New phaleonopsis orchids

I ordered a couple of plants on eBay and revived them Saturday. They are small phaleonopsis orchids. But they are blooming size. The smaller of the two did come with a flower, but it was dried and fell off after a couple of days. Since they should rebloom on the same spike, hopefully another bud and flower will form soon.
I'm very interested in species phals and fragrant orchids. Can't wait for them to bloom.

Phal bellina 'TH'  (Right)
Phal (bellina var. coerulea 'Bessing' x violacea 'USA Blue')  (Left)

Repotted the orchids on September 3rd.

I used decorative orchid pots.  This is the first time using one of those glazed pots with holes on the side. Once it matures and roots grow through, it'll be stuck forever right?  No repotting I guess unless you want to rip all the roots off. Not sure how I feel about that. I guess we'll see.

The other pot is a very small glazed pot. There are no holes on the sides but there is one large drainage hole.

Both orchids were potted with a lot of styrofoam peanuts for drainage along with bark and charcoal. The larger pot also has perlite.

Schoenorchis tixieri in bloom

The smallest orchid I own is in bloom. The entire plant is probably about the size of a quarter. There were two spikes that grew in early spring. One dried up. I think it might be related to transitioning the orchid from growing inside to outdoors. The tiny spike took forever to mature and flower. My mounted orchids hang on my cherry tree. This one gets very bright light as it hangs on the edge among the smaller branches. I water the orchid every day. Sometimes more than once. It's getting close to the end of summer. I think I might have to star thinking about brining plants back into the house soon. I dread the thought of it. I have too many plants to bring in and very little space.

Rebloomed my first paphiopedilum

Paph. (Makuli-CurtisII)-Maudiae x Paph. Maudiae 'Napa Valley' HCC/AOS x Sib

I purchased this plant last fall (See Oct. 22, 2016 post) with a flower. I actually ripped off the left petal the day I got it. It was so upsetting. But now less than a year later, it's already in full bloom. I hope the flowers will last a while.

The new fan has a lot less leaves than the original fan. The leaves are comparable in size though. I wonder what is causing this? Does it need more fertilizer? I do fertilize but not regularly. It's in a south facing window so should get plenty of light for a paph.

If you take a look at the base, it is starting a new growth. Already a new fan for next years bloom. It's growing faster than the last fan. People say paphs are slow growers? At least this one growing faster than all my other orchids. My phals and vandaceous types only grow a couple of leaves per year.

sedirea japonica seedlings

I purchased some plants on eBay. It was an impulse buy. The action I bid on came with three seedlings. Two plants have four leaves and one has three. They are in 2 inch pots. It looks like they have got good roots, but I didn't take the plants out of the pot so I'm just looking at the ones on top and the air roots. How long will these take to bloom?  Maybe I should have purchased lareger plants. lol. I'm not alway very patient. But at least these don't take up much space cause they are so tiny.

These are Japanese orchids and are a species. They should be fragrant. I've never smelled one but people say they smell lemony and very pleasant. The fragrance is one of the reasons why I decided to purchase these plants. 

First flowers on my Neofinetia falcata (Onamisecai)

I'm excited to see this bloom. I purchased it this past November and it's the first time this plant has bloomed. There are only two flowers. I wish there were more, but like I mentioned these are its first blooms so I wouldn't really expect more. I tried sniffing and don't detect any scent.  Neofenetia falcatas are known for strong fragrance, so I'll be checking back. Everyone always raves about how good they smell. Hopefully I won't be disappointed. The flowers are small but they still stand out. And actually the flowers are probably longer than the plant is tall. This is a picture from today.

The side view shows how long the spurs are and they curve forward. 

This shows a picture from yesterday when the buds had not opened yet. 

The flower spike actually snuck up in me. Since it's mounted and lives outside it dries quickly on this hot summer weather. I water it daily so I don't know what happened.  How did I miss a spike?  This is a picture from July 26h. I only noticed the flowers a few days before this. 

Nymphaea James Brydon Water lily bloom

I have a tub in the backyard where I keep some guppies over the summer. Last year I got a water lily and it survived the winter. I had it sitting in a plastic food container that I used as a pot. I brought it out in late spring.  It started blooming yesterday. The flower is beautiful and the color is very dark and rich.

 The lily pads aren't as large as they were last year.  I was too lazy to repot and fertilize.

The picture below shows it opening up for the first time yesterday morning.  They actually close back up in the evening. The flower only lasts a few days. You can also see that there is a red lily pad in the bottom right of the picture. That's the color when they first emerge and they turn green.

 Here is the packing for the water lily. I bought it from a big home improvement store. The first one I got actually had some white fuzz on it that looked like mold. So I had returned it and got another.

I don't remember exactly when I purchased it but I think it wasn't early summer. I only got one flower last year. Hopefully this year I'll get more.

Phalaenopsis Princess Kaiulani 'Chin Yo'

Princess Kaiulani is a cross between amboinensis and violacea. The colors on the flowers are unreal. They're almost neon. I do like natural colors but the pictures of these flowers on the web are amazing. I haven't seen this orchid available in online nurseries so once I spotted it on eBay I jumped on it. I was nervous about buying an orchid on eBay, but the sellers ratings were good. I purchased it over the weekend. It was shipped Monday and I got it today. 
It was potted in sphagnum moss and I repotted it in bark and included a lot of styrofoam peanuts that came with the shipment. The pot is kinda of large for the orchid so I wanted to make sure drainage was excellent. 
It is supposed to be blooming size. There is no spike. I really want a flower! What are the chances I can get one this year? They are supposed to be summer blooming. I am also not sure if I should keep it outside. It will probably grow better with natural light but the it will be exposed to the elements. Inside it'll just get light from a window but be protected from pests. I have brought a bunch of other orchids outdoors. They are doing ok so I might give it a try outside. Wish me luck!