Oops, one of these days I'll learn to use photoshop so I can crop the ancient digits.

Elaine and I hit Rafael's Plantio Orchidea's Mother's Day sale on Thursday...when I got home with my prizes I made this...

This is the chunk of tree after it fell from my neighbor's oak, and while I was chiseling parts of it away to finish hollowing it out, so I could use it (back in March):


Then Thursday,


I mixed up the tags on the two middle plants, and now don't know which is which!


It's final resting place outside my bedroom:

That turned out pretty, Patty!

Thanks Carol!

Nice mount, Patty.

Very nice! You are giving me ideas.

It looks wonderful, but
the "final resting place"? I sure hope not!!

You're so funny Ursula! As heavy as that thing is, live or die it IS the final resting place!!

Very nice, Patty!

Dumb question from a novice, how exactly do you mount these? I didn't notice any wires or anything, but I assume something is holding the orchids until the roots grab hold.

There are lots of things you can use to tie an orchid onto a mount - jute string is my current favorite, as it seems to break down and disappear about the time the orchid has grabbed onto the mount. It looks natural and absorbs a little water, as well which might help the plant to not dry out too fast.

I also use bird netting cut into strips about 3in wide on the diagonal. It will hold a bit of spagnum or other medium around the roots if the orchid needs that, which is very handy. Sometimes I staple the netting in place, then tie the ends of the strip around the back of the mount, and they can be used for hanging, too.

Some people like florists wire, which has a plastic coating but still doesn't last too long in our hot, wet conditions. You don't want to use bare, thin wire as it will cut into the plant.

Strips of panty hose or knee highs, or any stretchy material is also a good choice and will usually break down in the outdoor conditions.

Some people use glue, something like Liquid Nails but I haven't had any luck with that. It sticks to the mount just fine, but the parts of the plant that absorb water just come unglued (so to speak).

Not a dumb question. When I am mounting orchids it is usually to a tree branch. I lay down a thin layer of sphagnum moss and hold it with a couple three turns of fishing line. Then the orchid goes on top with another thin layer of moss on top of that. And then wrap all with more fishing line being careful not to bind on the plant itself. On larger pieces of wood/cork I have used florists tape, though I don't care for it, too weak, and even plain old plastic twist ties. I'm sure you'll get many more methods on here.

Thanks, Elaine and Ted! I'm going to have to try this after seeing Patty's arrangements

HI....I live here in middle eastern Georgia..east side of Atlanta. Between Atlanta and Athens. You get the idea...lol. I can not mount orchids here they just do not do well that way...I guess the lack of very high humidity. But my question is to, how do you guys in Fla. have your orchids out in sun most of the day? I have trees all around my house, but as soon as I put one out that gets filtered sun through the trees on and off it burns the leaves, any thoughts? Thanks again Mike

Mike, it depends upon what kind of orchid you are growing. Some orchids tolerate, or in fact they demand some sun in order to bloom. Some will burn in an hour.

Most of my orchids are in quite a lot of sun in the winter, but as summer approaches I have a big, tall stand of bamboo that shades them in the afternoons. They are also inside my pool cage, so the screening provides a little bit of sun mitigation.

Mike I certainly don't understand it but I always wonder if it is not the different latitude. I have seen hibiscus and plumeria in full sun in south Florida but if I tried that in my super humid SC Lowcountry garden they would fry. During the summer it is often a lot hotter in your garden and mine than it is in FL.

Thank you Elaine. I grow mainly Catts. I have two Neo. orchids ( Samurai orchids ), which I grwo in morning sun and after 12 they are in the shade. They love it. The Catts I grow on my back porch with only morning sun filtered through open lattice work. I have done that for two yrs. with np.. I know dens. and vandas like a little more sun. I hope to get a couple of dens. and vandas this summer. Thank you for the help again.....Mike

Mike, your conditions, at least the "natural" climate, is not much different than mine. I am in NE Mississippi. I grow approximately 500 orchids outside, from April until November. All mine are under a canopy of oak and cedar trees. The vast majority of what I grow are in the Cattleya Alliance. I have occasionally had an orchid that sunburned, but I can count on one hand the number of plants that have done so in the last five years. I am not sure why you are having the difficulty you are. How in the world do you have low humidity in east central Georgia? I have traveled the roads between Atlanta and Athens many times and that climate appears to be almost identical with my climate here in Starkville. In fact, your climate is probably a bit warmer in the winter than mine.

That's true, Alice we do get cloudy afternoons very often through the summer that keep it cooler. Our high temperatures here rarely go more than 95 and that's usually in late May or early June.

Back in the day, when I bought my first Catts I did have some sunburn issues. I think it's a matter of acclimating the plants slowly enough to the bright light. I now have Catts, Brassavola types, Vandas and several more types all growing in pretty much full sun for at least half the year. Our steady humidity helps a lot, and I do water all my mounted orchids almost every day.

I'm definitely misting and spraying every day right now - it sure isn't clouding over in the afternoons yet! This is often our hottest time of the year.

I was just preparing a new cork mount for a division Patty gave me yesterday, and thought everyone might be interested in these cool little screw eyes that my husband Marsh found for me at the hardware store. They screw into the cork by hand very nicely, for a secure fastening to put the wire hanger through. I like to hang my cork mounts on an angle so that the water drains off, and you can see the neat texture of the cork bark on the back side, so I crimp the wires unevenly - about 2in, on the high end here.