Jim , your 'Green Hornet ' is really nice...I love this photo!

Great plants, both Ted and Jim!

I have 2 strange growths on my Vanilla lutescens, do you think they are blooms starting or what???

Yesterday I was busy in the house all morning. When I looked at my weather station in the afternoon, it was reading 104 in the orchid shack, with 13% humidity! Needless to say, I immediately ran out and threw up some shade cloth and misted everything. Since it was supposed to be the same today, I did get a couple of pictures before the wind came up again. Tomorrow, we're supposed to be 20deg. cooler.
Lc. Firedance X B. Nodosa has 7of 8 spikes open and two spikes on Leptotes bicolor
More in spike if things didn't get cooked...

may is certainly starting out great for most all of us fine job blooming those beauities...

I have some refugee blooms.





'
the 2 neos are 'asahiden' from SVO. Some of my orchid show buys that didnt get beat up. They arent blooming now but have before. They looked good so I had to give them a spot

Susan, it is hard to tell from the picture but it looks like you have buds emerging. This will be exciting.

Carol, both are beautiful and look very happy. Good growing. 104 degrees and 13 percent humidity.....yike! Carol, are you near those wild fires we keep reading about? How about Ted?

Very nice blooms, Kelly.

I just found this Zygo Cynosure 'Blue Birds' blooming:


This is Epi Mabel Kanda 'Miyao' X Cordigerum 'Paradise'.


Continuing to bloom is Den. antennatum.


The last one for tonight is Enc. cordigera 'Chocolate Violets' x Epi. atronecium 'Mother's Day'.


By the way, I have reserved a hotel room close to Laurel's place in Miami so Laurel, Kathy and I will all be running through the Redlands Orchid show together. With any luck, I'll get my first Kathy hug!

Jim

Thanx for asking Jim. Carol and I are, fortunately far from the fires. We all, though are on fire alert with the high temps and low humidity and high winds. On our commute, Lynda and I drive on the freeway through what's called Brea Canyon. Earlier this week it was green hills on both sides. Now nothing but brown tinder. Just heard that the DC-10 that drops 7000 gallons of fire retardant is to be on 'Spring Fire' scene tomorrow.

That Den. antennatum is just strange. I like it, but strange. Zygo Cynosure 'Blue Birds' is so beautiful in it's subtle colors.

And Carol, Lc. Firedance X B. Nodosa is awesome. Love the color

Carol, that's a tad hot, yikes! I am glad you and Ted are ok there.

I love the Firedance x, great color too! And a very nice Leptotes bicolor!

Kelly, what a gorgeous lacquered Phal! And the two Neos look excellent, what an unusual way to mount them.

Jim, I love the Encyclias and the pretty Zygo Cynosure 'Blue Birds'. Nice "horns" on the Antelope Den. And I will watch the pages here for a report from Redland....

Ursula, Firedance opens as red as your Patricia, bud fades quickly to orange, I was waiting for all blooms to open, but after the weather yesterday I figured It was now or never. The weather is improving(?). Tomorrow is supposed to be 76, and Sun. 69. Ahggg! Spring in So. Cal.

I'm with Ursula, Firedance is magnificent, Carol. Fabulous color. Nice mounts for the Neo's, too Kelly.

The color on 'Blue Birds' is heavenly Jim and I really am enthralled with the Den antennae.

Not much new here, except a nice stem of yellow Spathoglottis brightening up the patio.

I just took another photo of same noid den today, the blooms more perkily open now,

Beautiful color, Tarev! Orchids do that to us? You want to capture the fleeting beauty....

Carol, the color change is attractive! Interesting x !

Must be yellow season here - nice yellow Spathoglottis, Elaine.

Thanks, Ursula, I really like Tarev's yellow Den. Here in Florida, I can't tell you how often I hear "I miss daffodils" from northerners. Who needs daffodils when we can grow orchids that look as good, bloom longer and sometimes bloom twice a year?

I have a new Phal opening that has the largest flowers I've ever seen on a phal. Nearly 4in. across! Not bad for a $4 plant from the death rack, huh?


Also Slc. Anduril 'Krull's Scarlet' on its third flower spike, with 7 flowers on this one. It's nearly done after over a month, but what a bloomer on a nice small plant.

Thanks Ursula and Elaine! Indeed, the lovely long lasting blooms compensates for the long wait. I am gradually getting the hang of it

Ohhh, love the 'Krull's Scarlet'!! Gorgeous color! And I see you like Coconut fiber too? I think it is great stuff!

I spent some time today at Silva Orchids, they had a very interesting repotting session. It was fun to watch how Joe and Tony tackled plant after plant with amazing speed and skill!! Came home with a small division of a very beautiful Lc John Mossman hybrid. I realized later I never took a picture at least with my phone. The open flowers on larger plants were jaw-droppingly huge and gorgeous. I grabbed a plant in spike but the prize tag of 500 bucks made me put it back and I came home with a much, much smaller plant. I am happy.

In the meanwhile - some stuff blooming here this week:
The Dendrobium lindleyi ( aggregatum) is now fully open, 5 spikes this year and we love it. My pictures don't do it justice. And the little jenkinsii was done with that first little spike, but it opened two more.

the Den jenkinsii

and another size comparison. I can't tell any difference between the blooms, to me they look identical.


It seems , the Neos and their hybrids are waking up, Ascofinetia Cherry Blossom 'Hawai' has a few blooms on a tiny plant, picked up last year

while Ascofin. Cherry Blossom 'Odoriko' flowers better on an older, larger plant


Nakamotoara Newberry Aprikot blooms again and the plant looks very much like its "Daddy", the Asctm curvifolium.


Dendrobium superbum, decided to live last Summer and put out a few smallish canes. I was surprised to see a few blooms on that one, while my much larger plant of Den Nestor doesn't say peep. It smells so good! Scented Raspberries!


Tolumnia Sniffen opens a couple of spikes

Following your lead, Ursula. The Coco fiber's so much easier to use than all those little bits and chunks of bark and stuff. I really like the way it looks too. I'll be curious to see how it stands up through our hot, muggy summer weather, but I do have baskets lined with it that seem to be doing fine.

That Den. aggregatum is magnificent, although as you say, the flowers on the jenkensii are just the same. Lovely.

The last blossom on my little Zgz. Orchidom Dancing Elf, such pretty markings. Window box basket for the Epi. radicans I got in Apopka. I'm hoping they don't all revert to one color if I cram them together like this!

Thanks.
The coconut fiber lasts well through our hot Summers here.
I love the different colored Epi radicans! And they will surely stay the same color. Do you ever get seed pods in your location? And if so, would you see seedlings? ( I could imagine that at your location?) Now those might be mixed colors.

I've not seen any seedlings from the other Epi, but it really didn't bloom well last year. Not enough sun.

But the lady I got it from had many, many starts, so I'll bet she had some that seeded themselves.

The basket of mixed colors is inside the pool cage, so not sure if they'll have much chance of getting cross-pollenated unless I do it.

How long did you have to wait for that Phal to bloom, Elaine?
Love the Nakamotoara Newberry Aprikot and Dendrobium superbum