchids over there on that display? "You mean a sweeper?" he asked. Sometimes we do not speak the same language.

He picked up the first plant he came to. I would still be circling the display, comparing the foliage of every plant and counting the blooms. He did choose a 

pretty color.

I keep orchids in the house, not the greenhouse.

Orchids for Bloom Day

Nothing is blooming in the greenhouse. Gradually everything is either planted out or summering in shade. I always include the orchids with the greenhouse posts. They live in the house in an east window as greenhouse-like an environment as I can provide that has controlled temperature.

When the Peace Lily wilts I water it, a Pothos that also lives inside and the orchids. It's a good plan.

When I watered on Friday I got the notion to repot the orchids, including the little orchid that lived in a glass cyclinder, here for several years with one episode of rebloom in all that time.

In their new orchid pots. The cream color one bloomed early April. The white one bloomed mid-March. Orchid blooms last for months. Notice the tiny new leaf in the center pot. I hope the others will feel up to sprouting a new leaf, too.

I first repotted the two bigger Phals that were in plastic cups inside a 3" ceramic pot. I didn't make photos of the process: plain 5" orchid pots, fir bark, careful of the roots. The only re-potting I've ever done was to take the cream color one out of its pot last year and give it some additional fir bark to help anchor it. It naturally wants to lean to one side.

Then I tackled the Dendrobium in the glass cyclinder. The photo is from last year when it bloomed. It sat here for years without growing. I had no idea what went on under the moss and the rocks that were its home. It lost one leaf and put on one. I felt it needed a chance at new growth.

I used one of the plastic orchid cups and the cache pot also with a drainage hole that one of the other orchids was formerly in. The tiny cup on the right is what held the little orchid, buried in about two cups of fine gravel, topped with some kind of green moss that was supposed to signal when the orchid needed water. There was a gloppy mess around what must have once been a root mass.

I gave it my best try. There were some bright green roots in the gravel. I hope they will be comfortable in fir bark. 

My Orchid in Bloom!

It was a Mother's Day present, maybe four years ago. A phalaenopsis orchid in a glass cylinder with stones topped with reindeer moss was lovely in bloom. 

When the blooms faded, I cut off the stalk as directed. The green leaves lasted. And Lasted. I watered once in a while when the stones were almost dry and the moss stopped being green. Years passed. One day last summer I noticed a rough greyish stem that turned out to be an aerial root, soon joined by more aeriel roots.  Finally just after New Year's I noticed there was a green smooth stem. It had a 'mitten' on the end.

Seven weeks passed since I noticed the bud forming. a second bud formed, now a third. This morning the first bloom is almost open, a lovely surprise. I had forgotten how it looked, only that it was white.

Small in comparison to the potted orchids I bought in January, but precious to behold.

 

The greenhouse gets too cool so the orchids bloom indoors.

Display Ideas Come from Everywhere

Sitting at the piano behind the floral offerings at a funeral yesterday, I looked up to see a container on the ledge in front of me with a small Areca Palm and an Orchid plant. Lovely.

I  moved my Palm over beside the Orchids to give them more of a

Jungle ambiance.

 

 

I would never press my luck by trying to put them in a container together.

Happy Orchids last a long time in bloom.  I bought these in bloom about a month ago. 

They are in a clear pot inside a cache pot that also has a drain hole.

 

New buds continue to grow in the glass cylinder.

Long roots grew up the sides before I ever saw a bud.

 

 

My Garden Becomes a Photo Studio, sort of

Steve Asbell suggested using a piece of black poster board as background for houseplant shots. Now,  I don't just run to the Dollar Store like it was around the corner -- it's fifteen miles one way. I did have a little pack of cardstock and a piece of cardboard so I improvised.

I want to make a post on winter weeds, the good and the bad. Weeds show up in photos as a blob of green and more green. What do you think of the Henbit above with its nice neutral background rather than weeds and dry grass? I think you could identify Henbit from it.

Henbit is one of those weeds that get to stay because beneficials seek it and the little flowers are kind of cute.  It goes away when the weather gets hot.

Dianthus 'Bath's Pink.'

 

Cardstock backdrop in hand, I was all over the garden.

 

Hyacinth. Pink when it opens.

Dogwood seeds and buds.

 

Early White Azaleas.

I kind of experimented with letting the background show. Yes.

 

Lantana, a favorite of American Painted Ladies when it's warm.

Oxalis blooms and Parsley

 Orchid, inside the house. I had a terrible time with these before because they're in front of a window.

Many of the plants pictured above are here on Secrets of a Seedscatterer.wordpress. Yesterday there was no backdrop so you can see how they look with their normal background. I thought it an improvement, what say you?

Joining Tootsie Time for Fertilizer Friday. Come join the fun!