Thank you Tara and Bill. At least now I can give it a new, if less specific tag.

Sure thing.

Way to go, Diana. Paphs are notoriously hard to bloom, at least here in Florida.

I'm finally home after nearly 3 months in Utah 'playing teacher' for two of my grandkids. Phew! I'm worn out. My garden is waist-deep in weeds, but the orchids seem to have fared quite well. (nothing died, at least, as far as I've found).

This lovely blue Catt is almost done, but still perfuming the whole cage this morning. No sign of a tag . . . what the??


My wonderful Den. Fire Wings is blooming away and putting up new growth like crazy.


Encyclia alata still hanging onto a few blooms for me, thankfully. They smell so nice. This is a combo Patty made on a cork mount with a B. Yellow Bird on the other side. All the yellow birds have flown, sadly.



Yearly treat and I nearly missed it. Encyclia tampensis had 9 bloom stems this year. It's so happy. Thanks again to Jim for this beautiful plant he gave me 8 years ago!

Another gift from Jim a few years ago, this Den. antennatum has 3 spikes, one of which is finished already. Such a beauty, and it's stem is at least 6ft. long. I'm gonna need a bigger cage if I can keep from breaking it off this year! Huge, thick, watery stems on it are so fragile. Thinking of suspending it along it's own bamboo pole, up high where I can see it.

I don't believe that that is antennatum. Sorry.
Antennatum has white lip marked with amethyst and apple green petals that are corkscrewed and go straight up at 90 degrees.
It does have an antelope Dendrobium in its background though and the color is very nice!

Elaine; Years ago I had a specimen sized Encyclia tampensis growing in a large piece of "Featherstone" When it came into bloom I would bring it inside to enjoy the intoxicating HONEY fragrance ! Made for a Beautiful centerpiece on a dinner table.

Shame your pretty Blue Cattleya lost it's tag... it appears to be an old timer.

Some may know Featherstone by another name: Feather rock https://landscapeproducts.com/...

I apologize to whom ever just sent me a tree mail about a particular Vanda cross. It
May have been Elaine but when I did a little research and went to reply, the tree mail was not there. Next best thing is to post here. The question was about a Vanda hybrid. Properly called V. Mem. Thainchai Gold. It is Vanda Fuchs Harvest Moon X Vanda Kenny Gold.
I found several hybrids using Vanda Mem. Thianchai Gold as a parent. It has been recently crossed with
Vanda Bronze Butterfly
Vanda lamellata which makes Vanda M. V. Tannins.
Rhynchostylis gigantea has also been crossed with it.
All images that I found regarding offspring are yellow or golden yellow flowers. The gigantea cross reminds me of that species with regard to flower size and arrangement taking after the gigantea parent! The offspring had red/amethyst lips.

Again, sorry I could not locate the question. I deeply and sincerely apologize!! Bill

Okay it was Lindsey. Take care everyone!

Thanks Bill. Yes, I knew it's not 'The antennatum', but it is that form of flower. Some of these have much longer, more upright petals with more twists.

Again, tag has gone walkabout so maybe Jim can remember what it is - @hawkarica ?


Last gasp for this beauty in the rain this afternoon. C. gaskelliana coerulea cross, but half the tag is gone.


Ever-faithful purple NOID Den is putting on it's summer show. It is much darker, duskier and richer purple than this photo shows. Will try the iPad camera later if it stops raining.

Hey Elaine, I do think that in the image above the color is SPECTACULAR!!
It is really beautiful.

Elaine, surely it was enjoyable to play with/take care of the grandchildren, but I could imagine how nice it must be to be home again and looking at your plants!! Lovely Blooms!!

Carol, your Bill Worsley is a MONSTER!
Thanks Alice, I hope I don't kill them all quickly.
Diana, you have the patience of a saint..that's a long time to wait...but so totally worth it...great growing there!
Elaine welcome home to soggy Florida. Everything looks very happy in the pool cage, especially your Firewings.
Thanks Bill for the vanda info, it's in spike so we will see what it looks like soon.

Pleasure as always.

It's very nice to be home. I am exhausted and my shoulders are stabbing me with muscle spasms from all the gardening I did in Utah. I need a good rest, and my daughter called this afternoon to say "when are you coming back?" It's nice to be needed, I guess . . . but

Now I have to begin, in baby steps, to reclaim my garden from the waist-high weeds. The pollinators are very happy at the moment with all the nice wildflowers in bloom. We also had 2in. of rain this afternoon, so I was schlepping my Cattleyas under the overhang to let them dry out. More pain in the shoulders, lifting them down then up again. I'm a wreck.

So far only a few spotted leaves, and no evidence of bug damage particularly. Except . . of course my poor C. Chief Sweet Orange was absolutely inundated with scale. I trimmed and sprayed it thoroughly with Spinosad but I'm not sure I can save it now. They're down on the roots and pb's as well as on the leaves. Major surgery/repotting is called for, but I'm sure if I tear it apart now it will be the end for it.

Ouch Elaine, I can almost feel your aches and pains, this rainy weather does not help arthritis much does it. You have had the big Chief Sweet Orange for many years and wasn't that one of your original plants you got from your neighbor? It may have had some years on it when it came to you. Speaking from experience, , the older one gets the harder it is to fight off the bugs and viruses.

Elaine, perhaps it is time for a good soaking of your Chief Sweet Orange in a drench of the Bayer's triple stuff with Imidacloprid. I have been cleaning my Orchids with Neem, but I keep the Bayer stuff around when it is time for a good systemic. I had a couple of plants which needed it. The Orchids were longer inside this Spring, and as a result I had more scale than usual to clean up.
Take care of yourself and get some rest, will you!?

Thanks, Ursula. I was wondering about giving it a good soak. I think I have the Bayer's 3-in-1 around somewhere. It definitely needs help to survive. I had intended to re-pot this spring. So many things I've missed doing in the last 3 months!

Time for another round of weeding . . .

My Acianthera prolifera is blooming. I have it in a terrarium in moss in a ceramic small pot. I am wondering if I should mount it? Anyone have an opinion from personal experience?

I am sorry as I am totally unfamiliar with this species!

Good friends of mine in Ct. grew these types of things for many years. The Jesup's favorite things were Pleurothallis and other small things. This reminds me a great deal of stuff that they grew. They were all about 80-85% humidity with these types of orchids.

What a beautiful little thing!

Just as a point of information, one of the BIG AOS yearly awards granted every year is named in honor of the Jesup's. I think that is for the best species orchid granted an award in the previous calendar year. It is the Jesup's Award.
It is one of the most prestigious things that an orchid grower could ever win!! Imagine that you little plant gets judged to be the best of the best of the best. Incredible.

Elaine, I hope your Chief Sweet Orange makes it.

This week one of my 4N seedlings of Cym. Cherry Blossom opened. As far as I know, Nado at Springfield Orchids in Western Australia is the first one to remake this grex as tetraploids and they do not disappoint. This is the first flowering of this particular seedling and it has 8 blooms on the spike.