An update!

It's been a while since my last post. My life has been a roller coaster recently, and it looks like there's no end in sight. Have some pretty flowers.

African Violets and a Cape Primrose on my windowsill.

 

 Bougainvillea "Vera Purple" grown on a windowsill facing west.

Cape Primrose "Inkblot"

Ctsm. Lovena grown on a west facing windowsill.

 Maypop Passiflora

 Seville Orange - wasn't pollinated. These are marmalade oranges.

Restrepia dodsonii blooms constantly.

 Restrepia xanthophthalma

 Stelis sp. #3 Mexico (unknown species from Mexico)

Spring Orchids and AVs

I apologize for the lack of updates. Life has been a bit difficult lately. However, I have some flowers in bloom, and those make me happy.

This plant was given to me a year and a half ago in bloom when my grandfather died. I grow it in his honor. It's a Phal hybrid.

Other blooming orchids are species in the Pleurothallis subtribe.

Here we have Stelis viridipurpurea, which, I assume, has to do with the color of the flowers.

The very tiny Pleurothallis alata.

The not-as-tiny Stelis morganii.

The adorable Platystele reflexa.

And the different Pleurothallis corniculata. (I like orange flowers.)

And of course, some AVs. I have more in bud. It took me long enough to realize that in order to get them to bloom, I needed to let them dry out, droopy leaves and everything.

Winter Blooms

 It's always nice to have flowers blooming in the middle of winter, especially with the winter we've been having.

Here's Passiflora "Betty Meyer." I was not successful in pollinating this plant.

Next is a little Abutilon noid. It's not exactly a high brow plant, but it's a cute little mallow. 

Next is a carnivore: butterwort. 

Next is the mini orchid Dryadella edwallii.

And lastly, we have the Phals. Winter is the natural blooming season for Phals, despite what you see in the grocery store.


First, a Phal noid.

And lastly, Phal. schilleriana. Last year this plant had nearly two dozen blooms. Now it has one. It appears to be upset by moving from it's happy place.

This Phal is mounted, so it's having a bath in the sink.

winter blooms

It's been a while. There was a period of time when nothing was blooming. Now I have blooms! And almost blooms!

First, a common winter flower: amaryllis. This one is two and a half feet tall! With four massive blooms.

Next, a cymbidium noid. 

Gastrochilus bellinus is finally in bloom! Last year it had three blooms. This year it has four. The flowers smell faintly of soap. These pictures were taken from the bottom of the mount looking up. The flowers hang below the leaves.

Here's a winter hibiscus flower. It's not too happy inside. 

My winter jasmine is blooming. All but one bud blasted on this plant, but it still  smells so strong that I could tell it had opened from the other room!

My Seville orange is about to bloom, too. This plant did absolutely nothing all summer. No new leaves, nothing. Yet now it's producing so many flowers!

Lastly is a noid succulent that I was given in a plant swap. It has many little pink flowers.

New Year's Blooms and others

Happy New Year!

Here is a seasonal plant: cyclamen. I picked this up recently, and I hope to rebloom it next year. It likes to be cool, so I have it on an enclosed porch. It seems happy out there. 

A close-up on the naughty bits:

The Phalaenopsis have begun their blooming cycle. They bloom in the winter and need a temperature difference of at least 10F to bloom. This is a noid that I rescued from Stop&Stop a while back.

I also have another orchid blooming: Pleurothallis viduata. Unfortunately it's so small that I can't take a decent picture of it. I have recently purchased a new macro camera, but by the time it arrives, these blooms will have passed. (I've been taking pictures with my cellphone for the past four months.)

Here's an update on my Ponderosa Lemon that was pollinated over the summer: baby!

And two of my AVs:

 I can't get this one to stop blooming! Such problems!

Tumblr

Hello all,

I wanted to let you know that I have set up a tumblr account for this blog. It's pretty pictures of my plants across your tumblr dashboard. It's set up to give you a picture a day.

It's at http://venividivivarium.tumblr.com/. Enjoy!

ferns

I've been posting a lot about what I have in bloom, so I have decided it's time for some seedless vasculars. I have several ferns, most of them rescues. They're very low maintenance plants: they need some sun and water, and that's about it. They also prefer not to be chewed on by cats. My cats love to crunch on the fallen leaves, thankfully, and not the live plant.

I have the old staple of the Boston fern. Actually, I have two. One was a housewarming gift a few years ago, and one is a behemoth I've had since my sophomore year of college. This one has fronds that are almost three feet long.

 I have another sword fern (Boston fern is a sword fern), that is not a Boston fern, and that was also a rescue. I'm not sure exactly what this one is, but it's small and compact.

 I also have a cute little button fern. This one was a rescue. These are great for small spaces, because they stay small, unlike Boston ferns.

Next up is a bird's foot fern, so named because the fronds form something that looks like a bird's foot. Sometimes. Not sure why it's called bird's foot and not dinosaur foot. More people would want a fern if it were named "dinosaur fern."

I also have three African violets starting their blooming cycle. These three are my best bloomers, and I've had them the longest. I've had that blue one on the bottom for ten years.