Encyclia adenocaula goes on the want list.

Thunder storms are rolling through here like trucks on the interstate. I don't remember when we have had so much rain in May. The plants are loving it.

Jim

Ah! we're doing our "May Gray" this week. Cloudy 'til about 10:oo, then sun breaks through and temps get up near 80. Sea breeze comes in around 5:00, and nights in low 60s. Never know what will happen next week...the pacific is a fickle ocean.
By the way the Enc., brass., and Laelia all smell good.

Second day in a row, we've watched the storms roll by us without a single drop of rain. Less than 2 miles inland today . . . arggh!

Carol, glad to see you still have some beauties left blooming. Hope the attrition wasn't too extreme. I was thanking you again today, as I rescued Gerberara from another dreaded scale infestation. She gets to spend the summer out in the quarantine ward, I guess!

80 F heat wave. Please...................

Ken,The "heat wave" we had a few weeks ago gave my city the highest temps in the country (tied with Yuma) . Our official high was 106! It got 104, with 13% humidity in my tiny greenhouse. I only threw out 6 plants today, and they weren't in great shape to start with, but there will be more. The strong will survive!

Dang, that is hot!!

Whoa, that's hot and dry. We often get up to around 100 F with 85-90% relative humidity (feels like 110-115 F). Two or three years ago (they all run together now!) we had a couple of weeks with 105-110 F, again with the same humidity. We had lots of heat-related deaths. I am an out-door person, but I could only stay out for 15-30 minutes, was drenched with sweat from head to toe, and had to come in to cool off.

Jim,
Wish we were getting the rain here...skipping right past me


Finally got a few pics.......... and am excited, have a spike on my Encyclia alata var. majus, blasted on me twice last year before it ever got to the size it is now.

EpiCat Serenas Tinkerbell usually shows up in June, so she's just a tiny bit early.




Vanda Robert's Delight....these were both on the front porch so had to hold up outside to get enough light.

I would be tickled pink with those two in bloom!
Your Vanda Robert's Delight is truly lovely. I always object that mine blooms with cupped flowers and I have to wet them and bend them back so they might appear flat, without ripping them in the process.
The blooms on yours are nice and flat and well shaped!

Love the Enc. Mj and the Vanda is great, too. Nice going! I have no sign of spikes on any Vandas yet. Maybe the rain will inspire them, if it ever makes it here.

Speaking of the quarantine ward and here's a long handle, one I got from Lindsay a year ago. Lc. Tokyo Magic 'Moonbeam' X Rhyn. digbyana 'Mrs Chase'. I thought it would have a yellow lip, but maybe it will color up as it matures. Still, a very nice surprise, after I fought the good fight with black rot and scale on this one. It's still sitting there unpotted, thinking of a slat basket for it now.



My Enc. tampensis is almost completely in full bloom, but the pics I shot of it are all washed out by the bright sun. Where's a cloud when you really need one? Will go take more pictures of it later. The scent is just fabulous.

I just looked up that long handled one to see if it had been registered but it has not. I did find that the Lc. Tokyo Magic is now just C. Tokyo Magic but the cross with Rl. digbyana is not to be found.

My tampensis is peaking now as well and oh, that fragrance!

Jim

Elaine you and I are in the same boat so to speak with the rain. Was rumbling and gray to the east and west with the farm slap dab in the middle.....

E. tampensis are all budded here too but we're just a little behind you guys with them opening.

Ursula,
I guess I can thank Nature for that Vanda, it does get watered daily, ( almost) but it's been fertilized only once in the last 4 months or so.

Huge thunderstorm and pouring rain as I type.

Jim

Jim.....send it this way.

I wish I could. Lakes and rivers are at mid-rainy season levels and the rainy season is not suppose to start for a week or so. If we have a typical rainy season this year, we will have flooding. All this and we still have lawn watering restrictions.

I just received and installed Orchidwiz 11.0 which replaces the 10.3 I have been using. I also received a bill for $90.00 for next years quarterly updates and version 12.0 when it becomes available. As fast as the names change, I understand the fee.

Jim

They're ten miles east of us, I can see 'em and hear 'em and later we'll even get a little cool 'outflow' from them but it sure doesn't look like we're getting any rain today either. One of my rain barrels ran dry today, and the others are getting pretty low.

Thanks for looking up my Tokyo Magic cross, Jim. Don't know if it would make a difference, but on the label it says the cross is X B. digbyana 'Mrs. Chase'. We know digbyana is not a Brassavola any more though, right?

Right, it's a Rhyncholaelia [Rl]. Now I get to play with my new Orchidwiz 11.0.

Jim

I am curious too here, according to the RHS register it is not registered, also if one reverses the parents.

I wish Orchidwiz could be used on a Mac!

I am happy, I am done moving the Orchids outside!! Yippeee! All cleaned up ( still some minor repotting to do) and fertilized, wouldn't you believe, we just had a shower coming through, hopefully not all of the fertilizer gets washed off.

I started up a new thread "our growing area" so I could post some Cage - pictures.
The thread "Our growing area" in Orchids forum

Please feel free to add your growing area pictures! Ken moves his plants outside for the Summer and surely you all have interesting set ups to share.

Noid flowering still on very long scapes and Large Tongue-orchid (Cryptostylis subulata) is reblooming again for the third time.