Due to very limited space, indoors and out, I'm in the process of building a home for my orchids. This is a redwood framed shade house for now. I've got all summer to figure out how to enclose it for winter. It measures 8' x 4.5'. The base is concrete pavers. Mohers little helper (6'5 & 300lbs)



Shade cloth and shelves added. Still have room for two more shelves across the ends.


Had to move my Epiphyllums several times, and knocked off a lot of buds, but my biggest one is putting on a show in spite of landing on it's head. Unfortunately, it had to be moved to the back, so it doesn't show much.

Oh Carol that looks great!! I think I will split this thread so that you can add to it when you decide what to do next (easier to find)! What are in the bins beneath the shelves? It looks shady in the pics but when and from what direction does the sun come in? Your Epi. Deutsche Kaiserin is gorgeous even with a few buds missing!

Carol, it looks great, a really nice sturdy structure! And the Deutsche Kaiserin is a knockout!

Thank you, Ursula. Deutsche kaiserin is almost finished, and I need to move it to more shade, but the rest of my Epis are full of buds. I hope they will bloom more or less together. It will be a great show.
As to the structure, it has to be sturdy, as we do have earthquakes and strong winds. All of my 4" pots, and smaller are in the spice baskets so they don't blow away.

I keep wanting to crawl in and peek!

Haha! Sorry about the late afternoon pic. Nothing much blooming right now, but a couple of buds opening.
Still trying to decide if that 70% shade cloth is too much, or not enough. Hard to keep track of the sun in that narrow area. It will be a work in progress...

omg look at the flowers on them epis. Beautiful!

It looks great Carol. I see your hummingbird feeder is out. Do you get them all year? I'm putting mine out today, someone way upstate posted a sighting this week.

Bill

They arrive here when the quince blooms. Like clockwork. Do you get rufous Carol?

We have Anna's, Allen's, and Black chinned hummers here year round, so the feeders are always out. Rufous pass through on their way north, but it's almost impossible to tell them apart from the Allen's. They nest here during the cool months, when flowers are scarce, so they need the sugar water. During the winter I watch a live feed (Phoebe Allen.com) that a gentleman in Irvine (about 15 mi. south) provides. It's fun to watch ,and has some interesting info. Phoebe is sitting on her last clutch of eggs for the season right now.

http://phoebeallens.com/big.ht... Now that is sooooo fun!

What a lovely orchid house, Carol!! Bravo!

Kathy, Sorry I didn't reply to a couple of your questions. The bins contain orchid potting materials. That shady pic is looking to the south east in late afternoon. That 10' block wall is the east end of my lot, so in summer I'll get no sun till late morning. At this time of year the sun is still a bit on the southern horizon. In the winter the sun is low in the south, so I get good light most of the day. I'll have to watch it closely and move things as needed. That area is a natural breezway, so I think I'll have to put shadecloth on the ends to slow the winds when they get bad. I'll also have to rig some misters for humidity and heat soon. This week the temps are at 66, and humidity at 81%, but when summer really arrives it will be a lot hotter and dryer.

A prefab greenhouse would have been far easier, and cheaper, but I would still have these issues, and I couldn't find one that I could fit in anywhere without removing a tree.

Thanks for the details. It takes all that before you can "grok" the constraints someone is working with! (especially considering the trees that were there first!)

Wow, I love your orchid house, Carol. I would love to grow my orchids outside but that will only happen may through September, because it gets too cold out here. Maybe when I retire...

Thanks Jo. I didn't have time to "do" orchids until I retired. When you work 9 or 10 hrs. a day it's all you can do to keep the lawn mowed and the house clean. I've had Cyms and Epidendrons for many years, but those grow like weeds here. When you leave for work before daylight, and get home at dusk, and don't know if the temps will be 60 or 90, you just can't get too serious about them.

I work a four day week and have hundreds. Guess I'm a bit nutty.

Well, I am retired and it seems Grandmothers are in high demand around here.... Taking care of a sweet baby and 2 little girls 3 days a week and playing with my Orchids, I wonder how I ever found the time to work!

It's is a bit harder when you work full time, but it actually forces you into being a more discipline plant caretaker... when I worked full time, my days were very long because I commuted into Manhattan everyday, and I had hundreds of orchids... and it's because I love growing orchids and gardening so much that I chose to work independently at home when I had the opportunity... now I can just go down to play with my orchids and hanging out in the garden any time I want:)

But everyone's situation and responsibilities are different... it's a choice that only you can make for yourself, and if now is not the time, just remember you will have plenty of time one of these days... as long as you are happy and enjoy the plants you can care for now:)

Clementine you are eloquent!! So glad you are here to express your words of wisdom!