Orchid blogging

It's been chilly and rainy all week. Not much to do outdoors - today I did mow the lawn, such as it is, for the first time.

The orchids came via UPS on Friday. See prior posting. The plants were in great shape, I'm very impressed with the appearance of the plants and with the care given to the packing. Hausermann orchids.

The link displays this Brassolaeliocattleya

The variety is "Ports of Paradise" Emerald Isle. Fragrant. May bloom twice a year.

I do not have room for more orchids, but I placed an order for a small one of this variety. I don't know how it will do here, so better not to spend too much. Something might have to go, to make room for it.

I repotted one Potinara and the Vaughnara. They were well potted. The Vaughnara was spilling out of its pot, and looks like it has some active growth, so it seems like a good moment to do so. The Potinara probably didn't need repotting, but I wanted to have it in a container with openings in the sides for better drying between waterings.

I also repotted the cymbidium - this had tough, healthy appearing roots encircling the medium in the container, difficult to separate. I also repotted a Phalaenopsis and a Paphiopedilum. In both cases, I realized that I should have repotted them on purchase. They had been grown in excessively moisture-retentive medium, then potted up in bark mix, then wrapped in spagnum. As a result, there were rotted roots. I cleaned them up, removed all old medium that I could, and potted into the new bark mix. We'll see.

Peppers, Tomatoes, and Eggplants

Yesterday I started another wave of seeds. This time:

Pepper, "Big Red hybrid" - medium hot cayenne-type, 70 days"
Eggplant, "Millionairre" - Japanese-type, 55 days
Pepper, "Bulgarian Carrot" (seeds packed for 2008) - hot pepper
Pepper, "Red Popper" - 1 1/2 inch fruits, sweet, 55 days.
Eggplant, "Fairy Tale" - purple striped white fruits, 50 days

Of the seeds that I started last week a few eggplants and peppers have sprouted, and all of the tomatoes sprouted.

Most of the seedlings had just been watered and were still in the sink, but this is the general appearance of the seed starting system now. The foil does seem to make the light brighter directly under the lights. All are growing nicely, some tomatoes have their first true leaves now. Soon, I'll need to plant them individually in slightly larger containers. The towel covers the containers with unsprouted seeds, on the heating mat.

Cayenne peppers in the window sill now, from the original seed-sprouting experiment. I hated to throw them away. I did not really mean to start them for the garden, but here they are. On sunny days, I think the sindow is brighter than the fluorescent fixture, and the light is more "natural", anyway.

Backyard orchard culture. Trees in Bloom

We're now in the "second wave" of blossoms in our backyard-orchard-culture "orchard". The apricots have finished blooming - I don't know, the frost may have killed branches and prevented fruit set, we'll see. If the trees die, that's it - no more attempts at apricots. They are not well suited for this climate.

The peaches have a few blossoms now, but are leafing out. Soon, I'll want to dig up the peach seedling and find a better location for it to grow into a tree. As a nongrafted, seedling, genetic dwarf, it's a complete gamble. If nothing else, they have beautiful flowers.

The plums are done as well. It's too soon to see if fruit set - with some of the cold nights in the past month, it's possible they didn't. This is only their second leaf, so any fruit would be a surprise.

Asian Pear, 3-way graft. Oh, it will be so great if a few fruits set. Not too many - it's only in its second leaf. The flowers are lovely.

The 5-way European pear. This year we'll thin more. It's developing a nice spur structure, repeat clusters of blossoms. Responding very well to the backyard culture method of summer pruning to hold to size, which means no standing on ladders is needed.

Awesome clusters of cherry blossoms. Some are in full bloom, others not quite there yet. Again, the sweet cherries are responding very well to the pruning philosophy. I really didn't know if it would work. It's working great for these trees. This tree was allowed to grow a bit too tall for backyard orchard culture, but before it got out of hand I pruned it back. It's a 3-way graft, so pollinates itself. I usually play the bee and travel among blossoms with a paintbrush, but it's too rainy for that. I hope the real bees do the job.

More sweet cherries.


Another experiment, this one in its infancy. These are seedlings, from wild cherries collected last fall. The wild cherries grow very tall, too tall to be practical in a yard. Why not see if they can be kept compact by severe pruning? I don't know if it's possible, but if it is, we would have wild cherries within reach, and fruiting at a time when other cherries are done. These are just beginning life - who knows how many years this will take.

Narcissus blossoms

Last fall, I planted a bunch of new Narcissus varieties. Now is the reward. These were mail order, so no way to know ahead how they'll look. Catalog photos here. There are always differences in color on computer monitors, and on paper, but the appearance on my monitor matches the catalog photos, and the colors in the photos that I took do look like the flowers in my garden.

This is Vanilla Peach, from Dutchbulbs.com. Really quite pretty.




Ice King from Biltmore Estates. This is my favorite of the new ones.
Replete, from Dutchbulbs.com. I was surprised at myself for ordering a so-called "pink" narcissus. Especially since they almost never seem to look pink. This variety is a beautiful tangerine color, even though the catalog photo clearly shows pink. I like this much better. This is my other favorite of the new ones.

This one is "Sunnyside Up", also from Dutchbulbs.com. Again, the colors aren't true to the catalog, but I like this variety as well.

More Sunnyside Up.




Ice King again - not much like the catalog photo, actually much nicer. The catalog photo has darker yellow centers.

The older Daffodil patch, at lower level. Dutch Master. The upper level is Ice Follies and Bella Estrella.

Strange, I don't know which one this is. I like it. The coloration is subtle, with yellow fringe on off-white trumpet. It doesnt match any in the catalog. A mystery.

We hove lots of others in bloom as well, photographs taken in previous years. Many are multiplying, especially jetfire and Dapple Dandy (I think).

Jetfire. These stated as, I'm guessing, 3 bulbs about 7 years ago. They've multiplied into a nice cluster.

Professor Einstein. These were in the lawn when we bout the house. We've lived here 10 years. This cluster also started as one rescued bulb, so is multiplying nicely in this location. It's not the most fluffy but it's an old variety, so I like it.

A couple more orchids

This is the "state of the orchidarium" today. I repotted both Dendrobium plants, slightly larger pot, ceramic with holes in the sides for drainage, after removing all original medium. One has what appears to be the start of 3 keikis. Interesting development. I also repotted one Phaelaepnopsis. At the "core" of the medium was sphagnum, surrounded by bark medium. The majority of the roots were rotted. We'll see if it survives. Now it's in an open-sided pot containing fresh bark-based medium. The bad roots were carefully removed. No water for a couple of weeks now.

The Oncidium back-bulbs that I collected last fall, have all sprouted now. The most recent was 1 week ago, about 1 cm of growth. In the hands of a total amateur(me), the ziplock-bag-with-sphagnum method works. It takes a lot of patience, but that's all.

I was looking at Cypripedium orchids, but at the cost not sure I can justify something so iffy. With the variable culture requirements, the tropicals are also iffy, but the reward of blooms during winter, and the long lasting flowers, give a better risk/benefit or cost/benefit profile for me.

I have wanted to add some Cattleya-type orchids, which are what I picture when I think "Orchid", despite knowing better. But Cattleyas are too large, and need too much sun, for my setting. With warmer weather, I can take a risk of a mail-orchid orchid, sitting outside for a few hours, when shipped, should be OK. The front of my house is not in the sun, so I don't think they'll cook, either.

These are from Hauserman Orchids.

"Vaughnara Sir Walter Raleigh 'Yellow Squirt' (Bc. Daffodil x Epi tampense alba) - yellow, Compact-Under 15" Tall 2.5" pot size, Summer Bloomer". Here is another pic of the Vaughnara.

"Potinara Free Spirit 'Eric' (Twenty Four Carat x Sc. Beaufort) - mini yellow, Winter bloomer Miniature-Under 12" Tall, 4" Pot Size on Special!" According to the "Miracle-Gro Complete Guide to Orchids", Potinara is "sympodial, compact, likes medium to bright, indirect light; mild nights, warm days, moderate humidity; let dry between waterings." The book goes on to state, "The growth habit and growing needs... are similar to those of other cattleya hybrids, but their sophronitis background makes them slightly smaller. Cylindrical pseudobulbs are topped with one or two succulent leaves." The 2 varieties that are listed are described as having easy culture but "Free Spirit" isn't listed in the reference.

Both varieties are yellow. One of these days I'll locate a green miniCattleya, or white, and add that as well.

Here is the Vaughnera, pictured on the Orchid Board. Vaughnera is Brassavola X Cattleya X Epidendrum.

Potinara is Brassavola x laelia x cattleya x sophronitis

The vast majority of locally available orchids are Phalaenopsis, or Oncidium hybrids, with some Paphiopedilum, Dendrobium, and Cypripedium hybrids thrown in. So far I haven't seen many miniCattleya hybrids, and the small number I've seen didn't appeal to me (shades of pink and purple, or splotchy flowers). With mail order, the options are more variable, although there's more risk in other ways - will they be what I order, will they be healthy, will they bloom? I imagine these will be small, and I don't know if they will bloom this year. It's all a gamble. I'll be happy if a few of the others rebloom this year, and if most of them grow and thrive.