Pinguicula leaf propagation

I got a pinguicula during the MOS orchid show back in early November. You can see what it looked like when I purchased it in this post : MOS Orchid Show and More New Plants
Shortly after, I dropped the plant and the bottom leaves just flew off. The baby rosette also came off the mother plant. The leaves fell as if I dropped a deck of cards. I couldn't believe how fragile it was. I was actually concerned that I had killed it. I know people propogate them using leaf pullings so I thought I'd give it a try. I didn't think it'd work but I had nothing to lose. About two months later I have 6 leaves that rooted. So my clumsiness got me 6 new plants. The leaves are very thin and delicate. I'm pleasantly surprised and hope they grow quickly. Today I divided the little plants into three leaves to a pot. So I started with 1 plant and now I have 8!

Mounted staghorn fern

A while back I bought a tiny plant from the terrarium and fairy garden section of the nursery. I thought the foliage with tiny fuzz looked neat.  It had a generic tropical plant label, but I suspected it was a fern. It looks like there were a bunch of tiny plants crammed in a single pot. After a while, maybe several months later it developed a sterile frond so I confirmed it was some type of staghorn fern. I also decided to divide them so they have more room to grow and I get more plants. Yesterday I was at Michaels and was browsing around and found a wood plaque.  Staghorns are epiphytes so they  don't grow in the ground or soil. They grow on other plants like trees so these are often grown mounted.  I picked the piece of wood that had the most character.  It turns out that because of the "character" it was marked for clearance and sold "as is." All the others were a pale color and did not have much wood grain or markings. It was only 50 cents.

 This is the fern I selected to mount.

 I placed a little sphagnum moss and used some fishing line and a stapler to secure the plant.

I hope it will like it on the mount and grow quickly and attach itself to the wood.  I still need to add something to the back so I can hang it up. 

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: