Gosh! So much has happened this past year. It's hard to believe that last Feb I was writing to Trish because I had started this cubit and was posting all alone. I told her I was discouraged but I'd think of it as a blog!! Well, look at us now! We are over a hundred orchid-obsessed and checking in has become a routine activity and often more than once a day. We are a sharing and caring group and I thank you all so much for joining my "blog" and making our cubit a great place to make friends. As I said last night, I love my orchid friends!! Have a wonderful new year full of orchid blooms, happiness, and good health for all of you and your families!



We came from 2010. http://cubits.org/orchids/thre...

Paph henryanum today.

Cym Valentine's Love 'Spring Scent' is opening and opening.

Paph Nike's Sunny Delight.

It has been a full (and rich with blooms) year..thank you Kathy for patiently waiting for us to show up!
Your 'blog' is my best friend!

Nice picture, Jim!! Thanks and Happy 2011 to all !!!
Pretty Paphs and Cym, Kathy.
Yes, this has been a very fun year with all of you and I say "cheers" to another

Kathy, thanks for the new year thread. Your hard work has brought joy and beauty into all of our homes. You seem to be doing quite well with the paphs.

I'm laying claim to the first big floof of the year. Blc Annie Belle opened all three blooms this morning. I've had her for several years and she blooms right on schedule. No fragrance so far.

Jim

Thanks for you nice comments, Jim. means a lot to me...
Great pics of your floofy! I especially love the next to the last one and the whole plant. Look at those determined roots!! I'm thinking of starting a new winter photo contest so hold on to those!

Beautiful , Jim!

What a beautiful new thread!! Great job on the Cym Valentine's Love!
And I am certainly happy to have such a very nice forum and wonderful friends! Thank you!

Jim, Blc Annie Belle is gorgeous, I love floofy Catts like this one!

Beautiful orchids to start the new year!

A few of my current bloomers...Adaglossum Summit 'Frenchtown'



Beallara Marfitch 'Howards's Dream'



Brassovola nodosa .....but no fragrance! :(



Burrageara Living Fire

Todd, very nice! Except, no scent on the Brassavola nodosa? Not even a smidgeon at sundown?

Angraecum sesquipedale is working on 4 spikes. There is a keiki on the other side with 2 buds! and 3 spikes on the mother plant. It's a slow process!


Ceratostylis rubra is happy this week


Darwinara Charm 'Blue Star' x Vanda amesiana produced another spike. The blooms look just like Dar Charm 'Blue Star' to me. But I don't mind.


Schomburgkia superbiens - 3 out of 4 spikes are now open. The bloom count could be higher, perhaps next year....


Slc Hazel Boyd 'Debbie' is blooming this week. The curly leaves are typical for Hazel Boyd. The bloom color is slightly darker than my picture shows.


And Dendrochilum stenophyllum - I got it as a freebie from the generous James Rose/Cal Orchids last January !
The plant is much prettier as my picture shows, I think.

Oh, such beautiful orchids are blooming at Todd's and Ursula's!!! January is already a super orchid month!
Love Beallara Marfitch 'Howards's Dream' and Burrageara Living Fire! The Angraecum sesquipedale is amazing!! And love the Dendrochilum stenophyllum!! I like the spaced blooms. Can't wait for superbiens to open here!!

Thats a fine Angreacum sesquipedale you have there; as you say it's a slow process but well worth the wait.

Thank you Richard and Kathy!
The full name of this Ang. is Angraecum sesquipedale 'Mount Zion' FCC/AOS x 'Star of Malagasy', it is one of my oldest plants.

On a different note - mapping out his Inferno, Dante should have added a 4. ring to his 7. Circle of Hell, the Circle of Violence:
"Against one's Mealy Bugs."
look at the right picture of the Darwinara Charm x
FAT Mealies (this one in beautiful sharp focus no less,) can turn any mild mannered soul into a murderer...this one isn't smiling any longer!

What's that old saying...?
'Hell hath no fury....' but Schomburgkia superbiens is sure pretty!
and Todd, it's wonderful having you (and your glorious photography) back!

All I can say is DOWN WITH MEALIES! (and scale).
I hate when my pics show bugs! Although they would make very good ID pics on a orchid pests thread! I have a block about orchid problems. I wince on those chapters in my books and dash through superstitiously.

You can imagine the problems we have with mealy in a tropical nursery. It's a never ending battle that you can only keep on top of but never win.

Same here with scale too! I once had a visitor all excited to see the orchids tell me that she wanted an orchid "always in bloom with no bugs". I told her to buy another type of plant!!