And please add them to the database!!!

I'm pretty sure I have added those species before. Last summer I went through all of my photos (and I have thousands) and added garden plants and wild plants and stuff at the Los Angeles Arboretum and probably a few other random places.

Oh good, wasn't sure! So many members share excellent photos in threads and forget to add them to the database for everyone to enjoy.

Wilsonara Hilda Plumtree Purple Wings - 2nd spike now in bloom, three buds in this spike compared to late Nov, where it was able to make 4 buds and blooms stayed till early Jan, so hopefully this blooms will also stay till early March.

Really nice, Tarev. I tried an orchid once and it died. It is too dry here for that kind and I wasn't going to slave over it misting it every day. I'll stick with succulents.

Oh, it is extremely hot and dry here too, thermal belt area, just have to provide some shade during very hot days and keep indoors when it is below 50F. Something I have learned with orchids, proper interval in watering, good air circulation and really good drainage. I think that is what kills most, improper handling. There are some orchid varieties, that are really high humidity lovers..I steer away from that. This Wilsonara, being in the Oncidium alliance is more of a temperate grower, much easier to handle.

Beautiful pictures!!!

Sue, questions about your TJ orchids... Have you re-potted them? It doesn't look it it to me... you say you just water - no fertilizer? The reason I ask, is that I started buying them a year ago - found the small investment gave me so much joy inside. I have four now, and thought I'd have to re-pot once we get to the new house... but if I can wait, there will be plenty of other plant priorities.

Sherry, my tibouchina have been blooming since fall & I've even been deadheading, hoping to keep them in bloom for when the house shows... but the blooms are waning now.

Funny how the garden just perks up as soon as it gets some rain (as opposed to sprinkler water).

I have only repotted one but on all of them I took off that top layer of moss that they add, to avoid rot. I do plan to do the rest soon.
I have orchid fertilizer, you think I know where I stored it to use it?!! I bet they would bloom even better and more abundantly. I have to find it or buy more and be a better orchid momma.

I wondered if the tibouchina normally flowered that long.....I have not grown that one since being in the East Bay Area (cococo) 40 years ago....There's a small house a block away that I really liked, white, black roof, red door...and a Princess Flower in front on the south facing wall...the main shrub focus. They repainted the house several months ago and it ruined it for me, didn't like the color, but no I'm getting used to it and see that they took the purple of the tibouchina into consideration when choosing a new color. I will have to get a pic...

Kalanchoe citrina


Mammillaria 'Un Pico'


poinsettia


indoor NOID amaryllis


crown of thorns You'd think I would have seen that cattail fluff before I took the picture

Onc. Hilda Plumtree 'Purple Wings' shows much better on its Day 2



A solitary bloom from the Lewisia, glad it still made it in spite of the rains:

My lewisias are safely ensconced under a roof overhang. If the rain keeps coming down horizontally, however, I may have to bring them inside to guard against sogginess.

Oh that is nice! I do not have a nice roof overhang..but it seems to like the rains, thankfully it comes in intervals. I noticed the one beside it seems to finally had the energy to raise its bloom stalks higher,maybe it does not mind the rain here since it gets too dried out the rest of the year...hmmm..I still am in learning phase with these plants..

I tried them once. I think I killed them with kindness.

It is really tough here too last summer, they just seemed to shrink and really a pale size compared to the time I got them. Then I realized, it must be going semi-dormant here with the extreme heat and dry location, and it did not want to take any watering too at that point, so just had to ignore it carefully. Then they started perking up growth wise in late Fall.

I keep all of mine in pots so I can move them into the shade for summer and under the roof overhang for winter. They only spend spring and fall in the sun. They're alpine plants, so they don't like heat and they don't like too much water. They also dislike good soil. Mine are planted in a lean cactus mix with lots of gravel added, and there's another thick layer of gravel on the soil surface to protect the crown from rot.

Yup, that's how my mix is like too, cactus mix with lots of kanuma, akadama, pumice,smaller gravel..really very coarse media. I have it in that container in the photo,, in a shady side and more shade in summer when all the city trees are awake to further shade the garden. I reviewed my photos from last year, it seems they bloom up to May..then they start to slowly go semi-dormant as summer ensues, and no water at that time...if I have to water just a little and just around the container, further away from the plant.

It occurred to me, Sherry, that I'm surprised you saw toubichina blooming in your area. Zuzu mentioned, in the past, that her's never seemed to bloom - I assumed they were frost damaged, before the blooms popped. Isn't your area colder than Sebastapol?

I think it depends more on the exposure. Mine's in the middle of a flower bed, not shielded from the frost by anything. There's one in my neighborhood that blooms reliably each year, but it's hugging the southwest wall of a house.

There are some that I see here that are somewhat sheltered, then there are some that stand alone, though they're not more than a couple of blocks from the water...still we are only 3 blocks from the water and we've had frost. On the way to the store a few minutes ago, I saw more large trees with wind damage.....