This Brsdm Shooting Star 'Mustard' hasn't bloomed in a while, I was amazed to see two spikes on that plant, one is open this week.


Another bloom on Phrag Jason Fischer


And the Neofinetia falcata are starting up, this one is Kibana Fuuran, probably a hybrid with perhaps Asctm miniatum.

Thanks, Ken. I understand.

Ursula, very good info in your link. Nice blooms there, especially the Phrag.

Jim

Nice blooms! I have a couple of pictures too!

Promenaea Margaret E. Boice - a difficult grower. Growths easily rot unless you wait to water until they are about 1" long.


Miltoniopsis Andrea West 'HOF' fully bloomed.

Ooh, I really like the Promenaea, probably worth all of the effort. I so wish I could grow Miltoniopsis.

I am systematically washing all of the windows in the OC. It's a big job since I have to move all of the plants and take each window out. The priest and church choir are coming over for an end of season party next Thursday and I'm trying to spruce up a bit.

Jim

Both are gorgeous! Well done!

Since I am going to wash out my now empty greenhouse, I bought today several boxes of wet Swiffer pads, they do a great job on getting the crud of dirty glass panes. I follow with Windex and paper towels for shine. Then I clean the racks also with wet Swiffer pads, that works very well. Now I need to work up some activation energy.....

Paul washed the panel walls by removing each one and scrubbing inside and out. Then he swiffered (new word) the ceiling inside and the roof outside. Nice and tidy now.

This summer is much brighter than last so we had to put up the second aluminet so now we have 80% aluminet on the west wall and west roof of the GH. Much better.

You mean I am "swiffering" my greenhouse too? I certainly will use this word from now on, courtesy of Melissa.

Love the new word, swiffering! Hope the swiffering is going well, Jim and Ursula. There sure are some wonderful bloom pictures up here.

I got off a plane at midnight last night, and didn't get outside this morning before the sunlight was too bright for pictures. I have lots to show, since I've been away for a week. It sure was nice to come out of the airport terminal last night and take off my jacket! It was a beautiful, cool dry evening to welcome me home and it sure is nice out there now too.

It's been cold ! ! and rainy in the Utah desert (yeah, right ) all week - they have had a record number of consecutive days of rain, and it looks lush and green there like the Pac. Northwest. I sadly didn't get as much gardening done as I wanted to, kept getting chased indoors by rain storms.

Welcome home, Elaine. There has been plenty of rain here too. I recorded at least 4 inches during a thunder storm the other day. The lake is at mid-August levels. There could be some flooding in our future.

Jim

Yeah, Elaine is back!!

I've been lurking, it's just so cumbersome typing on my (old, crotchety) tablet and I can't post pictures from it. Been watching the weather here, too. I fear we didn't get as much rain as you did, Jim, because my swimming pool and pond both needed water added this morning . . . c'est la vie. The rain barrels are all full though, so there certainly was some rain. Orchids are very happy and healthy, it seems, and there are lots of new buds. A few very bright shots, as a cloud came over, then flitted away as I was shooting.

My little NOID Vanda that has pouted for 2 years, her twin sister still being a diva:


Big 'maybe Yellow Bird' raft has 5 spikes in full bloom and at least 5 more coming along. So happy I got home before they were all gone.

Nice!

Well, Aerides multiflora has opened and so has C. Beaufort. I will have to pull out the camera tomorrow.

Did I tell you that my crutches are history? Yay! PT starts on Tuesday.

Sometimes, well often, knowing what an orchid's flower will look like when a non-flowering plant is purchased is a great help. Ever so often, I will have a surprise when one of those plants blooms. I purchased a handful of the E. alata var. flavus last month and a couple are starting to bloom. The first picture is one that I sourced from the Hawaiian grower. The second was taken yesterday of one of mine in bloom. I like the lime-green coloration better than the orangey-yellow. Perhaps that green will turn to more orange with time.

I just know someone out there knows what this Vanda is. I have had the plant for about 10 years, don't have a clue where it even came from (probably given to me by a patient when the plant looked dead) and it blooms twice a year, every year. I love the flowers and would love to have a name on it. I don't give up easily.

That's a reason to choose different Cultivar names.
Nice Encyclia, Ken.
We overlapped-
nice Vanda, but I have no clue which one.

Elaine, I think you need a new IPad? That's 99% of what I use since my Laptop experienced black screen. Using the IMac is simply convenient for the 1%, since I can open several files at the same time, but it is not a necessary requirement.
I must admit, the ease of taking pictures with this thing and uploading to wherever is making me a bit lazy. I did use my camera though the other day in Penny when it was very windy.

Anyway, your Vandas look nice and healthy, pretty blooms too!

I wish, Ursula! My DH is the head Geek around the house and he is anti-Apple in all respects. New computers and electronic gadgets arrive regularly around here, since engineers must have the latest, fastest thing. But other than my nice new state-of-the-art Android phone, which I specifically requested as a holiday gift because of it's camera, I am at the bottom of the hand me down list.

Purple NOID Den is in its glory now, and a new rose/ivory spike starting up on 'maybe Yellow Bird'.

Who or what nursery specializes in Vanda's down there? Perhaps they can give me a name for my NOID.

All the growers that come to the local shows seem to have some Vandas, Ken. They're just the showiest thing to hang in a booth to attract buyers, I think.

Don't know about Jim, but I buy Vandas at the discount grower in Apopka since they are $8 to $12 there, and $35 to $60 or more at the shows. About half of the ones I've seen there have tags. They are concerned with selling in bulk, not named varieties. They carry hundreds of one type at any given time.