Ursula said:I see some S/H growing conditions too, I think you might bring with that a different growing method to our group.
What is that last cute weirdo with the fringed lip? Is the white Stanhopea mounted?

I am happy you are sharing your pictures with us, thanks!

Hi Ursula,

I don't grow as much in S/H as I used to, because I installed an automatic misting system and it was too much watering. In the new greenhouse, I plan to go back to it for the nobile type Dendrobiums. They love S/H and did really well. I do mostly rafting (mounts) and baskets now.

The cute weirdo is Kefersteinia mystacina and is a hot-warm grower in open shade. It is actually a small orchid with the bloom being just over 1". It was on my want list for a long time and at our MOS show and sale, it was in one of the vendor's judging displays. I took a chance and asked if they would sell it and they agreed. So, I can't take credit for the bloom, only the photo. Hoping that I can re-bloom it for AOS judging at some point. I think it would look awesome as a specimen plant. I envision tons of blooms on a big plant.

Yes, the Stan is rafted. You can see the mount in picture 63 or 64. It is the large vertical mount with the huge dark green leaves. This Stanhopea has HUGE leaves and gets quite large. The scent of the bloom is lovely and potent! It was a gift from one of the MOS members.

I also grow from flasks, but those take so much patience. I got my first bloom grown from flask a couple of years ago with Epidendrum Plastic Doll, but I missed the photo opportunity. I have some Cattleya aurantiaca that I removed from flask 5 years ago that should finally bloom this year (fingers crossed). Here are some of my seedling photos.

Good looking nursey! That is quite a job!!
Our @Drdawg grows a lot from flask.
I have only done it once, just to see if I could. Out of ca 30 Paph babies I wound up with 2 plants and one of them bloomed once. I still have the Paphs, hoping for a rebloom. I think my biggest problem was the birds!! I had moved the babies outside that year, as I always do in Spring with all my plants, and I hadn't counted on birds loving the Sphag for nest -building. ( Small birds can fly through my cage). It put a bit of stress on those seedlings, to be scattered about.

Nowadays I do like to see blooming size in whatever I pick up, simply I would like to see them blooming in my life-time….

Yes, I see the Stanhopea there. Good idea, since after a few years many will engulf what ever they were planted in, anyway. And the spike won't have to fight through anything to emerge.

Ohh nice!! You figured out how to line up the lightbox thingies…

Ursula said:Good looking nursey!
Nowadays I do like to see blooming size in whatever I pick up, simply I would like to see them blooming in my life-time….

I do like to pick up some full-sized plants as well, especially the Dendrobiums as I have been unsuccessful in all flask attempts. Hardening off the canes is just way too difficult for my growing area. I have had more success with the Catts.

This is my largest raft. Dendrobium lindleyi (from 5 years ago). It is on a 6' piece of driftwood that we pulled from the MS river. We are growing it as a specimen plant and hope to bring it to judging at some point. At full bloom, it had 21 spikes 2 years ago. It needs about 50 to be considered for judging (around 2000 flowers or more). I just love it, but it is the most frustrating as it blooms only in the harshest of winter rests, but needs the sun and warmth to come on strong once new growth begins. This past year's winter was so long that the spikes developed a month late. It is blooming now and only 10 inflorescences. You can see it in the corner of the shade house.

Beautiful set up and great photos, Melissa! I'm going to have to go through them several times, I think. Thank you for sharing!

Only 10 inflorescences Melissa said!
In my neck of the woods, I would say: "Wonderful and super good growing and blooming it!"
But I can see your point - if you want have it judged, the rules change.

Aww, thanks!

I do still enjoy all of the flowers, but I also love the research and taxonomy as well. I have clerked for our show for 5 years now and sitting at the judging table is so much fun. I have learned so much. It is such a joy to grow and bloom one well. My first AOS award was from a $4 Better Gro baggie that I got from Lowes (on the death table).

Right now, we are in the process of deciding the orchids that we want to focus on because the climate control in the greenhouse cannot cover so many ranges. Mostly we just grow species. We want to grow the ones we have well rather than trying to "adjust" and grow many average. This will likely mean that some will have to be traded away at some point.

I really love the Callista and Formosae section Dendrobiums. I have the hang of the Callista section, but the Formosae have been quite challenging. I have killed 4 tobaense already and I won't try it again unless the plant is large and established.

What can I say! You are certainly an expert grower!

I grow mostly intermediate to warm, but I will grow what strikes my interest and within reason fits my growing conditions and still fits size-wise.… It is quite a happy mix!
I will nowadays walk past the wonderful and colorful Masdevallias, knowing very well I will lose them within a year or two. I also walk past the 1000s of gorgeous Phals for the same reason. Especially those which are planted in Sphagnum! So I guess I am a bit more selective nowadays!

My growing area is ....all over " at least in summer. Winter everything gets stuffed in the greenhouse or brought in the house.

I like that very much, a bit of a more natural settings.
You must not have very many critters around?

Ursula,
Yes, with 11 acres we have lots of critters. We have squirrels, but it seems lately that the Owls and Hawks have been keeping them under control. I do however bring up ones that are blooming or spiking once the spikes get bigger. I did recently not notice my Lc Jungle Eyes jungle elf x C. aclandiae had budded and found it half eaten.

I see!
Heh, send some of those Owls and Hawks my way, please. Actually you do see nowadays the occasional Hawk circling about, but if they might make a dent into the critter population, I would be hard-pressed to notice.
I see on a regular sunny afternoon 3 different Rabbits actually lounging in the grass, different sizes of Groundhogs nibbling on downed Cherries ( Squirrels helped in that), Squirrels any time of day and I know we have Raccoons, Skunks and Opossums, it is a Zoo!
My herb garden is set up in large pots and they sit up high on my railing next to the kitchen door, for good reasons.

Ursula,
This guy helps too....

Gorgeous Kitty!

To get a bunch of my plants off the ground and eliminate some single-plant hanging baskets, I came up with the idea of mounting wire shelves between oaks. The shortest of the shelves is 8' long and the longest is 12'. The sun was coming up and that made my photography difficult. Waiting any longer, the shade is profound and flash would have to be used. The plants shows are bromeliads, tillandsia, staghorn ferns, fiddle leaf ficus, and lots of orchids.

Now this looks stunning, Ken! How did you anchor those shelves?
A nice natural look and surely the plants will be happy.

I used the brackets/bottom braces that are made to attach the shelves to closet walls. For the long-span ones, since there would be nothing to support the middle of the span, I attached aluminum wire, probably 16-18g or so to strong limbs above the shelves, and then attached that wire to 2-4 places along the shelving. The shelving was the heavy-duty kind found at Lowe's and since it was white, I spray painted it camo so that it would blend in. Heavy plastic mesh boxes in all the shelves, and that's anywhere from 16" to 24" high, depending on the height of the plants on that particular shelf. I made tops for the boxes, but now that I have caught and relocated 19 squirrels, I leave those tops open.

Ahh thanks.
And 19 Squirrels relocated? Now that should help!!!

I am sure my neighbors have wondered where all the squirrels went.................

Ken, love your special set-up for the plants. Makes you want to get a lounge chair and a tall glass of sweet tea, relax and enjoy! Like the whiff of Magnolia blooms I'm enjoying here on my porch today, it takes me back to summer days in the country.