That's a nice one, Bert.

I love the Bletillas. They seem so overlooked....which I am guilty of, because I'm obsessed with epiphytes and this is a terrestrial critter...but I bought one 4 months ago with a bloom on it, and it is STILL there!!! What a trooper!

Neat, I hope it thrives for you Kate. I tried growing Bletillas from bulbs and although they made leaves, the first summer did them in. I never saw a flower, and the leaves petered out.

Trouble with terrestrials is you can't see as easily what happened to them. On the epiphytes you can see insect damage, fungal infection, cold damage etc. Sometimes takes a magnifying glass, but . . . at least most of the plant is visible.

I've had great success with Spathoglottis, though. They're often for sale at Lowe's in large pots, in bloom. I have several colors and once they start blooming, they seem to just go on and on.

I don't know how hard it is to find (in general), but I was having trouble finding Cymbidium Sara Jean Ice Cascade and ---> I got a call from a nursery to tell me that they have it! It's expensive but hopefully worth it, it is going to be my Christmas present from the dogs, cat, goat, bird and anyone else who happens to be around, like th spiders in the bathroom that I rescue from the tub, the little mouselike creature outside the front porch who visits now (they have to pool their money).

I'm afraid I'm still after Margaret Hort. Now I'm also looking for Tiny Kiss which I saw in a post here a few days ago. I am in the mood for white flowers, no floof, no splashes, and narrow petals and sepals. Is that more of a species type?

I'm beginning to think I'm going bonkers! But I like a good Internet hunt!

I like a good hunt too.

Jim

The Bl Tiny Kiss came from a Japanese vendor named Suwada. They make their attendance once in a while at the Silva Orchid Fest here in June, where it was purchased.
Here are recent pictures of my plant in bloom for comparison to the Brassavola noid Elaine purchased the other day.

I have a hard time finding certain grammatophylums but there are so many other orchids that it really doesn't matter. They are all very beautiful. On the other hand I'm always looking for plants I don't already have and will look around wherever I am if they sell orchids. Home Depot is always on my agenda but only if the plants come with tags which quite often they do not. Just yesterday I picked up the following:

(1) Brassavola Little Stars (B. nordosa x B. cordata) normally this plant is a hybrid of B. nordosa x B. subulifolia so the word cordata intrigued me enough to pick it up.
(2) Rodrumnia Hollingsworth's 'Excellence' AM/AOS (Rodrumnia Apple Blossum x Tolumnia Elfin Star)
(3) Oncidium Burgundian ‘#2’ (Onc. schroederianum x Onc. Harry Sutton)
(4) Cattleya Llory Ann 'Paradise' AM/AOS (C. Mem. Robert Strait x C. Jungle Flare)
(5) Rhyncattleanthe Love Avenue 'Serenade' AM/AOS (Rlc. Waikiki Gold x Cattlianthe Rajah's Ruby)
(6) Rhyncholaeliocattleya Sachiko Tsugawa 'Volcano Queen' (Rlc. Chia Lin x Rlc. Haruko Kazaki)

Except for the Little Stars I had none of these. All came in 4" pots. Several were in bud and none cost more than $14.98
Now I need to go and pot these plants.

My Epilaeliocattleya Don Herman 'Gold Rush' plants are presently blooming in unison and I see I have too many.

The 'Gold Rush' is lovely, Fred. Looks like you have holiday gifts for a few friends there . . if there ever is such a thing as too many of a blooming orchid.

Lorli, any of the B.nodosa crosses have that nice flower shape you described above, and many of them are white, too. I see Ursula's 'Tiny Kiss' has touches of pink, and the little one I got doesn't, it is all white. I think everyone should have a B. nodosa. They're pretty, easy, not too temperature sensitive and bloom often.

Fred, Brassavola cordata is the synonym of subulifolia.
Your 'Gold Rush' is/are gorgeous.

I agree, everyone needs a Brassavola nodosa or the Little Stars hybrid!

They are beautiful, with and without the pink (one of each is a good idea). The other thing I like about them is the terete leaf shape. The shape of the plants is really nice too.

The Don Herman is lovely, the red in the throat is really pretty, I need to go back to the Home Depot! The only orchids I have ever seen there are very basic Dendrobium (species? But always the same one as far as I could tell). I have had a couple of Oncidium crosses from Trader Joes in the past and have seen Phal hybrids there, but nothing as exciting as you mention, Fred!

I can't wait to see the new Cym, I have to wait until after the holiday to pick it up, too much going on until then. I have never grown a hanging Cym before.

I told Ken once that I feel like Lorelei Lee in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, remember when she first saw a diamond tiara? She was delighted to find another place to wear diamonds. I feel the same way about mounted and hanging basket orchids - they open up a whole new area of space to put orchid plants, when your plant table and window sills are full and there are miniature plant pots sitting on the surface of the compost of big plant pots!

Hang away, Lore!!
Looking at my set up, probably more than half of my Orchids are hanging.

If I may- Home Depot would be for me surely the very last place I would look for Orchids.

Ursula, maybe Home Depots are different in southern states!

I love that Little Stars! I can't believe how covered in flowers it is! I doubt I could ever grow something as well, especially in the house, but it's going onto my list of " must haves". And it was one of the plants that Fred found at Home Depot! I don't think it is worth the 45 minute drive to the nearest Home Depot to look!

Is the Silva orchid fest very nice? If so, I think I will go to it. Depends on if or where I'm working by then. At my present job, we have to request time off (even one day, even weekends) about 6 months in advance. So, any events have to be good!

I hunted on line for the quotation about the tiara, which I was going to put at with my signature instead of the Walt Kelly quote, but didnt find it. I think it is from the book, not the film, and I have the book here somewhere.

Psssst, I moved my B Little Stars where it belongs, into the monthly thread. Had a momentarily lapse and had added it here....😳

You are surely correct re HD, at least around here I never saw anything beyond the usual Phals and perhaps a Dendrobium.

I always enjoy the Silva Orchid Fest, something to look forwards to!

I have a feeling that Home Depot and Lowe's (we only have a Lowe's) purchase orchids depending on their climate and perceived belief on what will sell. Our Lowe's never has much to choose from, generally they will all be Phal. Sometimes there will be bare-rooted plants in mesh bags that are for sell. Those are usually Cattleya Alliance plants and often they will just be called "Cattleya", without proper labeling. I often see people post that that bought a (regularly-priced at $24.95) Phal./other orchid for $5.00. I never see our store discount plants like that. When I go to Lowe's I always check though!

We do get other types than Phals at our Home Depot occasionally, but Lowe's often have a good selection here. Home Depot send back orchids to the growers once they are finished flowering, but Lowe's put them on what I call the "death rack" and sell them off for 75% off. I've bought nice big catts and the odd large Phal for $3.75 each. Most of them have survived and re-bloomed for me, too. A very satisfactory rescue operation, if I may say so. The 'baby in a bag' orchids - Catts and small Vandas - at HD are rather expensive, but once in a while they put them on for 'buy one get one free' and I picked up two last time they did. Name tags on 'em, a bonus!

Trader Joe's here gets some really nice orchids, and sells them for @ $12. Thankfully our store keeps the orchids near the door so they are not subject to the cold a/c in the summer time. Lots of nice humid Florida air coming in at them. I've bought Onc. and Miltassia, and one day I couldn't even get close to the orchid display because they had about 6 'Sharry Baby's in bloom, scenting the whole area. Those all sold while I watched.

You are so lucky to not only have so many choices to purchase orchids but also great discounts. My Lowe's puts those orchids on the "death-rack" at 1/2 off, but for a $24.95 plant, that's still too much for me to pay for a Phal.

Ursula said:Fred, Brassavola cordata is the synonym of subulifolia.
Your 'Gold Rush' is/are gorgeous.

I agree, everyone needs a Brassavola nodosa or the Little Stars hybrid!

Oh, I see. They keep me confused with all their different names. I have my orchids on a spreadsheet on the phone and check the names when shopping. That's usually not a good time to do research. So, if different it goes in the cart.

That's a great way to keep up with everything, Fred. Now, I need to see about getting me a cell phone.

with Ursula. Home Depot would be the last place I would look for orchids.

Jim

It's like any other 'new' gadget, Ken. You never think you really need one until you have one, then you wonder how you've ever done without it all those years.

I was worried my smart phone would be smarter than me, and it was for a while But I've caught up with it, and now know how to text, and send pictures, shoot video, get e-mail and everything! I even use it as an alarm clock and can work the GPS in a pinch. At first it was just a handy camera that would answer phone calls though.