Indoor Garden. Orchids Blooming.

Cymbidium hybrid

Plant window in home office.  Cymbidium, Dendrobiums, and Oncidium.

Sanseveria and twinkle Oncidium orchids

Cold day.   Appreciate indoor garden.

The cymbidium hybrid was outside west of the house, out of full sun, all summer.  It did not get much water.  Brought inside in October.  Now blooming.  Watering with a diluted balanced mineral supplement.

Similar for the Oncidium hybrids.

The Sanseveria was left to languish in dry area on north porch, no water all summer.  I brought it inside and left it in garage, in October.  It's been there until today.  I cut off the dead  leaves.  It should regenerate by Spring.  Gives me something to appreciate growing.

Repotted the Yamamoto dendrobiums.  They had similar treatment.  I don't know what they'll do.  The look good considering how much they dried out.

I wondered how orchids and other plants survived the months-long journeys by ship in the Victorian era, and before that.  Many can handle extended period of dry, minimal light, and general neglect, for months.  Then regenerate when conditions are better.

There are other Cymbidiums.  One looks like it might also bloom.  The main issue with them - aphids.  The buds are covered with aphids when they are about to bloom.  A couple of sprayings with neem oil, and they look great.

It's nice to have plants that were dormant, or at least required minimal effort, in the summer, regenerate in the winter.

Dormancy Indoors and Out

This brugmansia looks like it's doing OK in the garage. It's getting the "dry, dark, and chilly" dormant treatment. This method is recommended on a number of sites. Apparently, Brugmansias originate in low elevations of the tropics - whether they experienced conditions when they were in chilly dark dry situations for a few months, I don't know.


Most of the garden is overwintering in the usual method of leaving things alone for the winter, maybe with some mulch. This is probably OK for everything with a cold-winter provenance. The figs are a bit borderline in this respect, but most should survive here.

Most of the geraniums, like the brugmansia, are getting the chilly / dark / dry treatment. Some gardeners recommend taking geraniums out of the soil. Here too. These are brought into the garage pot and all.
Some plants won't take the dry /dark / chilly and can't survive outside either. This citrus tree (I'm not sure if lemon, orange, or grapefruit) was grown from seeds 7 years ago, and survives mostly on neglect. It gets light and minimal water inside during Winter. The Anigosanthos is still green, and has produced a couple of small flowers in December. A few more seem to be pushing up from the leaves. It's getting minimal water in the same window. This is my first attempt at this plant - no way to guess if it will survive another 3-4 months of this treatment. So far, OK. I think it is not dormant, just slowed down.

Two of the geranium cuttings died (forgot to water for several weeks) but this one managed to pull through.

I tried to learn about dormancy. A number of writers seem to view it as being like a human who needs sleep. I suspect that's not proven. I think that it depends on the plant, where it came from (it's provenance), and how it's being treated now. For example, a plant in a purely tropical environment that is the same year round, might not need dormancy. Plants from the desert, which become hot and too dry sometimes, and cold and dry others, might have more than one type of dormancy. Spring bulbs are probably "doing something" when we think they are dormant - growing roots, forming embryo flowers and leaves, so that they can burst forth with rapid growth and blooming as soon as weather allows. Similar for shrubs and trees, with some root growth during the fall or winter, and the formation of tiny flowers and leaves within the buds for a big show in Spring. Some plants actually 'prepare' for dormancy by storing carbohydrates - this is hormonally mediated. Other plants may simply be 'marking time' or surviving adverse weather conditions.

I need a nap.

Friends. Summer cold.

Fortunately off work (although on call as backup).

Nasty cold today, cough, headache, congestion.

Kitty doesnt mind the dogs when she is closer to their height. At ground level they can be like overly frisky elephants (compared to her size) so she is less likely to put up with them.