April is a great time for our Spring flowering Orchids, let's share what's in bloom.
Let me start by walking into the greenhouse - right now the prettiest scent originates from the Dendrobium Nestor, a nice top note of Raspberries.
Lc Fire Dance 'Patricia' is now fully open and (starts dropping blossoms) and my noid Epidendrum, picked up a couple of years ago at Trader Joe's. This one starts early this year. I am glad it stays somewhat compact for some reason. And the Den smilliae is still happily blooming too.
The blooms have a nice fluorescent sparkle to them, hard to capture.
Caularthron bicornutum continues to open
Renanthera monachica here showing the nicely manageable size, it is only 9 inches tall.
The Epc Kyoguchi x L. Seagulls Tangerine is now fully open and Lc Rojo has another spike to go.
And a final look at the Rhyncholaelia digbyana which is still open.
In good news, Dad finally got the shade house totally screened in. Hopefully, the squirrels won't chew through it. I also have a bloomer! This is Yama. Redlands Sunset. And yes, that's a spider web in front of it. If they're not in my way, I leave them alone. Spiders are beneficial insects (you know, except Brown Recluse, Black Widows, Tarantulas, etc)!
I also identified my soon-to-be-bloomer. It's Blc. Ports of Paradise 'Green Ching Hua'. It's about half-open so give me another day or two and you'll get to see it!
Melaine, I am so glad I bought this! I had no idea what it would look like when it grew up. Mine is only 8 in high now, how big does this get before I can expect blooming size?
Melanie, the Yamadaara Redland Sunset is very pretty!
I don't mind Spiders either, as long as they are outside. I have been known to move the attached anchor thread out of the way so I wouldn't walk into a web….and then replace it.
Name: Elaine Sarasota, Fl The one constant in life is change
Wow, the Redlands Sunset is just lovely, I love that color combination!
So glad to hear I'm not the only one who appreciates the company of spiders, Melanie! They are beneficial, and if they're in an area there's probably some other bug there that they're eating, I figure.
I have the white ones with the red spines that look like little crabs inhabiting the top portion of my pool cage, and when they have nice webs going, there are way fewer no-see-ums inside the cage! Quite sure they help keep the bugs off my orchids as well. When they put one of their 'guy wires' down into the walking space, I carefully move it to another attachment point higher up. Haven't been bothered by them yet! My cleaning lady still thinks I'm off my rocker, though. She kills the ones she finds in the house, but when she started messing with my pets in the cage, I had to stop her!
Elaine
"Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm." –Winston Churchill
Ohh you move them too? It works really well, doesn't it! Beats looking for that spider in your face….If I find one inside I move it carefully outside.
I see cute little Flower spiders ( Misumena vatia ) every so often at our place in Pennsy. We have the white one with little red touches.
Roberta, my Redlands Sunset isn't all that big. Maybe 12 inches tall? So if yours is 8 inches I would think you should be near blooming size. I think it depends on how many leaves the plants has; like, how big around is the plant, too. But mine really isn't all that large around, either. So keep feeding yours and hope for the best! This one has been pretty easy for me to grow. I think it helps that it's normally in a hanging basket (right now it's on the shelf with the other orchids, I need to move it back) and the hanging ones didn't get the "black plague" because they were up above the spread of it. I bought it from St. Pete Orchid Farm and they posted a picture on Facebook saying all theirs were blooming too, so they seem to be a reliable bloomer, as well.
Elaine, I've always thought crab spiders were cool. The only thing that really bugs me about spiders is when I'm hiking and I don't see a web between two trees and I walk right into it. Yuck! Those Golden Orb Weavers are the worst when it comes to that. And their silk is sticky! I got it all over my hat once (better than my face) but it was hard to get off.
Thx Melaine, it was in a Catt special box from Carmela's on ebay that I just got in the mail. I find that my conditions are what they are, so I'm sticking with catts mostly for any new purchases. Of course the coelogyne and lycaste like it here!
Only chance I'm taking is that I bid on Rossioglussum hybrid today on ebay to close in one hour. I'm trying to look it up now, should have done that before I bid!.
Name: Elaine Sarasota, Fl The one constant in life is change
Good luck on your orchid bid, Bert.
What a great spider picture, Ursula! I'll try to get a good one of our crab spider, which is really cool looking too. I had those orb weavers inside the cage last summer too, and the webs just got too big and dirty (because they are so sticky) I finally had to remove them. They are fabulous spiders, too, but messy! The crab spider webs are not sticky and they even put little white 'flags' on the long guy wires so you can see them!
Elaine
"Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm." –Winston Churchill
Name: Glen Ingram Macleay Is, Qld, Australia (Zone 12a) (Lee Reinke X Rose F Kennedy) X Unk
Some southern hemispheres for you.
I haven't the faintest what this one is because I have lost my home catalogue. It has to be here somewhere. I suspect my cats are responsible.
This is terrestrial native called: Cow, Large Tongue, Flying Duck, Moose or Dragon Orchid. They do surprisingly well in containers. Cryptostylis subulata. Flowered in November 2013 and now April 2014. They are common in the bush around me.
I think you did just fine showing this really neat bloom on the Cryptostylis subulata, it actually really does look like a Dragon's head!
(I was happily googling it, the Moose Orchid gave me a hit, but I now see you gave the name! ) I love it!
Wow, it has some weird parentage! And how do they even get those names out of that? And then they went and changed the name on me? Arrgh! I'm not changing my tag due to sheer stubbornness. And sorry to tempt you MJ! You can see why I gave in and got that one, though.
Sorry I have been absent for a while but have been very busy trying to spruce up for the Master Gardener visit to my place tomorrow. Today I am doing all day phone duty at the Extension and then on south to the Bloomingdale library to give my orchid presentation. I should be home about 9 PM or so. I hope things calm down after this Saturday.
My huge Nobile type Dendrobium is opening up hundreds of flowers. It won a blue ribbon for me last year but I had to repot it and was unsure of what to expect this year. Looking good!
Jim
"Advertising may be described as the science of arresting the human intelligence long enough to get money from it." -- Steven Leacock
Bree, it is a beauty! I love it! I bet it smells wonderful too!
Sounds busy, Jim! Your Den nobile sounds over the top great! Looking forwards to it!
Melanie, most people think like us - as long as they keep on changing the names anyway again and again without apparent good reason, why bother changing our tags? Besides, nobody would know what a Bullara is without looking it up, so how does it help communication. It's just ridiculous IMHO.
She kills the ones she finds in the house, but when she started messing with my pets in the cage, I had to stop her!
) I love it!
