Lots of great shots.

Thanks!

Hi everyone, I'm back!
Jim, your Mcv is beautiful..I am not familiar with that plant, and your Schomburgkia tompsoniana has the most interesting colorations
I would have given that one a loooonnnngg look, even if I were going on the airplane!
I've got one in bloom for the first time ever with 2 flowers even!

C. intermedia alba 'Pine Knot'

Lindsey, how nice! Welcome back!

I like this one a lot!

Great to 'see' you again Lindsay. Wonderful pictures, Ursula. I do love those Neos and they do smell so lovely.

My kids are coming here for Xmas this year, perhaps they'll come orchid shopping with me, and buy my long-awaited Neo for a gift.

Elaine, I have picked up the Neos here and there through the years. But the prettiest and most reasonably priced came from Erich Michel, this fellow here.
http://michelorchid.com/about-...

http://michelorchid.com/vandaa...

He attends some of the Orchid shows/ Fests around here. Last Summer he brought some really beautifully Neos along. Talking to him, he mentioned that he couldn't
possibly see himself charging some of the prices some of the others are asking. His plants were healthy and did well over the Winter for me, as seen in some of them posted above.

Thanks, Ursula. I'll have a look. I like to buy locally if I can, of course.

I do have a local grower, Palmer Orchids, who has them, but I have yet to make it out to their greenhouse to look. My excuse is I'm waiting for somebody to come on an 'orchid hunt' with me. I know it will cost me a lot but when they have a booth at the local show their prices are not outrageous. I've bought a few incl my wonderful everblooming Enc. Green Hornet from them. It's practically a one-plant bouquet right now!

I turn my back for a minute and look at all of these posts! Ursula, wonderful report on summer developments in the cage. I really like the Encyclia Orchid Jungle and the 'Mount Millais' Bulbo as well. They are all great! Also, good essay on the Neos. I only have one and I think it is time to look for a few more.

Lindsey, I was not expecting you so soon but am very glad you are back. Nice Cattleya intermedia alba. The term Mcv stands for Myrmecatavola which in simple terms is a Schomburgkia X Laelia X Sophronitis (now considered a Cattleya). The problem is the name Schomburgkia has been split up and eliminated. It is all very complicated. To me, the orchid looks like a Brassavola crossed with a Schomburgkia but officially it is a Mcv. I like Schomburgkia crosses because they seem vigorous, long spiked and often have the twisted petals.

Elaine, I agree about the Green Hornet. What a great bloomer! Everyone should have that orchid.

Speaking of Encyclias, my Enc. Lee Ward (adenocaula X tampensis v. semi-alba) has just opened its first flowers and there are many more to come.

Jim

Enjoying all the blooms of June..many many thanks for sharing as always!!!

Can't take credit for growing this one as I just got it from the San Jose Orchid Show over the weekend..my very first Vanda - Vanda coerulea. So far enjoying how the color hues change when in shade or in sun..

Nice Paph, Carol, I love the colors. Ursula, I love the cage, I'm sure others know, but I don't know the story behind it...

Nothing new flowering, broke the only Vanilla flowering today trying to pollinate it, rats!

Don't you hate it when you break off blooms?

Susan, I keep my Orchids ( and some C&S) during the indoor season here in NJ in a greenhouse ( ca 20 x 12 feet) which was built on top of the garage and it is part of the house. I have always moved all my plants outside over the Summer and it was in 2004 that my nice husband ( and his brother) built me this cage to protect my Orchids from Squirrels, Rabbits, Groundhogs and whatever backyard animals. The panels of that cage had a previous life as a tool bin in a chemical production building, which was demolished at the time.
So now I have moved all my plants outside until somewhere around the middle of September, when I move everything back inside, into a by then scrubbed clean greenhouse.

Tarev, good luck with your Vanda coerulea!

And Jim, this Encyclia is really nice too. Will you look at the spikes!!

Elaine, I agree with Jim - everybody needs an Enc Green Hornet!

So right, Ursula. Jim's Enc. Lee Ward is going to be a sight to behold when all those flowers open. I'll be able to smell it from here!

Sometimes in the winter I wish I had a greenhouse, but in the long run, I think the little bit of covering I do on a handful of cold nights is less work. Phew!

I did get a new solar heater installed for my pool today, so that might keep my orchid area a little warmer in winter, as well as keeping the water swimmable. (don't tell my DH I was looking for frost protection for the plants . .. )

Heh, the thing we do for our Orchids....

Jim, thank you for the translation of the Mcv...it shouldn't have to be soooo complicated! I'm with you on loving the twisted petals.
Elaine, your Green Hornet is beautiful...what is that container it's growing in?

It's a recycled plastic material called EcoWeb. Ursula told me about it. http://www.firstrays.com/ecowe...

I have a sheet of it, to use for mounting and also bought two of those planters, as they were very reasonable. The plants seem to be happy.

Only down side, the roots will grow straight through it, so when it's time to re-pot, there will be no removing the ecoweb. I plan to just cut the base off the planter and put it into something new.

Regarding the Ecoweb - the roots on my Encyclia cochleata are totally "inter-webbed" ( hmm what else might one call that?) with this Ecoweb medium. The plant is happy! I find most Cattleyas grow right into it too, but not all Orchids do that..

To demonstrate the point - here is my Enc. cochleata in Ecoweb.

One of these days I might just wrap a chain around the whole thing and grow it hanging.

And my Dendrobium bensoniae starts opening a bunch of spikes.


a look at the Neo etc bench in the cage. I kept these very sunny in Winter and they are now just a bit protected by the Cherry tree at the left side of the cage.


Amazingly Lc Tropical Pointer 'Cheetah' and Cattleya Janice Evans 'Sweet Sixteen' are still blooming!

sorry this is all i got hehe! wow clicking on it only makes it smaller, i havent worked out my phones camera yet. ha!

Now this is a new one, getting smaller by clicking on it. One CAN see the pretty color!

Hm, Bree when I take pics with my Android phone, I import them to the computer directly. It gives me two copies of each photo, a thumbnail size and a full size one. I just go through and delete all the thumbnails. Then when I post I get only full size pictures. If I upload the picture directly from the phone, I get the thumbnails. Hope this helps.

Out in the damp, muggy pool cage here, now that all the big Brugmansias have finished their latest show, the fragrance is pure Brassavola at night. Sorry again for all the repeats from me, I am testing out a new camera.

B. nodosa 'Big Jim' is lasting much better now that I gave him a new basket. (might be the cooler, damp weather, too of course)



Lc. Star Parade 'Volcano Queen' has the spice cookie scent going strong. Nice gentle light this morning with hazy filtered sunlight. The air is so thick you can hardly breathe! Noid Phal, the last one looking picture worthy.



The Spath. plicata are showing their colors, and putting up new spikes.