Neostylis Lou Sneary 'Bluebird' in bloom

This is the first time I’ve had this plant in bloom. Got this back in January with dried flower spikes. I’m very happy with the two flower spikes although the tips are dried. Not sure what happened with that. And along the way I’ve knocked at least two buds off. Grrr. So clumsy. But I have a tight space to work with and with plants packed into a small growspace it’s bound to happen. The flowers smell great but not as strong as I hoped. I still like it’s parent, the Neofinetia falcata’s fragrance better. The other parent is the Rhynchostylis coelestis. This plant is easy to grow and rewarding. Love it.

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.

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. 

Dendrobium "Country Girl" blooming

There are a total of nine buds and they started opening on Feb 24. There are a few flowers opened and there are still a few more to go. This is the same plant featured in my very first post on this blog back in September 2016. It actually rebloomed with one single flower a few weeks back on an old cane that already flowered, but I had an accident and knocked that one off.  Clumsy me.

I wonder what the normal blooming season is for this plant.  Since the nursery is located in Hawaii in optimal growing conditions, switching climates probably affected the timing of the blooms. I also really didn't give it a winter rest as your supposed to with dendrobium nobiles. The plant had flowers and new growths on it that were only a few inches tall, so since it was still actively growing, I didn't restrict water.  These new growths are still a lot smaller that the older canes. I'm hoping I can bring it out in the summer for natural sun, rain and wind. And by winter, it'll be over a year under my care so it should be fully acclimated and I should be able to give it a proper winters rest.

I've also notice that flowers I've bloomed are more purple and there is less orange in the throat. I'll see if the color changes as the flowers age, or if it is just because of a difference in the environment. I have some other plants that when they rebloomed had a different appearance from the time I purchased them.

Update on March 13
The flowers have lightened and there are darker yellow tones.  The flowers are still going strong.  I hope they'll last a long time.  

Airplant blooming

I've had airplants for years and I think this is only the second time I've gotten them to bloom.  I purchased the one pictured below back in April of 2012. The blooming plant should be a variety of tillandsia ionantha. It did come with a tag but I no longer know which tag goes with which plant. I spray my plants frequently as it's ridiculously dry in the winter with the heat running. Once in a while I'll throw them in my aquarium. That way they'll get a good soak and fertilized with fish water. I can't wait until the weather gets warm enough to leave them outside. It's so much easier to spray them down with a hose and let rain water them. I miss summer! It's snowing out right now and that just makes me miss it more.

Update (2/5):

There are three blooms now. 

Couldn't resist clearance miltoniopsis orchids

I stopped by a small nursery today to browse around and I stumbled across some clearance orchids. There were a small bunch of miltoniopsis orchids on a shelf and the bright orange clearance sticker caught my eye. They were only five dollars! I was trying to pick through them to find one to purchase. But after a while I thought, why just one? I ended up grabbing three. Each plant was $29.98 originally. What a deal! As expected for orchids that are marked down, the blooms are on their way out and are a little worse for wear.  I think they are still pretty and the plants looked healthy with plump pseudobulbs.  I have never rebloomed a miltoniopsis before, so wish me luck. Now I have a total of four of these. You can see my first miltoniopsis in this post: Last miltoniopsis flowers. And of course orchids they sell around here almost never have tags. If you know the ID, please let me know.

This red one has extra large flowers and is fragrant.  They are almost 3.5 inches across and 4 inches tall.

I thought this yellow one was a little plain, but still got it because it was fragrant and for the color.  I don't have any yellow orchids that have flowered. It was the only yellow one in the bunch.

And the last also has the smallest flowers. It's 2.5 inches across versus 3 inches for the others. But I like the more complex details and colors.  Unfortunately, I don't detect any fragrance.
Update: I did detect a fragrance the next day. A pleasant surprise.

Merry Christmas! Dendrobium Burana Sundae in the sun

I wish you all a very merry Christmas. I'm relaxing on the couch and noticed the sunlight hitting the flowers. I purchased this plant on Oct. 22 with four bloomed flowers. There are a total of nine flowers on the stem and they have all been opened for a while. They are still going strong. I thought I'd share.

Beallara Marfitch 'Howard's Dream' in full bloom

All the flowers finally opened.  I posted a picture of the spike forming in a previous post from November 1st.  Here is the link: Last miltoniopsis flowers.

The following picture shows the buds on December 9th.

And here is what they look like today.  There are two spikes with three flowers each.  The one hanging down bloomed a couple of weeks before.  The other just finished opening.  

Blooming phaleonopsis

I have a NOID phaleonopsis that bloomed today. It is from a branching of a previously bloomed spike. This is probably my oldest orchid, about 7 years maybe?  It hasn't really gotten any bigger as it looses leaves at the same rate they grow. I have that problem with all my orchids. How do I get it to grow more leaves? It seems like I only get 1 per year.

Bloom Update: Paph. Supersuk 'Eureka' AM/AOS x Paph. Raisin Pie 'Hsinying') x Sib

I purchased this paph. in bud on Oct. 22 2016 and it took a while for it to bloom. Here is a link to the post (New plant purchases!) I made on the day I acquired the plant.  

I love all the colors, textures and details of this flower. Here are some photos that show the progression.

Nov 18:

Nov 20:

Nov 21:

Dec 1:

Last miltoniopsis flowers

I purchased an orchid from Trader Joe's on August 28.  Here is a picture of what it looked like when I purchased it.

On September 3rd it was almost in full blooms on four spikes. 

Today, November 1st I pulled off the two last spent blooms so this orchid was almost in bloom for two months. 

The orchid was labeled as a miltonia but from what I see on the internet it is a miltoniopsis. But it seems like people do use the name interchangeably. I see a couple of new growths. Hopefully I can rebloom this one. Please let me know in the comments if you know the name of this orchid.

Here is another orchid I bought at Trader Joe's.  This seems like the only place to get reasonably priced or inexpensive orchids other than a phal. If u go to a nursery the selection is tiny to nonexistent and extremely overpriced. I don't remember when I got this one but it has probably been at least two years. It was a noid orchid but based on what the blooms look like it is a Beallara Marfitch 'Howard's Dream.'  It currently has two spikes! 😄 I think there is only going to be three flowers on each spike which I'm OK with because I really neglected this guy and it is still blooming for me. See all the accordioned leaves due to inconsistent watering.