This is your window into the lives of my orchids and plants.

Hai there! ^-^

2011-05-02T06:54:00.001-07:00

Wow it's uh....almost been a year since my last post how lame of me...sorry to anyone who reads these lol! Not much happening with my orchids. I did get a few new ones..killed a few more..again...getting ready to send a few off to California to Kanna as soon as it gets warm enough for more than a day at a time :)

Lots of things have their new growths going on and new roots starting up. Nothing..and mean I mean nothing has bloomed in the last year! It's all my fault though. They haven't had consistency during the last year and got moved around a few times, and then subjected to freezing temperatures over the winter when the apartment complex decided to install new windows and a new balcony door :/ I like the new windows and all but I wish they would have waited to install them until it was warm out.

We are 5 months into 2011 now, with 7 months left of the year I think I might get lucky and get some fall blooms on the Ludiscia discolor, Paph Delanatii, and restrepia; and some late summer blooms on the Hwra. & Blc. Kosh Wallace 'Paradise' (which is a new one I got in the beginning of March). I think it will be next year before I start seeing the normal cycle of blooms one would expect from my plants if I can maintain the consistency of care, let's hope I can do it!!!

Here is the shelf as of today, I plan on sending at least 4 out to California to make room for some new plants that I have better luck growing and maintaining.

The new additions are:
Blc. Kosh Wallace 'Paradise'- Lowe's
Den. aggregatum- Lowe's
Blc. Fritz Nicholaus 'Spring Dance' Lavendar- Lowe's
Onc. Gower Ramsey- Lowe's, divided itself diring repotting, sending one piece to Kanna
Blc. Lawless Freischutz X Goldenzelle 'Paradise'-YRL-Lowe's, not sure what YRL means yellow
red lavendar maybe????
Odcdm. Wildcat Green Valley-Lowe's

Also the Phal cornu-cervi looks like it has a new spike starting to break through! The leaves are atrocious looking though. Watering issues had made the leaves look pretty strange, and then on another phal... Phal Regal Bells x Brother Fortune Gleen the leaves are even worse. I was going to send this one to Kanna since I have never gotten it to rebloom but the flowers are beautiful.. but I can't send her something that looks this bad:

kill = buy

2010-05-17T10:59:00.001-07:00

yes i killed some things, unfortunately they were really cool things. My masd. herra. for the OG project, my Den monoliforme benifuki, and my restrepia muscifera! :( So to make up for it I ended up buying 2 NOID phals from 2 different big box places spending a grand total of $35 on all 3. Anyways at lest now I have some stuff in bloom! I previously have not had anything in bloom for a looong time. I have also been slacking in the watering department which is why 3 things died :( I also have the harraella retrocalla near death now but it hasn't kicked the bucket yet yay! Anyways here's some pictures of 2 of the new ones that were $10 a piece from Lowes. I'll post pics of the other one later since i potted it differently than I pot most things.

December, Long time no see!

2009-12-13T19:35:00.000-08:00

Ok so I have been slacking lately to provide your window. But I have all kinds of great news and pictures to share with you! Above is my friend and fellow CIOS member Terry Onofrey at our annual orchid bingo christmas event.

Several society members preparing to play bingo and in just generally hanging around.

Now for the good stuff! This is the plant table for bingo winners!

Slc. mem Alvin Begman Poem reblooming for this year's second blooming! I am beside myself with this. It just bloomed a fwe months ago and as soon as the buds fell off a new spike emerged.

This is Hwra. Lava Burst 'Punami' AM/AOS spiking. I received this plant earlier this year from a friend in LA. She got it for $7 at trader joe's after it finished blooming as one growth. I was quite surprised to see it spiking. So I guess that means this might have the possibility to bloom multiple times a year!

Hwra. Lava Burst 'Punami' AM/AOS close up of spike.

Den. Cathy Beck in bloom! This is the plant's second bloming. Last year I received it in bloom in the summer of 08. It had lost one spike and one flower blasted. I ended up with two spike both having two flowers. This is a compact grower and the canes only grow to about 4 inches tall. The flowers are pretty small. A previous thread has more info from when I had first received it about its characteristics.

This is the plant I won at the CIOS annual Christmas Bingo game! It is a Gongora galleottiana. The above pic is after the repot into a net pot. Below is the before pic. A good portion of the roots had rotted however it had a ton of god roots. This thing had roots out the wazoo!

Octoberly Happenings

2009-10-25T18:26:00.000-07:00

Haraella retrocalla spike 2 bloom one just opened! Smells great!

Stima. Kelly Lea
The last of the flowers were starting to fade so I just went ahead and pulled them off so I could take one last picture of them. Blooming this was a huge milestone for me and so was blooming Slc. mem Alvin Begman 'Poem' but the flowers faded so fast after I accidentally spraying them with dishsoap water & cinnamon extract:(

Onc. Twinkle is plumping up now! Maybe I will get some spikes soon???!!!

Den. Kathy beck's three spikes. I did something really stupid and let it start to shrivel before I watered it again, I dunno why I did that. But it looks like it will cost me one spike :(

Last Call on Catts & First Signs on Den Cathy Beck

2009-10-06T20:34:00.000-07:00

The above three pictures are Den Cathy Back: pic 1 is last year's blooms, 2 &3 are this year starting three spikes :) Yay! I love the way the blooms change colors and shape once they open from triangular in shape resembling kingianums to a fully antelope shape, it's beautiful and amazing! They open up more reddish than purple pink and over a few days as the sepals begin to twist the reddish tint fades into that wonderful pinky purple. Also the first pic was before the petals started to twist.

Last year the plant was shipped to me from Florida in spike with 5 swelling buds. One bud blasted. This year what a surprise! So far three spikes can't wait to count the buds! Last year it bloomed in July so this is a bit later for Cathy Beck than she did last year, this is also her second blooming so I expect see more buds per spike than last year, maybe I will have to steak the spikes in that tiny two inch square pot. She will definitely be due for a good repotting come spring.

Although I am ver very satisfied with these two blooming for me with 4 spikes on the Stima. and one with two flowers on the Slc. I am so sad becasue now they are all open. Soon they will surely be gone :( Thes pictures do not do them any justice. And unfortunately during a misting of cinnamon oil/dishsoap/water/natural insecticde I spryed the flowers and some of the deep purple washed out of one of the stime flowers, and one of the lips on the slc got dried up on the edged from it...DOH!!!!! Lesson learned.

Rearranged orchid shelf!

2009-09-27T17:34:00.000-07:00

Also today I rearranged the plant shelf to make more space for the plants i brought back in. Would you believe the leaves are already starting to change colors! Where did the year go???Anyways I am baby sitting seven plants for my good friend Terry four of which are in s/h and I am happy to report that they are all doing well in my care yay!

Wow! more Blooms!!

2009-09-27T17:24:00.000-07:00

Well it's been a while since I have last posted! So I am happy to report that Stima 'Kelly Lea' now has three buds open! And looks great! Also Slc. mem. Alvin Begman 'Poem' has one bud open and it is beautiful! So worth the two years it took me to get it right for both plants. My camera died as I was trying to take a picture of possible spikes on Den. Cathy Beck so you'll have to wait until I get some more batteries lol.

TADA!!!

2009-08-30T10:04:00.000-07:00

Stima. Kelly 'Lea'
She finally opened up :)
I also found a fourt spike too yay!
Unfortunately though, yesterday spike two was ravaged by a tiny white caterpillar worm looking thing! Hopefully the buds will still bloom even with damage guess we'll just have to wait and see though.

In other exciting news I found a spike on Slc. Alvin Begman 'Poem' Yay! Hopefully this time I don't screw it up and it blooms for me as I have been waiting for what seems like forever for this rebloom.

grow list update

2009-08-21T16:58:00.000-07:00

1 Angrecum eburneum

1 Bifrenaria Harrisoneae

1 Cymbidium eberneum
1 Cym NOID #16 (From Cindy)
1 Cym NOID

1 Dgma. Winter Wonderland White Fairy

1 Darwinara charm 'Blue Star'

1 Den. Cathy Beck
1 Den. Kingianium 'Bigie'
1 Den. Kingianum (Lavender)
1 Den. Kobai
1 Den. moniliforme 'Benifuuki'

1 Enc. Atronecium 'Mother's Day' x cordigera 'Chocolate Violets'

1 Harella retrocalla

1 Hwra. Lava Burst

4 ludiscia discolor (jewel compot)

1 Masd. herraadurae

1 Neofinetia falcata
1 Neofinetia falcata x Holcoglossum kimballina
1 Neofinetia Setsuzan

1 Oncidium Jungle Monarch (previously Colm.)
1 Oncidium Twinkle 'Red Fantasy'

1 Paph. delenatii 'China Doll' x 'Pink Fusion'
1 Paph insigne var sanderae (seedling)

1 Phal {Naples Nights x (Petite Rose x Glad Melinda)}
1 Phal lueddenmaniana 'Chree Hill'
1 Phal NOID (I call it Magic Kiss thats all the tag said)
1 Phal Regal Bells x Brother Fortune Gleen
1 Phal pulchra
1 Phal cornu-cervii

1 Restrepia trichoglossa
1 Restrepia brachypus
1 Restrepia muscifera

1 Sederia japonica Nagoran

1 Slc. mem Alvin Beggman Poem
1 Stlma. Kelly 'Lea' (B. nodosa x Ctna Keith Roth)

Summer 08 Vs. Summer 09

2009-08-21T16:49:00.000-07:00

Last summer I grew indoors under light without airconditioning unless it got into the 90's and I only cooled it to 80 degrees. This summer I grew about 20 outside northfacing on my balcony under the shade of the roof but they extremeley bright light none of direct. The 20 or so I grow indoors on a shelf in a west facing window with slat blinds. I have been running the airconditioner all summer so the humidity has been relatively low in comparison to the outside plants.

Last summer I only had a few plants bloom for me, the Den Cathy Beck, which was spiked when I received it, and the Neaofinetia falcata.

This summer we have alot more happening which either means I am honing in on what the plants want or the weather has been exceptionally helpful this year. We have haraella retrocalla, restrepia muscifera, restrepia trichoglosa, Neofinetia falcata, Stima. Kelly 'Lea', and possibly Den Cathy Beck spiking or flowering. Last summer Stima Kelly 'Lea' was in bud when purchased in the spring so I don't what that counts for for last year.

At the beginning of this summer I was seriously doubting my growing abilities and wasn't expecting any blooms from anything and was expecting low growth rates in comparison to last year. However it seems this is not the case yay!

Den, New plants, stima update restrepia update

2009-08-20T18:16:00.000-07:00

Somebody opened up upside down oops, this is a first lol. Also a first to bloom more than one flower at once too.Restrepia trichoglossa

Dgma. Winter Wonderland White Fairy (new) my quit smoking day present to myself

Onc. Twinkle 'Red Fantasy'

Den. Caty Beck possible spike?

(Above and below) Stima. Kelly 'Lea' progress

Rainbow today!!!

2009-08-19T17:43:00.001-07:00

Today's beauty :)

2009-08-17T19:27:00.001-07:00

Restrpia muscifera today

Restrepia trichoglossa today

Haraella retrocalla today, sorry so shaky looking lol

Flower number 2 on spike number one, this flower previously unposted

Indiana State Fair Orchid Show

2009-08-15T19:40:00.001-07:00

Greater Cincinnati Orchid Society Display

Bulbophylum Wilber Chang Best of Class in Fragrance class

will post rest of pictures tomarrow :D

Today opening and discoveries

2009-08-13T18:47:00.000-07:00

More Good Stuff this week

2009-08-11T17:18:00.001-07:00

Current status of Stima. Kelly 'Lea' spike number one. That's right....if there is a number one there must be more lol.

Current status of Haraella retrocalla: started opening today...just barely the flash didn't quite capture the minute amount to which it thus far opened lol. I can see the pattern already from the outside of the buds lol yay!

Stima. Kelly 'Lea' spike number two. Just literally found it 20 minutes ago. I am so excited the flowers are huge compared to the leaf width lol.

Close up of same bud

Nice visitor, Huge moth the size of my sons hand.

Very Stormy Day

2009-08-04T10:21:00.000-07:00

All across Indiana this morning and early afternoon we have had a ton rain, crazy lightning, and lots of loud thunder, in fact it even woke me up this morning. I made it to work in terrential downpour; my sandals, hoodie, & shoes were soaked.

I called upon on my wonderful fiance to make sure the orchids outside were ok.

The big NOID Cym. fell over- it always does when the wind blows, poor thing.

And I had him nestle the cyms up under a chair close to the apartment. Lets hope it didn't get to much damage.

At one point there was a forcefield of water surrounding my car becasue of the way the wind was blowing. It was insane.

One thing to be glad about is atleast I know it there is high humidity for the outside orchids today lol.

End of July Beginning of August Orchid Happenings :-)

2009-08-03T19:27:00.001-07:00

Spike 2

The Neo is in full bloom and it smells awesome!
The pink on the spurs and ovary area is much brighter this year than last year. I was initially beginning to doubt that there would be any pink at all but I was surprised. The pink seemed to become more pronounced the longer it was in bloom. Spike 3 never fully developed and the buds blasted probably from coming into the house in the air conditioner, not enough light, and possibly not enough water.

Spike 1

Single bud!!!

As with many white flowers it is very difficult to capture the true color of the buds because the picture is easily over exposed. In order to capture the best pictures I could I had to lower the while balance a little.

Whole plant on a tv dinner tray lol.

Harealla Retrocalla

This picture was take just a few hours ago.
The leaves underneath the spike are still shriveling up, hopefully this is normal.
The new leaf is growing excellently & the new spike seems to be growing faster than the first spike yay!

Stima. Kelly 'Lea'

I decided to get up close and personal with this surprise me bud.
I almost gave away this beauty in our recent society raffle at te picnic but ended up not being able to make it due to massive amounts of homework and studying having to be done the same day. The thing I love about macro shots are being able to see what I can't see with my eyes.

I also had another unexpected surprise this week waking to find a bloom open on my Restrepia trichoglossa!!! Second bloom for me!

Have a great week everyone!!!

silver to green

2009-07-17T19:40:00.000-07:00

I love seeing a soft green or purple root tip it makes me smile
I love watching the shiny silver velamen slowly turn to a bright saturated green
I love the crispiness of roots like these :)
I love the hairy roots of Paphiopedilum and their rusty brown orange colors
I love the thin hair like roots of a Restrepia or a Masdevalia
I love seeing new leaves and growths develop as I hold my breath gasping and watching for more
These amazing plants make me smile, giggle, squeal, and sometimes even cry when things aren't going so good
It is the small things that make me love them and the blooms are the icing on the cake
When it comes to blooms sometimes I pray and pray and my plant just sits,
I have plants I have never even gotten to bloom
I have plants I have been nursing along that aren't even old enough to bloom
I have plants that bloom at the same time each year
I have plants that bloom out of no where and I don't know why
I am completely and utterly fascinated by these amazing plants
I never stop learning about them
every day brings new discoveries
Orchids bring me relief from daily stresses
Orchids make me love the world which I have a hard time living in
I see orchids as a testament to my faith because of their amazing diversity and astounding beauty

Haraella retrocalla moving right along

2009-07-17T19:31:00.000-07:00

Almost there & a straggler

2009-07-17T18:07:00.000-07:00

This spike seems to have the flowers going going in some odd directions. I think this is related to the angle of the lighting as I moved it outside after I noticed the spikes.

This spike is the furthest along. Some notes between this years and last years blooms:
This year 3 spikes 2 of which only have four flowers the third spike is lagging behind.
Last year only one spike with six flowers.
Last we also experienced an amazing awesome opening of the buds which happened on 4 flowers simultaneously in matter of four hours in the early morning. The flowers lasted for about 2 months and it smelled awesome!
I also have noticed something with the pink pigmentation is quite different than last year, Last year I bloomed this beauty under two 13 watt full spectrum compact florescent bulbs this year the buds began developing in an west facing window with some light filtered out due to the the slats in the blinds being horizontally arranged. I think the higher light yields more pink. Last year the tips of the spurs had just the faintest hint of pink in them however this year the buds are not done developing and the spur tips are already green, maybe we won't get any pink this year :(

And here is our straggler spike coming along rather slowly although the development was behind from the get go- I at first only noticed 2 spikes and found the third popping out a few days later. Lets hope all goes well as I am anticipating to see if this spike also has only four flowers on it.

Updated growing list

2009-07-04T21:40:00.001-07:00

Over the last few months I have unfortunately killed a few masdies and a jewel, gave a few plants away, donated a few plants to our socirty raffle, and purchased a few more plants..... So this is our list today!

1 Angrecum eburneum

1 Bifrenaria Harrisoneae

1 Cymbidium eberneum
1 Cym NOID #16 (From Cindy)
1 Cym NOID

1 Darwinara charm 'Blue Star'

1 Den. Cathy Beck
1 Den. Kingianium 'Bigie'
1 Den. Kingianum (Lavender)
1 Den. Kobai
1 Den. moniliforme 'Benifuuki'

1 Enc. Atronecium 'Mother's Day' x cordigera 'Chocolate Violets'

1 Harella retrocalla

4 ludiscia discolor (jewel compot)

1 Masd. herraadurae

1 Neofinetia falcata
1 Neofinetia falcata x Holcoglossum kimballina
1 Neofinetia Setsuzan

1 Oncidium Jungle Monarch (previously Colm.)

1 Paph. delenatii 'China Doll' x 'Pink Fusion'
1 Paph insigne var sanderae (seedling)

1 Phal {Naples Nights x (Petite Rose x Glad Melinda)}
1 Phal lueddenmaniana 'Chree Hill'
1 Phal NOID (I call it Magic Kiss thats all the tag said)
1 Phal Regal Bells x Brother Fortune Gleen
1 Phal pulchra
1 Phal cornu-cervii

1 Restrepia trichoglossa
1 Restrepia brachypus
1 Restrepia muscifera

1 Sederia japonica Nagoran

1 Slc. mem Alvin Beggman Poem
1 Stlma. Kelly 'Lea' (B. nodosa x Ctna Keith Roth)

And very regretably the Sederiea japonica mini passed away after having struggled for almost a year after me being in the hospital and suffering extreme root loss and leaf loss and dehydration.

Haraella retrocalla-spike or no?

2009-07-04T21:30:00.000-07:00

Is this a spike?
I think it is after shooting some macro shots there is definite distinction between the roots and the possible spike. Does anybody know about how much time between know and the buds being fuly developed?

12.99 -Okay Deal! Jungle Monarch!!!!!!

2009-07-02T21:07:00.000-07:00

A trip to Kroger for bottles of water for the office turns into a new baby!
Mislabeled as Colm. Jungle Monarch this plants has been changed to Onc. Jungle Monarch.
Not bad for $12.99 I am one happy girl!

And that hybrid in the background is Rowan, four years old, grows like weed :D

Future orchid geek & pretty orchid, he as a happy kid too!

Neofinetia falcata, Amami Island Form 3 spikes this year

2009-07-02T21:03:00.000-07:00

Awesome! We have three spike coming up to greet us this year! Yay! Last year was only one spike. I am anticipating it so much imagine all those blooms! Can't wait until I can do a bloom count! Whoot!

Summer time: Finally kicking some babies outside

2009-06-23T21:38:00.001-07:00

My Shelf Looks Almost Naked Now

Things have been rough around here lately and there has been 3 casualties, several give-aways to a friend starting a collection all over again, and one raffle donation.
So my collection has dropped to a manageable 36 plants from about 52 or so. Which is nice and manageable, however still very heartbreaking. Hopefully kicking these babies outside will do some good for them and kick them into growth overgear & maybe I'll get some blooms out of them after some much regretted neglect.

The great news is that they all have new growth and the monster mini cym has 5 or 6 six huge new growths yay!

More show pictures

2009-06-23T20:03:00.000-07:00

Sorry it took me so long to get these pics for everyone ;(

But finally here they are! ENJOY!!!

Three Rivers Orchid Society Display, from Fort Wayne, IN (above)

Ohio Orchid Society Display (above)

I Back Finally :) With Promised show pictures too!

2009-06-23T19:01:00.000-07:00

Countdown to the show!!!

2009-04-17T21:34:00.000-07:00

Well I got to get up in 5.5 hrs and head to the conservatory to take pre ribbon pictures of all the displays and plants :)
I have some fierce competition on the photos I entered......darn. Maybe I will have great luck with the Restrepia trichoglossa photo :)
I entered a NOID Phal and A NOID Cym. Apparently my other plants didn't want to bloom for the show :( However I have a harlequin phal with swelling buds and a pod swelling and a phal pulchra spike growing, so I am not to disapointed since half my collection is seedlings lol.
I have my eyes on a harella retrocalla and a phal lobii or another species phal or something species :)

Yay! Easter/Congrats to myself on a new job Cym!

2009-04-12T18:21:00.000-07:00

I really shouldn't have bought it but how could I resist? My other Cyms are pretty small one is a seedling and one is from a back bulb from my friend Cindy in California. It may bloom next year or maybe this year even not sure though. But I thought since it would be a while I should buy it anyways. It has six spikes on it which is nice!

Phal lueddemanniana 'Chree Hill' in spike?

2009-03-24T15:31:00.000-07:00

I think it is safe to say it is not a root! I had to use some persuasive tactics and then I just found this today. I showed pictures of a fellow orchidgeeks different lueddemannianas about a month or so ago and look what I discovered today. Hopefully I t will keep on growing :)

OMFG! Restrepia muscifera is pregnant!!!

2009-03-23T21:48:00.000-07:00

SO I being the not so on top things this week orchid mommy had just moved the orchids to the new place yesterday after not watering them roughly two weeks. And yesterday when I brought them in after making them endure a 50 mile drive crammed into boxes (imagine 45 orchids in a tiny car with a child in a safety seat in the back) I just sat them down and rushed off to target to buy a pretty new orchid shelf for them. I put the shelf together while giving my son a bath (compulsive multitasker here) and when I was done with the bath and the shelf I just kinda plopped them down wherever on the shelf misted the mixes and aerial roots and started sawing loggs.

Then today I bought one of those very handy one gallon pressure sprayers, you know the kind you have to pump, and started watering thinking this may save me some time rather than soaking each orchid in batches of whatever will fit into the few Rubbermaid containers I have. And after I finished that I decided it would be a good time to put in a fan on my shelf somewhere since I couldn't fit mine in the car I had to go hunting for one to borrow temporarily. The fan was strong etc etc this story is long sorry :) I had to move the 6 or so on the bottom shelf up to the middle shelf to sheild them from getting knocked over by the wind. That's when I found it!

I dunno how this happened, I have never seen a Restrepia having been pollinated, let alone know where the stigma and pollinea are on the flowers because they are so small. SO here I am freaking out about to faint from excitement realizing I have no idea which of the other Restrepias was the other parent. I had a hard enough time trying to find info on them to care for them in the place, and I want to know how long until the pod has ripened? I really want to have it flasked even though I have no idea who the other parent is. It will be intersting to try to find out. I don't want the pod to burst before I find out what needs to be done here and where I can take it. Since Hoosier closed I'm gonna have to try to get ahold or Erick Micheals and see what he can do for me or something.

For those that are not familiar with Restrepia they are in the pluerothallid group, have small flower that have the bottom two petals fused together and the side petals resemble antennas. Look to the left and you should see alist of tags there is severla pictures of the different species I have of them. I would like to get some more lol. Restrepia muscifera is I think the smallest flower out of all the species. They are cute yet very small.

Note the size of the pod in comparison to the print on the tag. This thing is tiny! Less than one centimeter right now!

Restrepia muscifera seed pod developing

I am pleading that anyone who may be reading this that knows anything about Restrepia pod maturation times or may know someone that does to coment or point me in the right direction. My best two resources at this piont are aresome ones Russ Vernon of New Vision Orchids and Erich Micheal who did flasking at Hoosier Orchid Company and had bought all the flasks.

Sinceere Thanks
-Kortney Bewley-

Finaly moved the orchids to my new home And a raffle winner plant

2009-03-22T20:22:00.000-07:00

New plant: Raffle winner in spike. Not sure what the heck to expect out of it but hey not bad for 50 cents.

I could not fit the light in the car with the plants and pots and mixes and sprays and powders and all that stuff soooo I will add them in later if needed. I thought when I moved I wouldn't have them in my room anymore but it just so happens that my room gets the best light in the apartment, so I am kinda happy because now I can back to seeing them first thing in the morning and last thing at night :)

I may have to either move the shelf, add lights to the bottom shelves, or add a sheer curtain or something. The window the shelf is in front of gets full sun from 1 pm to when it the sun starts going down. I'm not sure what direction it faces yet. I put a the high light plants closest to the window and lower light plants on the middle shelf. Hopefully nothing gets burnt while I'm at work tomorrow. I leave the blinds partially closed :) Not sure how well this will work out so I guess I back to that trial and error stage with the orchids again. I did however remember the humidifier :)

Once I put them all on the shelf 45 seemed like alot less than what it used to look like all crammed into my room on top of every space. I don't think I can complain about not having enough space anymore but rather not having enough orchids since I now have room to put them on the shelves :)

You can tell I still haven't quite gotten settled in after two weeks of living here the pictures have not been put up yet lol.

Moving time

2009-02-27T20:41:00.000-08:00

Well I haven't posted in a bit. But this coming I'll be moving 50 miles away. Moving nearly 50 orchids 50 miles in the cold winter weather up three flights of stairs honestly scares the crap out of me. Granted only 3 out of those nearly 50 plants are in bloom but still how can I get all these precious babies from point A to point B safely and comfortably? I will gladly welcome any comments or tips on moving them. I really don't want to pack them up like I would be if I were shipping them some where but this may be safest option.

Also moving them to a brand new place with a different layout different windows will require a new setup. The good thing is I won't have to cram them on top of every surface in my bedroom anymore lol. So this move will prove to be very intersting and hopefully the plants adjust pretty well. I still have no idea how I'm going to set them up. All I know is that I am investing a huge wire rack/shelf. I'd like to avoid getting shop lights to suppliment since I have the desk lamps but I'm not sure how practical those will be on the shelving and I'm still not even sure how much light or what directions the windows. I found myself with absoloutly no sense of direction and complete confusion while driving around my new neigborhood this week. I have no idea which way is north lol!

Ooops forgot t post my Paph delenatii 'China Doll' x 'Pink Fusion' when it opened

2009-02-09T13:57:00.000-08:00

Here She Is On her First Bloom

Wish Her Luck At The Miami Vally Orchid Show

Love Those Spots inside the Pouch :)

Maybe She Will Win a Ribbon, I'm Not Familiar With What the Judges Look For in Paph Delenatii. :)

New NOID

2009-02-09T13:49:00.000-08:00

ok so i sent off my Paph delenatii to the Miami Vally orchid show that is this upcoming weekend. And later in the evening I found myself going through bloom withdrawals so bad that I actually broke down and bought a NOID phal at Walmart lol. It's pretty though the funniest thing ever, here is an excerpt from my post on orchid geeks about the whole situation (http://www.orchidgeeks.com/forum/general-chat/10135-just-add-ice.html)

"Lol! THIS IS TOO FUNNY ! I just bought one of these noids last night after going through bloom withdrawals lol. Same tag. The walmart employee was going on about how easy they are to take care of. I tried to tell him i grow a bunch of orchids but he just kept rambling. He had some that were more expensive he said that had been there since november he had been putting a few ice cubes in every week and to my surprise they actually looked somewhat healthy. I still don't think it would be something I am brave enough to tr though lol. I think my exact words were "I wouldn't dare" lol. The thing that cracked me up was that he told me that the one I picked out was "Rare" Lol I literally had to cover my mouth to keep from laughing in his face. I felt so rude that my mind/body would have actually laughed in someone face had I not held it back. Here is the one I ended up with after thoroughly inspecting all the plants on the shelf."

and another excerpt from it:

"LOl! I bet it does keep them from overwatering. The thing that was even funnier that I just remebered was he kept refering to it as a species....I kept my mouth shut lol."

Update on Ludiscia discolor

2009-01-22T14:04:00.001-08:00

Only a few more are left to open. I think the magic number this year is 16! Which is ok more than the last blooming.

Update on Paph. delenatii "China Doll" x "Pink Fusion"

2009-01-22T14:01:00.000-08:00

The anticipation of waiting for this beautiful Paph to open is driving me absolutely batty!

Went to Garfield Park Conservatory again.. need I say more lol

2009-01-17T13:30:00.000-08:00

Paph. delenatii 'China Doll' x 'Pink Fusion' update

2009-01-15T17:51:00.000-08:00

I am getting so much closer to seeing this baby bloom for the first time and experience my fist Paph. blooming! It is still incredibly hairy! Almost like a warewolf hairy! I dunno if it will end al spotty or what I can't quite see what is inside yet, lol.

Ludiscia discolor finally blooming!

2009-01-15T17:44:00.000-08:00

Hooray! (It's about time lol) new buds are still forming, the spike is now a foot tall, and my attempt to move it so the blooms wouldn't be in the light fixtures failed because it is still growing, lol! I ended up haveing to let it go a few extra days without water so the stalk was more bendable and steaked it down in place lol. Any ways here are today's pictures!

Almost time to bloom and inching a bit closer

2008-12-21T18:07:00.001-08:00

Close up of Ambrosia Jewel Orchid almost ready to bloom! I can't wait, it is supposed to smell really good.

Close up of Paph. delenatii 'China Doll' x 'Pink Fusion' making it's way along. I just can't get over how hairy this thing is and how it resembles a sex organ, lol. I feel almost dirty posting this picture.

Ludiscia discolor is still growing! I had to move it to allow the spike more room to grow so the blooms werent in the light fixture, lol.

Aww the beauty!

2008-12-09T16:58:00.000-08:00

Restrepia muscifera

It seems like with each new tiny bloom that comes from this plant the flowers become more beautiful! It also seems like my macro skill are improving too! This is the closest most detailed picture of Restrepia muscifera I have captured so far. I couldn't be more excited. I think i may have to get out my velvet background again, actually I don't know why I didn't last night, lol. Below is the whole plant. It is potted in spahgnum moss in a two inch pot. These flowers are so small and beautiful. Now if ony my other 3 Restrepias would take an example and follow suit soon. This species has the smallest flowers out of the four I have.

Do my eyes fool me?

2008-12-09T16:53:00.000-08:00

Paph. delenatii 'China Doll' x 'Pink Fusion'

I think there may be two buds in there! Not bad for a first blooming for the plant and for my first Paph blooms :) It seems to be progressing very quickly and it all seem to be quite hairy/fuzzy. It looks so snuggly in there but I just want it to come out!

Bingo Winners, Conservatory pics, sale pics, poinsettia & train show

2008-12-08T15:55:00.000-08:00

All the Masdies in their little home! The new ones are the top right and bottom two. Top right is Masd. Kismit (Misfit x Mystica) bottom right is the same. The bottom left is Masd. Parakeet #6 (ignea x coloptera).

This shows someof the other new ones I got from trip to Hoosier Orchid Company. starting from the left is Phrag wallisii, Dossinodes 'Indras Web', Paph insigne var sanderae.

Here is one of the bingo winners Phal Pulchra! It was a keiki I am super excited about this one! It has beautiful purple waxy blooms and the lebellum reminds me of Phal bellina as far as shape. It keikis alot! This will be great because not only will I have a back up plant once it gets bigger but I'll have some to share with my geeks!

This is my beautiful bingo winner (Brs. Guilded Urchin x Wils. Lisa Devos) 'Mauna Loa' from a Hawaiian grower. It still has tons more bloom left to open the spike is huge on this motha!

A bloom in the process of opening!

Another beautiful picture

This is another and the final bingo winner Bllra. Diana Dawn 'Mt. Pisgah' from the same grower in Hawaii. It smells like pepper!

A shot of (Brs. Guilded Urchin x Wils. Lisa Devos) 'Mauna Loa' in all it's ginormosity!

A shot of Bllra. Diana Dawn 'Mt. Pisgah' in all of it's ginormosity!

The left end of the bingo prize plants

The right end of the bingo prize plants :)

A sweet picture I took! I really wanted that creamy yellow one with brown spots but the first two winners took them, lol! Oh well just another to add to the wish list.

Another beautiful one I wanted but chose the Phal keiki over

And we are now to the conservatory pics :) As you can see the picture quality is very low. I forgot to take my camera, doh! I had to use my cell phone, so my appologies there. I'll just have to go back on Saturday!

Hoosier Orchid final One day ony sale and my mini glass house is finished!

2008-12-06T16:00:00.000-08:00

Ok here is the haul! I left with 21 plants :)
Unfortunately only six are for me, lol. I took orders for 4 others from CA,WA,FL, and Norther Indiana. With prices so low what were we supposed to do? Here is how low!
2.25" & 2.5 pots - $2.00
3" pots - $3.00
3.5" pots - $3.50
4" pots $4.50
5" pots - $5.50
6" pots - $6.50
7" pots - $7.50
Larger pots - $8.50
All mounts - $4.00

What a deal!

Here is Jenny's gigantic Stanhopeah that wasn't labeled. Only $4, can't get much better than that she had been wanting one for a long time!

Here is a picture of one of the Masd. I got. I broke the spike in the box on the way home :( Oh well, it'll grow more flowers. I bought two because it thought they were so pretty just in case I kill one accidentally, which hopefully won't happen. The other one I bought has an unopened bud. I thought I was buying one of the parents and the cross but apparently I put it back and grabbed a second and didn't realize until I got home and unpacked, lol. Would you beleive they were selling all the specimen plants too for $8.50 a piece regardless of what it was :0

Ok, so I finally attached the fan with sweet blue led lights in it. Right now I'm running it of a 9v battery i rigged it up to until I get one of those fancy plug in units where you can control the electricity amount running to it with a switch. (Like the one in the Nov Orchids issue for the terrarium setup article) I'm thinking tonite will be intersting learning to sleep with four bright leds beside my bed on all night long, lol.

Updates, what's this, the current growing space, the new glasshouse, and chauncy says hello

2008-12-01T11:06:00.000-08:00

Chauncy came out to say hello yesterday while his lights were on! He never does that, lol. He must have been super hungry since I just threw some crickets in for him!

Updated growing area on top of my dresser. All the babies are located here for the most part.

This is my random (not enough room left on the dresser) piano growing area. I keep my solar powered lucky cat and my perfume bottle coy fish over here to guard them.

This is the other side of the bed growing area. In front of Chauncy's tank are the restrepias and the new masd. which will be moving soon to the glass house once i get the fan rigged up :-) The shelf on the right has six or Grandma Penguin's plants on it right now.

This was the living room until the western exposure window got invaded, lol. Most of these are Grandma Penguin's babies with the exception of a cym, blc., and mini catt.

Here is the glass house after the revamping. Good Golly, let me tell you I will never caulk that up again, what a pian it was to remove it just to repaint, lol. The back glass pannel was cracked thanks to yours truly so I decided to leave it off. I still have to put the neon blue computer fan with lue led lights on the back. Although I may have to use a smaller fan depending on how turbulent it is. That's a 15 watt full spectrum fish tank bulb in the glass house. I may have to put something on the fron roof pannel to keep it from blinding me though.

Here is the project Phal Naples Nights making its way along. I think I have had three ne leaves since I got it the middle of this year. I am just waiting patiently for the day it decides to bloom for me. It is getting great day/night temp variations and has been since I got it. I have never bloomed a phal so hopefully this will be my first phal to bloom myself.

Here is the project Enc. It is doing very well! The two new growth are swelling nicely and with luck it'll bloom around around mother's day as the name suggests <3 ! Also you can see my den moniliforme in the background and one of the Neo crosses. It seems that all of my plants that get winter rests and should be dropping leaves are growing keikis out the wazoo or getting new growth. And I thought this winter would be boring, lol.

Here a close up of the project 1 Enc. Atronecium 'Mother's Day' x cordigera 'Chocolate Violets'. The two newest p/b swelling are the far left front and the far right front. I am sooo running out of room.

Here is the kekie den kingianum 'biggie' that Jenny gave me back in September. I don't know if that's a spike or a kekie but it is growing very slowly now.

This is my poor Bifrenaria harisoneae I got from a CIOS auction. Both Jenny and I got divisions and we nearly killed them. I think Jenny lost hers completely. By the grace of Sphagnum this poor guy is still alive and apparently kicking. I spotted a new growth which may actually be a spike one of the leafless p/bs last night :-) I couldn't be happier. Let's hope it's a spike the flowers are beautiful!

Here is one of the Jewel orchids only described to me as ambrosia by the guy selling Erich Micheal's plants at the CIOS fall show while he was out. He said it is very fragrant when in bloom so I guess we'll find out!

Here is my ancient Ludiscia discolor. It's acient because I've had it longer than my son who will be four in February. It has been through so much poor care it's not even funny. This will be it's second blooming and the first time I will have bloomed it :-) And it will branch again! Yay! I owe someone special a brach from orchidgeeks :-)

And finally, the Cycnoches. What in the world. I don't think these spike from the p/b bases but I could be wrong. I think it's a new growth. Just when I expected the leaves to start dropping. I watered the day before yesterday after letting it go for two weeks. And then yesterday upon my daily inspection of chids look what popped out unannounced. I am confuzled as can be. I thought it should be dropping leaves, blooming, and going into an all out dry rest period for the winter. Guess you'll (and I too) will just have to wait on the edge of our computer chairs and see what happens next with this thing. I handpicked it from a compot and russ vernon slapped a great deal of $10 bucks on it and here we are today.

Shorter days=less light

2008-11-28T07:45:00.000-08:00

Now that it's completely dark by 6pm here I have finally moved my timers on the lights down to 14 hours from 16 hours of light. So we'll see how the chids adjust to the final lighting adjustments. My Cycnoches either has a new p/b starting or is spiking from the p/b base. I know they spike low but couldn't remember if it was from the nodes or basally. Anyhoo, time to start watering less and makeing sure my canes, bulbs, and leaves don't shrivel up. The one gallon humidifier isn't cutting it anymore so I might be bringing in the 20 gal humidifier within the next week or so. So far night temps are getting down to 62 in my room, noot to bad to have that wonderful day/night temp variation. Pictures next post!

Updated growing list

2008-11-20T19:58:00.000-08:00

1 Ambrosia (Jewel Orchid not sure if it real name or not)

1 Angrecum magdelenae (something here forgot what it was from Cindy)
1 Angrecum eburneum

1 Bc (Llittle Stars x Maikai) 'Hawaii'

1 Bifrenaria Harrisoneae

1 Cymbidium eberneum
1 Cym NOID #16 (From Cindy)

1 Cynoches William Clarke (Corperi 'Hanging Swans' AM x herrenhusanum)

1 Darwinara charm 'Blue Star'

1 Den. Cathy Beck
1 Den. Kingianium 'Bigie'
1 Den. Kingianum (Lavender)
1 Den. Kingianum (alba, tall form from Santa Barbara Orchid
Estates)
1 Den. Kobai
1 Den. moniliforme 'Benifuuki'

1 Dossinara Dreamweaver (hybrid jewel)

1 Enc. Atronecium 'Mother's Day' x cordigera 'Chocolate Violets'

1 Gongora tricolor

3 ludiscia discolor (jewel compot)

1 Masdevallia herraadurae

1 Neofinetia falcata
1 Neofinetia falcata x Holcoglossum kimballina
1 Neofinetia Setsuzan
1 Neofinetia x with ascm. something or other (i lost the tag)

1 Oncidium sphacelatum

1 Paph. delenatii 'China Doll' x 'Pink Fusion'

1 Phal {Naples Nights x (Petite Rose x Glad Melinda)}
1 Phal lueddenmaniana 'Chree Hill'
1 Phal. Brother Sarah Gold
1 Phal NOID mini phal with pink flowers
1 Phal NOID (I call it Magic Kiss thats all the tag said)
1 Phal Regal Bells x Brother Fortune Gleen

1 Restrepia trichoglossa
1 Restrepia brachypus
1 Restrepia muscifera
1 Restrepia sp.(?)

1 Sederia japonica Nagoran
1 Sederia japonica Seigyokumaru

1 Slc. mem Alvin Beggman Poem
1 Stima. Kelly 'Lea' (B. nodosa X Ctna. Keith Roth)

1 Tolumnia sylvestris
1 Tolumnia Pink Panther

There may be a few more I have missed in keeping up with a previous listing

First Masd.! And a new Neo!

2008-11-20T19:38:00.000-08:00

Neofinetia Setsuzan

Masd. herraadurae

It's been a bit since I have posted. But yesterday I received in the mail my first Masd. as part of a growing project for orchigeeks. It has one lnew leaf that is almost fully grown and two new leafs starting! It is soooo cute! In all of the excitement I decided to finally finish revamping my mini greenhouse! SO as soon as I get that all set up I will post pics. I have been thinking of putting in the restrpias with it, however I now have 4 so I don't know if there will be room for all of them in that tiny little thing, lol! So at least here are the pictures of it. Also at the Central Indiana Orchid Society fall show I got a great deal from Eric Micheals on a Neo Setsuzan for $35 bucks, 4 growths :-) Bringing the Neo total up to up to 5! I couldn't be more happy unless it involves more new orchids, lol!

Den kobai

2008-10-22T19:42:00.000-07:00

My good Freind Cindy aka SOlay sent me a den kobai a few months ago since then it has one new growth coming up and some new roots! SHe posted a picture of what it looks like in flower so hopefully I can bloom this pretty baby!

background on Den Cathy Beck

2008-10-22T19:09:00.001-07:00

UH1221 Cathy Beck

Den. Cathy Beck (UH1221)

University of Hawaii
Horticulture Digest #94, May 1991

Dendrobium Cathy Beck – A miniature
seed-propagated potted plant cultivar

As a step toward producing miniature dendrobium potted plant cultivars, we crossed in 1981 the diminutive species Dendrobium carronii, with D. bigibbum var. compactum. D. carronii is closely related to D. canaliculatum and belongs to the section Eleutheroglossum, while D. bigibbum var. compactum belongs to the section Phalaenanthe. This hybrid was registered as D. Mini Gem. Among diploid offspring an amphidiploid (tetraploid) plant was uncovered, and subsequently was utilized to produce several progenies.

The cross between amphidiploid D. Mini Gem (PPEE genome) and D. antennatum of the Ceratobium section (CC genome) made in January 7, 1987 resulted in a triploid hybrid progeny compromising one genome each from D. bigibbum var. compactum (P), D. carronii (E) and D. antennatum (C). This cross showed several desirable characteristics as a flowering potted plant, and therefore we registered it as D. Cathy Beck, and will release seed pods to the dendrobium growers associations, as a miniature flowering potted plant cultivar.

D. Cathy Beck (UH1221) is very precocious. First flowering was obtained only 18 months after germination. Average height of pseudobulbs at first flowering was slightly under 2 inches, and after two years of flowering, plants remained short-statured with the tallest pseudobulbs averaging about 6 inches.

Flowers are small, measuring slightly over 1 inch in length and 1½ inches in width, with relatively narrow petals and sepals. The petal and lip are purple (RHSCC 77A) while the sepals are light purple (RHSCC 77C). Although individual flowers are small with relatively narrow flower parts, plants are floriferous and make attractive flowering plants. Another attribute of this hybrid is the long life of flowers on the plants. The half-life of sprays (number of days from opening of the first flowers until 50% of flowers on sprays wilt or drop) averaged about 60 days. It flowers throughout the year, but most of the flowers appear from October to February (Fig. 2). The description of D. Cathy Beck is given below:

Scape length (inches)	6.1 ± 1.1
Spray length (inches)	14.0 ± 2.4
Number of flowers per spray	10.7 ± 5.1
Flower length (inches)	1.1 ± 0.2
Flower width (inches)	1.6 ± 0.3
Pedicel length (inches)	1.3 ± 0.4
Petal length (inches)	1.3 ± 0.0
Petal width (inches)	0.3
Dorsal sepal length (inches)	0.9
Dorsal sepal width (inches)	0.2
Percent bud drop	2.7
Half-life of sprays (days)	59.5 ± 8.2
Leaf length (inches)	4.6 ± 0.4
Leaf width (inches)	1.2 ± 0.1
Pseudobulb height (inches) – first flower	1.9 ± 0.7
Pseudobulb height (inches) – termination	6.0 ± 1.6

Fig. 2. Monthly spray yields of Dendrobium Cathy Beck (based on 61 plants)

H. Kamemoto, C.A. Beck, T.D. Amore and A.R Kuehnle

Kamemoto, H., (date published unknown) retreived October 22, 2008, from University of Hawaii Floral Nursery

cios orchid fest

2008-10-22T18:58:00.000-07:00

CIOS trip to Chicago Land Orchid fest

2008-10-10T06:17:00.000-07:00

The Central Indiana Orchid Society planned a trip via a coach bus up to Chicago to visit two of the four participating greenhouses. http://www.chicagolandorchidfestival.com/We got to go to Oak Hill (http://www.oakhillgardens.com/) and Natt's Orchids (http://www.nattsorchids.com/), which I had not been to either before, so it was especially awesome!! The first group of pictures are from Natt's orchids. They are nice greenhouse. They had tons of Cattelya, Vandaceous, and Oncidium type plants, as well as a nice variety of things like Pluerothalids and smaller species Dendrobiums. I bought a Tolumnia Pink Panther from them for $15 on sale in bloom. All the other plants I bought at Oak Hill as seedlings with exception of the Den moniliforme I bought from Jason Fisher. At Oak Hill we got to meet Jason Fischer and view his speech/powerpoint on Prags and propagating. They had some great vendors at I could have easily spent my life savings had I had a life savings, lol! I will post the ones I bought seperately. :-)So without further adue here are the pictures:

Natt's Orchids

That's me in the blue hoodie :-)

Oak Hill Gardens

Wall of ghost orchids :-)

Flask holding room

My good freind Terry, aka Grandma Penguin

From red to green!!!

2008-10-07T18:21:00.000-07:00

What a dramatic change in Just a few months! I couldn't be more happy! The Restrpia muscifera is blooming like crazy!!! Other than that things are pretty boring right now. I have nothing else blooming, I do have lots of new growths and leaves and roots happening now. I brought home some seedlings (8) from Oak hill and Natts Orchids at the Chicagoland Orchid Fest, and A blooming Tolumnia Pink Panther too! Oh I guess that one is on blooms I will post some pics later this week!

Turkey Run State Park, Indiana

2008-09-08T07:02:00.000-07:00

above: The Suspension Bridge

above: The Slide-When I was a kid we used to slide down this part

above: The Punch Bowl
The water has been low this year, there is normally a small waterfall flowing down the rocks.

This is Wedge Rock: above

Den Cathy Beck Update

2008-08-27T06:52:00.000-07:00

Cathy is quickly outgrowing her tiny little pot! There is a new cane nub growing on the left of the newest growth also. My only question is that she is doing great and I don't want to disturb her yet but her roots are growing all over the place. She wants to grow into the Little Stars's pot!

its a antelope type den http://www.hfloral.com/General/UH/1221.html

Phal NOID aka Magic Kiss Seed pod update!!!

2008-08-27T06:47:00.000-07:00

We are now in week three! Unfortunately one pod was lost during the great e coli hospitalization drought of two weeks, lol! It's just moving right along. After our CIOS meeting with Erich Micheal speaking about of all things propagation and flasking, I have decided to remove the pod immaturely at at least 2/3 gestation (is that the right term?) The reason for this is because there is usually plenty of seed available in the pod and the seeds will not have to be sterilized before flasking, only the unopened pod will need to be sterilized and once the pod is opened in a sterile cabinet the seed will not have been contaminated :)

Update on Phal Naples Nights

2008-08-27T06:44:00.001-07:00

And we have a new leaf. This is the second new leaf to grow since I got this baby a few months ago! It grows pretty quickly! It has several new root growths also. Hopefully it will decide to bloom soon. The nights are getting cooler now. Our daytime temps are still in the mid to low 80s range but the nights are getting as low as the upper 50s.

Cheer me up, two more restrepia!!!

2008-08-27T06:22:00.000-07:00

Well after having been terribly sick I decided I needed uplifted! I made mt final Hoosier Orchid purchases. I bought a Restrepia brachypus and muscifera to keep my Restrepia trichoglossa company. They are pretty haggard looking right now a little, well they were maybe getting way more than a little too much light for them. Take a look. There was also a slug in there, yuk! I think the leaf color will improve shortly to the right green color. When I got the trichoglossa the leaves were the same way now they are a beautiful perfect green color!

What's the Damage?

2008-08-22T10:48:00.000-07:00

Well I missed watering day and then vowed to do it the next day. Things didn't work out and I didn't have time :( Then I vowed I would do it the next day. Well the next day I went to the hospital and spent a week admitted for a severe e coli infection. Needless to say my poor little orchids didn't get watered for two whole weeks!!!

I lost a seed pod on Phal NOID aka Magic Kiss, but the good news is there is still one left and is doing great! The flowers faded early on Den Cath Beck, my other Phal NOID, and my Darwinara charm 'Blue Star'. I lost a leaf on my angreceum, three leaves on my Seigyokumaru (Sedeiria joponica mini) and a few roots. The worst was my Seigyokumaru, they were all a bit dehydrated but I contemplated just tossing the seigyokumaru in the trash. Good thing it was expensive, how could I toss it out? It is making a good recovery. After soaking in superthrive and r/o water for an hour and a half I tossed it in my sphag n bag tray. The remaining leaves are now fully hydrated. I expect to resphag it next week. The rest are back doing good and have picked up right where thy left off. My Phal Naples Nights has a new leaf, my other Phal noid has a new leaf too!

Restrepia trichoglossa: Finally a Triumph!!!! Part 2

2008-08-09T18:27:00.001-07:00

More Pics from Garfield Park Conservatory

2008-08-08T08:43:00.000-07:00

Latest pics from Garfield Park conservatory

2008-08-08T08:34:00.000-07:00

Restrepia trichoglossa: Finally a Triumph!!!!

2008-08-07T12:56:00.000-07:00

My Restrepia trichoglossa decided it would be a doll and bloom for me! I had been so worried since my indoor temps are pretty high (75-88) and the roots on top were looking kinda dried out. Out of no where it decided to bloom! I was thinking about repotting it the other day but decided to wait for new growth signs. I guess I was doing something right, lol!

New arrivals from CIOS Picknic

2008-08-01T17:43:00.001-07:00

Th two on the left are the two kiekis I pulled of Den Thanaid Stripes 'Lakeview' which I forgot to take a picture of, lol!
Middle is Cycnoches William Clarke from New Vision Orchids. To the right of that you can se the canes from the Den Thanaid Stripes 'Lakeview'.
Here is Bifrenaria harrisoneae before the repot.
This is Phal lueddemanina something or other. I'll have double check the tag, lol!

Gifts from an orchidgeek and Darwinara charm 'Blue Star' Blooms

2008-08-01T17:26:00.001-07:00

This is Den. Kingainum 'Bigie'. Jenny won a huge plant during the auction at the CIOS picnic and gave me two keikis! So here they all potted up! There is a new cane growth, tons of great roots, and the bigger cane had previously bloomed. I had to make a new shelf for a temporary place to put all the new additions, lol!

This is my Darwinara charm 'Blue Star' in full bloom. I had two buds blast from changing environments:( But look how beautiful it is. Honestly the blooms blasting is ok because I still got a great beautiful show!
I spelled the name wrong on the tag, lol! I will be fixing that tonite. This came in the mail all the from California to Indiana. Cindy aka Solay sent me this beautiful Angreacum madelenae 'Marisa' x self and below a Den Kobai division. This is my first Angreacum so I may end up repotting in my normal mix. Right now it is in a small net pot in sphagnum moss. I have official been added to the "see if you can it to bloom" group for the Den Kobai!
Also a note of sad news. Hoosier Orchids here in Indianapolis is closing on August 30! They will continue all sales as normal until then. After Aug 30th they will begin going through inventory and getting rid of everything including their specimen plants that have parented many crosses at a reduced sale price.

New Vision Orchids Warm House Pics from Picnic

2008-07-29T19:58:00.001-07:00

Central Indiana Orchid Society Picnic

2008-07-29T19:23:00.000-07:00

This years picnic was hosted by Russ Vernon and Anita Mitchell of New Vision Orchids in Yorktown Indiana. This was especially exciting for me because this was first time with society as I joined that same day! Normally the greenhouse was open to visits by appointment only so being able to wander around and check things out was absolutely wonderful! We had a meeting during our picnic lunch and afterwards had the CIOS auction of plants donated by members to benefit the society. Also joining us was the curator of the Ball State University conservatory announcing that the collection of (someone whom I can not remember) had just been donated to them. I also had the awesome privilege to meet up with two of my orchidgeek friends for the first time! Jenny aka articuno75 from Portland Indiana and Grandmapenguin aka Terry from the north side of Indy. Nonetheless we had a blast! I spent a total of $18 and came home with a great haul! Here are some pictures, please enjoy! For more info on the Central Indiana Orchid Society go to: Central Indiana Orchid Society Also here is a link to OrchidGeeks

This set of pictures was from the cool house. Below you can see Jenny snapping a pic of that beautiful Phrag!

Giant Swallowtail, Papilio cresphontes

2008-07-26T17:47:00.001-07:00

It is so beautiful. It had a four to five inch wingspan. It never stopped moving it's wings the whole time! I picked the best pictures I shot to share with you. It must really have loved flox. My little three year old was throwing pretzel fish at it when I saw it! It kept moving from flower to flower I finally stopped shooting after I got some good ones. I hope you enjoy them!

According to http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species?l=1366&chosen_state=18*Indiana
I am really lucky to find this giant beauty. I live in an are that it has not been recorded as seen before. I do however live in the southwestern corner of the county and the county to the west of me has had documented sighting for it. Absolutly stunning!

Updates on my 'chids!

2008-07-26T17:24:00.000-07:00

My poor little little stars, it is finally catching up and has a new growth and root

My phal naples nights has new roots coming out! Sorry the picture is so crappy I forgot to use the tripod (shame on me!).

Den Cathy Beck is growing like crazy still! The roots are growing out and over the edge of the pot now and the new growth is still getting bigger! Good news for me YAY!

This is the 2nd new growth on my Enc. It is growing very well! I still see no new roots on this baby. Hopefully they are just hiding in the mix. I trimmed up the old dead roots that were growing on top of the mix and around the p/b. They were dead when I bought it.

This is the picture of the whole plant. The 1st new growth is the growth just under the p/b in the picture and the first arched leaf in the front. It is growing very well also. I ran out of worm tea about a month ago and just haven't gotten around to getting more yet but all my plants are just doing wonderful without it now that they have all improved so much from using it!

My neo has bloomed!

2008-07-14T17:22:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally got my pictures to upload!!! They all opened on the same day with the exception of the middle flower the last one on the spike. It opened up the next day. there was quite a bit of confusion on my part surrounding my neo since the colors seemed more pink than a regular species Neofinetia falcata. As the spike and developed the colors gradually changed. The flowers ended being all white with the exception of the spurs being very faintly pink colored. You can see an obvious difference between the flower color and the spur color in some of the pictures. The blooms smell wonderful. I was expecting the fragrance to be very strong but I had to be close to the plant within a foot to smell the flowers. My Sedeiria japonica Nagoran was extremely fragrant and smelled very strong.
These pictures were taken on the day the plant began to opening its blooms, it happened so fast. I was only expecting one opening a day however I was blessed with a wonderful surprise. I got up at 6 am on Sunday morning and two had opened overnight. I woke back up at 10 am and two more had opened. At noon the fifth flower had opened. The next day they had all opened.

I paid a visit to Hoosier orchids over the weekend and picked up the Darwinara charm 'Blue Star'; one bud has blasted and had not grown since bringing it home :( The rest are all doing well though. I received another neo cross in the mail today but sadly I am town town today and have not got to see it yet. Hopefully it will survive my grandma until tomorrow evening.

The second bloom on the Phal NOID (labeled as P.Magic Kiss) opened and the other two are very plump. I expect one to be open by tomarrow evening.

Also the Phal Naples Nights's leaf has grown considerably since I had recieved it. All plants are doing well. The Paph I just got has continued to grow the two newest leaves very quickly. Must love being by Chauncy's
(my white's tree frog

I will also be doing an update within the next few days of the new growth on my plants, including repots, issues that I have had lately, and pictures. I also have another new arrival a mini sedieria japonica from Satomi at Seed Engei.

New Arrival: Darwinara charm 'Blue Star'

2008-07-12T18:59:00.000-07:00