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.

That time of year

As soon as the Christmas commercials start, my zygo cactus blooms. It also blooms in December and March. I got this one on deep discount at Stop & Shop after the blooming season three years ago.

Here's the progression of blooms:

I also have a mini orchid in bloom. This one is Macroclinium manabinum. Here's the whole plant. It's mounted on a tiny piece of cork. (1inch x 2 inches)

 Here's a close up on the fans:

Here're the flowers:

It was very difficult to get a good picture of the flowers, because they're so pale and tiny.

Mansplaining horticulture

I try to keep this a plants-only blog, because plants make me happy. However, last night I had a run-in with mansplaining at my Orchid Society meeting. It made me angry, and unfortunately that anger showed. First off, mansplaining is when entitled (usually white) men explain their viewpoint to a female in hopes that she will take that idea as gospel. Usually these are well intended if somewhat misinformed ideas. I've heard of all sorts of stories of women running into this issue a lot more in recent months. I've run into this problem a lot more recently as well, and it's really starting to wear on me. I'm short and female and look about ten years younger than I am. Clearly that means I know nothing. I don't claim to know everything, but don't assume I'm ignorant of all things.

One member of the society brought in a whole bunch of orchid cactus cuttings and offered them to the club for free. Here's how this conversation went down:

Me: What color is the flower?

Old White Dude: This isn't an orchid.

Me: I know. It's a cactus. What color is it?

OWD: The flowers can grow up to the size of dinner plates and only bloom for one night.

Me: I know. What color?

OWD: They only bloom at night.

Me: I know.

Other Old White Dude Standing Behind Me: What color are the blooms?

OWD: White.

This right there? Not okay. I asked a direct question. There was nothing to misinterpret. Not a thing. I wanted to know what color the flowers were. Orchid cacti come in all sorts of nifty colors: pink, red, white, yellow, even peach. Dragon fruit is an orchid cacti. Logee's sells any color imaginable (not imaginable, but there's a fair selection). I wanted to know the color, so I asked. I didn't ask for basic information. I know that. I didn't ask for anything but the color, so I was I told everything but the color?

Some of my fall orchids started to bloom.

First, here are the baby toes in bloom (not an orchid). They're a succulent, and that dark green triangle on the top of each leaf is a little window to let light inside the leaf so that the plant can photosynthesize inside each leaf.

This is a Cattleya hybrid. It's actually Cattleya, Laelia, and Brassavola hybrid! This is the Hawaiian hybrid BLC Toshie Aoki. It reaks of Easter lilies. I love the lip coloration, though.

Here is Zygonisia Cynosure 'Blue Birds'. It's a hybrid between Aganisia cyanea and  Zygopetalum Skippy Ku. The flower a delicate violet color. I grow this in semi-hydro, which the plant seems to really enjoy, because it's always the right amount of wet.

This is the first Bulbophyllum that I've been able to bloom on my own. I am very proud of this! This is a mini: Bulbophyllum cernuum. It is absolutely adorable.

Here's the Bulbo with a penny:

Tiny!

Hodgepodge of blooms

I have several plants in bloom now. Some are repeat bloomers that bloom any time of year.

First off some Restrepia species.

Restrepia striata.This species does not really stop blooming. Except when I accidentally set it in the sun, and it burned. It sits in water all the time.

Restrepia brachypus.

I also have a mini variegated AV in bloom.

I have a rock plant - one that mimics a rock - in bloom. So cute. I didn't water it all summer, and then I gave it a good soak. A month later, this is what happened:

And my large hibiscus is going strong.

fall plants

I've started to bring my plants inside for the winter, inspecting each one for harmful insects. The spiders can stay.

The first of my fall-blooming plants is... a strawberry. I bought an ever-blooming strawberry, because fresh strawberries are great in the dead of winter. It had a slight thrip problem, but that has been resolved. I hope.

Next, I have my Lepanthopsis astrophora "Stalky" blooming again. I love this little plant. I always keep it in a terrarium with the bottom of the pot submerged in water. It needs constant moisture.

The pot is an inch in diameter. And just to give you an idea on size here's the whole plant:

I also have several orchids that are putting out spikes including my Zygo hybrid: Zygonisia Cynosure 'Blue Birds.' Hopefully this spike shouldn't take too long to develop.

(It's in semihydro.)

I also have my Gastrochilus bellinus in spike again. This spike will take a long time to develop. I don't expect flowers to open until April! And a Bulbophyllum cernuum is also in spike. This is the first time I've been able to successfully spike a Bulbophyllum. Very exciting, especially because it's not the stinky kind. (Bulbos are pollinated by flies, so a lot of them smell like death. Literally.) I have no idea why this one is spiking and the others haven't, since they're all right next to each other.

Also, both hibiscus in the same pot are blooming and happily established. 

 

And also, some everbloomers. My crown of thorns and an anthurium rescue from Lowes. Apparently the color of both of these flowers is dependent on light, because when I had the anthurium in my classroom, it had red flowers, now it has pink flowers. The crown of thorns only has different shades of pink.

Baby lemon

It looks as if I will have two lemons - if everything goes well!

Look at that cute little lemon! (Okay, it's a swollen ovary, but lemons!)

Also the hibiscus is still going strong, and so is the Coelogyne.

Odds and ends

No broad category of plants are blooming. I just have bits and pieces of plant families doing their thing.

My lemon is trying to kill itself with flowers. It has bloomed for me three times since January, and I have tried unsuccessfully to pollinate it myself. This time around, I stuck the thing outside and let things happen. And, lo! They did happen.

I have never seen a bumblebee so obsessed with a plant before! She didn't even bother to put her tongue back in between flowers! Look at that face full of pollen and bulging pollen sacks!

I also think another one of the reasons that none of the flowers took to pollination was that the light wasn't strong enough for the pistil to properly develop. I hope I have at least one lemon from this! (The flowers smell so strongly!)

My out-of-season Coelogyne ochracea has started to open its flowers. This is normally a spring-blooming plant. The smell is of strong lilies, and I can barley be in the same room as it: it's that strong - and it's not even fully opened!

I also have a sedum noid that blooms reliably every August. This year is no different.This was a gift three years ago, and this is the third year it has bloomed for me.

Last April (as in a year from April), my grandmother gave me all her African Violets. They were in sad shape. One of them died - root rot - but this one finally bloomed for me!

And lastly, I have a hibiscus that's very, very happy. It's putting out multiple blooms each day. Unfortunately, each bloom only lasts for a day. It's potted up with another hibiscus that isn't as enthusiastic. That plant has a coral-colored flower with a lavender center. Once these two plants are established together, they're going to put on an amazing show!