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!

My first zygopetalum

The blooms on this plant aren't too amazing, but people always rave about the fragrance. And hey describe the scent as like a hyacinth which I love.  Usually the plants in stores don't smell to strong, but maybe that's just the stress of changing environments and the lack of sunlight. But I can smell it and it's very pleasant. Hopefully it'll be more intense as the blooms age. There are two spikes each with 4 flowers. The second spike hasn't opened yet but looks very close.   I got this at Trader Joe's. If you know the name of the orchid, please comment. The bulbs don't look great and are shriveled. But it was the only one there and I wanted to get something. It also has quite a few pseudobulbs. I count eleven which is quite high as there was an oncidium there that was just one big bulb. Hopefully this will do well for me. 

A couple of days later:  Two more buds opened. The new blooms have a fair scent. The lip is very wrinkly which I don't really like. The older books have the same problem but not as bad so I think they'll straighten out but not completely. 

Another NOID succulent

I got a new plant today. It looks like one of those with strange out of this world flowers so I got it. I find the flowers intriguing. So we'll have to wait and see what the flowers look like as I don't know what this plant is. I've been aquiring quite a few lately and can't wait until they flower.

 These succuenlents have new growths that start anyware along the stems close to a spike. But there is a red growth in the center that looks like a flower bud rather then a new growth. I'm crossing my fingers.

Update: July12

Flower bud opening up. It is plain yellow with a dark center. I was hoping for a more unusual looking flower, but I'm happy it bloomed. 

July 17:

Flower is fully opened. It's textured and seems to be fuzzy. I don't detect any scent. If anyone knows the ID of this plant. Please leave a comment. 

NOID succulent. Possibly a huernia.

Anyone know what this is? I think it's some sort of huernia and that's why I got it.  If I can get it to bloom it should help with the ID. I did repot this from the plastic nursery pot it came in into a ceramic pot. The plant is fragile and I broke a few pieces off. I stuck the pieces into the soil. They should root.

Mini haul

More plants. 😀
I stopped by Home Depot on Wednesday 5/17 to look for some garden plants. We've had 90 plus degree weather for a couple of days so the plants looked a little crispy. So I was a little disappointed and went to look around the indoor houseplant section. And look what I found!!

It's a fragrant mini phaleonopsis. I was so excited when I caught the scent.  It's difficult to describe but it reminds be of a floral scented soap. It wasn't labeled but I'm pretty sure it's Phal. Jiaho’s Pink Girl.  It is a cross between Phal. Schilleriana and Phal. Zuma’s Pixie.  It looks like it has picked up more traits from the Shilleriana parent. I love the spotting on the flowers and the dark mottled leaves.  It also has branching flower spikes. Such a tiny plant with so many flowers.

There is one flower that's missing a lip. Strange. I wonder if it is a genetic thing. Hopefully I'll get it to rebloomed. I have a lot more luck with large phaleonopsis. I feel like the smaller ones are easier to overwater. Not sure why, maybe it's because it's in such a small container it seems like it would dry out too fast, but it really doesn't.

 Another strange thing is I didn't smell the scent the next day. Maybe it's the change in environment. Some require sunlight to become fragrant. I did move it into more sun and it did help, but it's still a lot more mild than it was before.  I'm really glad I found this one.

 Echeveria setosa var. minor

The hairy leaves were just so cute. It kind of looks prickly, but they are not spines. I don't have any fuzzy echeveria yet, and now I do.

April showers bring may flowers

There's been so much rain lately I don't remember the last sunny day. The sun finally came out today and it was glorious, even though it also came with watery itchy eyes. Yesterday there was an herb sale, but I didn't get any herbs. I came home with two orchids and an ice plant. Part of the sale was outdoors and it started raining just as we started browsing around. Here are the plants I got.

Oncidium sharry baby 'sweet fragrance'

This one is so famous for the chocolate fragrance I just had to get one although I don't think it smells too much like chocolate.  To me it smell like some sort of sweet cookie. The fragrance hasn't been too strong. I'm not sure if it's because some of the blooms are past it's prime. From researching online sweet frangrance should have a stronger fragrance than the other most popular clones.  It is said that the fragrance will fill an entire room.  This is also a very large plant. From the base of the bulb to the tip of the spike it's 37 inches. Hopefully it will grow larger under my care and I'll get multiple spikes.

Dendrobium attoviolacea Pygmy x 'H & R'

This one had so many flowers and three spikes on a petite plant. They stay small which is great for my space situation. I'm running out of room and there are still so many more plants I want.  The spots stripes and the purple edge drew me to this plant. Even the back of the flower is decorated with the spots. I believe this doesn't require a winters rest like the nobiles. I found a forum post where someone mentioned this smells like chocolate, but I don't detect any fragrance at all. Two of the canes are new but they came rebloom on old canes which means a potential for more flowers. 

Ice plant 'fire spinner'

I have some ice plants and they grow so well with little care. The multicolored flowers in this one looks like a sunset. I also decided to pick this one as the plant seems very vigorous and healthy. The pot is having trouble containing it. 

Blooms in the backyard

After a very cold and gloomy start to spring it finally feels like it. It's cool with a high in the low 50's but we had a couple of above average 80 plus days.  The Kwanzan cherry tree in the back is almost at full bloom. Just two days ago there were only a handful of blooms opened. Here are a couple of pictures of blooms in the yard.