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    Orchids Are In Bloom

    By trkingmomoe on Sat, 04/18/2015 - 12:59am |

    This is the time of year for Phalaenopsis type orchids to bloom.  This type of orchids are the most common and easy to grow.  The blooms can last up to 6 weeks and are the favorite for a showy house plant.  They originate from South East Asia and Northern Australia. I have several on my front porch that is putting on a show this year. They make a great gift plant instead of cut flowers because they last so long. 

    The only time they are in the house is when the temperature drops below 45 degrees in the winter. As soon as it warms back up out they go. In the house they have to be misted a couple of times a day and the ceiling fan has to stay on to circulate the air. They get fed once a month with fish emulsion that is sprayed on. The cats go nuts when that is mixed and used. Neighborhood cats like to drop in and check out the smell.  Orchids need B12 to bloom and that is why stinky fish emulsion is use.  The plants have to be treated for insects once in while. They get lots of light.

     

     

    This white one is called Phalaenopsis Aphrodite and is originally from Taiwan were they grow in the wild. Many of the cultivars of this genuis comes from Taiwan. It usually blooms in the spring but sometimes in the fall.  

     

     

    This is called Fairy Princess and is a cultivar.  The flower stalk produces a double row of eight blooms.  I have also seen this color combination called Yellow Bird. It is pale yellow with a red center with some red veining on the bottom petals. 

     

     

    This is from the Sunset Series cultivar called Maui Sunset. This planet is 15 years old. This is a mature plant so it produces many stocks and flowers.  

     

     

    This is also from the Sunset Series called Lyndon's Golden Sunset. It probably have been here for a decade. 

     

     

    This is a very special orchid because it is the most fragrant of all the cattleya orchids. It is a tiny little flower that is produced on a long spike and blooms every Easter time.  It is called Holly Week Flower. It only blooms at Easter and will fill your house with a wonderful sweet smell.  This is a young plant but I am sure in a few years it will be just as showy as the rest. You can see in the picture there is one more bloom to open. I will get a couple of more weeks out of it.  It's sent reminds me of roses. This is not a cultivar but a natural species. It is from Central America. 

     

     

    This is a bud to a very large cattleya orchid.  I know it is as big as my hand and it has not bloomed in 15 years so I think it is white.  It has a second bud on it also.  I have no name for it it because I don't remember what it actually looks like.  I will be sure to post a picture of it when it opens.  I always call it my prom orchid. 

    Now it is time to introduce you to Bob. Bob is my staghorn plant. 

     

     

    Old Bob has gotten huge again.  So he is going to get broken up . We call him Bob because the guy who gave it to us was named Bob. 

     

     

    Old Bob weighs about 75 pounds.  We have a chain wrapped around him and a rope attached to a hook to keep him from taking out the screen like a wrecking ball if the wind catches it. You can see the rope on the bottom right. The hook is in the side of the trailer. There is no pot or dirt, just Old Bob hanging there.  I have neighbors that are looking forward to getting a piece of him. He is scattered all over the trailer park.  He has to be broken up every few years because of his size.  He gets watered a few times a week and what is left over of the fish emulsion. Spray for bugs when needed. 

    This is just a small part of the collection of orchids that live on my porch. 

    Comments

    Beautiful flowers!  Thanks for posting the photos!  I wish I was better with plants.  I tend to over/under water them.   I also am amazed at anyone that can name flowers.  I usually just say the yellow ones or the purple ones.  hahaha 

     

     

     


    by MrSmith1 on Sat, 04/18/2015 - 10:17am

    Your late blooming Fri. made me think to post what I had blooming. They just like it on my porch and the climate here is perfect for them. I have them given to me and find them sometimes on a mark down table at a nursery.  People like them when they are blooming but don't want them when they are done.  It is fun to finally see what they are when they bloom.  I have many varieties of Christmas Cacti for the same reason. You can see them in the background in a couple of pictures.   

    I have 2 pineapples that will be ready to eat in a couple of months.  It has been dry this spring so they are still tiny. The pineapple that produced last summer has several new plants (sucker)  coming from it's base.  I thought it had died out afterwards. I know it takes about 5 years to produce fruit from seed and 2 years if you use the pineapple top but I don't know how long it takes to produce fruit from a sucker plant. Probably the same as a top. 

    It is so much easier to care for a plant with all the info on the internet. I just look things up and give it a try.  Here in the tropics everything is different so I had to relearn stuff.  The box store nurseries still sell plants that do well up north but not here.  Retirees still try to grow them and really waste their money and time. 


    by trkingmomoe on Sat, 04/18/2015 - 1:52pm

    Just lovely, momoe! I used to have a good variety of irises and calla/canna lilies; their blooms are long lasting, too. I had some hibiscus "bushes" that were just amazing show-offs, but since the blooms only lasted a day (though there were always more coming) the deadheading routine was time consuming. Gotta say, a big part of the joy I find in growing and raising flowering plants comes from keeping them fresh and happy - and dead leaves/flowers can suffocate new growth. That's one of the great things about blooms that stick around!

    Old Bob reminds be of a tiger lily I had for years. One of the varieties that blooms like crazy during the spring (daytime only, blooms die overnight) and spreads like wildfire. Bulb plants will do that. I would beg people to take the "babies", give them 5-10 innocent-looking plugs and advise that they plant them away from flower beds. Not everyone listened ... much to their chagrin. ;-)


    by barefooted on Sat, 04/18/2015 - 3:20pm

    I had day lilies in Ohio and they got really impressive.  They would grow wild along the road. I have Amaryllis that are real showy in late February here.  We just let them go to seed for next year.  When your lilies start bloom share a picture. 

    We just planted a Giant Bird of Paradise to replace the Hong Kong Orchid Tree in the front. The tree has root rot.  We will take cuttings from it before we cut the tree down. The bird of paradise came from a job site that my son was working at.  They took out the plants to remodel the out side of the building.  This particular plant will grow 25 feet tall and have very large white bird of paradise blooms that are a foot long. A tree company came and dug them up then left a couple that they didn't want. He and some one else rescued them from the trash heap. So they each took one.  I have no idea what a plant like that would cost, but I bet it is more then a weeks worth of groceries. 

    http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/362673/

    It is sometimes called a wild banana.  We should know in a few months if the rescue lives. I am told that birds love it.  Right now a pair of blue jays have set up housekeeping in the Orchid tree. They come back every year. 

    Thanks for your comment. 


    by trkingmomoe on Sat, 04/18/2015 - 5:02pm

    You're very lucky - and so is that magnificent Bird Of Paradise your son rescued. They are expensive, partly because mature ones are hard to find. I planted an Amaryllis after it was through one year - when the huge red and white blooms showed up the following year in the flower bed, no one knew what it was outside of a pot.

    My favorite bird is the hummingbird - they're just fascinating to me. One particular year, between all the brightly colored flowers and multiple feeders the yard was practically swarming with them. Shimmering reds, greens and blues darting and hovering everywhere, sounding like large bees in unison. I got used to having them inches away when I was on my knees among the flowers in the garden.

    The downside to the beauty and fun of plants/flowers is insects. Slugs, snails, Japanese beetles, white flies, etc., etc. As a kid I thought a Praying Mantis was cool ... until I watched one three inches long, parked on a lily leaf, eat the head off another one. It's what they do. Ah, nature!


    by barefooted on Sat, 04/18/2015 - 6:08pm

    You're so lucky to live in a climate where you can grow orchids.  Love your pictures.  And I'm doing this backwards. . .I just saw the post with your 15 year orchid and now I'm reading this one which was written before it bloomed.  I see you thought it would be white.  I'll bet you were surprised!


    by Ramona on Tue, 04/21/2015 - 7:59pm

    Yes, I was surprised.  It had been a long time and really could not remember which one it was. I have a few others that have not bloomed in a while. The white one is in there somewhere. 


    by trkingmomoe on Wed, 04/22/2015 - 12:35am