I thought this could be a fun thread!

My son has recently been starting a tree service company and has begun bringing home some interesting pieces of wood for me.

I contemplated this one for over a week before deciding how I wanted to plant it...it's VERY heavy!
BEFORE:


AFTER:



This one was an easy decision to plant, but now I'm trying to decide if I want to hang it or put it in a pot with a bunch of rocks to hold it up, or just lean it against something else...
BEFORE:


AFTER:



And this one, which reminds me of a windswept gothic castle atop a craggy mountain peak (or something out of Harry Potter)...I still haven't decided on yet, or even IF I will mount a tiny orchid or two on it....

You're so creative, Patty I love the orchid tree (1st pic)! #2 would look great in a pot full of rocks to hold it up. I hope you post more pictures of these as the summer progresses and the orchids overtake the wood

You are very talented, Patty. Those look great.

Jim

Happy Orchids!

And great mounting material! Kudos to your son for bringing that home!

Realy nice

What great ideas. I have a mess of driftwood that has washed up here that I could use. My only concern is watering something that was mounted. They would dry out pretty fast here.

Flood daily?

That means I have to be here which I am often not. I use drip on my deck but that is pretty sunny and the breeze off the water dries things out quickly, they would bake. Mounted plants just look so cool though, I've got to figure this out.......

Alice, could you attach a mister to your drip system on the deck, and hang a mounted plant (or plants) up under the eaves where it will be in the shade?

I have an automatic misting system in my cage, and all the mounted orchids are grouped in the section that gets misted every day. For most orchids, they like to be thoroughly watered and then dry out. I have about a dozen mostly mounted on cork that get this wet/dry cycle every day.

Today, everything sure is getting thoroughly watered! We've had nearly 3in. of rain here this morning. It's mighty soggy out there.

It's worth a try, I have lots of driftwood here.

I am currently at the Extension Service answering phones until my next talk. The one this morning went well. It has been raining nonstop all over the county and we really needed it. May is tough month for gardeners here as it is hot and the rainy season doesn't start until June. This rainy day is a blessing but I wish I was home and dry.

Jim

Y'all "baby" your orchids, mounted and otherwise, far more than I. I have so much to do and so many plants, I would be doing well to get each one watered every 3 days. I guess you would say I grow most of my plants on the dry-side. The only misting I do is the transpiration given off by my trees' leaves. Heck, while I was gone six days, attending the orchid expo in Asheville, they got not a drop of water. I might have heard some whining when I returned, but they were all fine as far as I could tell.

, I'll try it now for sure. That need for watering was worrying me.

I wanted to add, we had 3" of rain last night and this morning I had to remove some of the Publix orchids from their pots which had few drain holes. The roots were saturated, I'll let them dry a bit before repotting. Funny I am worrying about keeping things wet when today they are too wet.

Well, don't forget your orchids are in the shade of your oak trees, Ken. As you say, lots of transpiration there plus much cooler in hot, sunny weather.

Mine are in nearly full sun for most of the day. The upper tier of plants shade the lower ones, of course but there's also brick pavers underneath that heat up in the sun, and lots of breeze blowing through so everything really dries out pretty fast here. Sometimes on a hot, dry day I mist a second time in early afternoon with the hose, too. That's the only 'babying' mine get because of course the timer does the daily watering for me.

We've had about 3in. today as well, Alice. Such a treat for this time of year when it's usually very dry and hot.

Yep, location and conditions vary from A to Z.

It is been drizzling and raining on and off for a week here now with temps barely reaching 50 degr F. I slowly wonder what the sun looks like!

Aww, that is a bummer.

Some of the flotsam and jetsam from around the yard. These are heavy, old Live Oak roots.

. . begging to be adorned with orchids, Alice. Tropiflora charges hundreds of dollars for pieces of driftwood like that!

Nice toes too.