Hoping Miss Joachim will flower under the hot summer sun

Although I have smothered some of the orchids with a pillow, I have a few little monkeys still hanging on. Below we have terete leaved, several types of vanda and a schomburgkia something-onia lower right.

Chicken wire filled with hardwood branch and bark for moisture. 

The renanthera storiei, a elegant example of a monopodial is a handsome straight backed girl.. Leaves are a faded but clean of spotting of any sort. Coming to think that this one can't get too much moisture. There are only a few aerial roots to absorb the moisture. It is in a prime spot for some direct mid - late PM sun.  The three trichoglottis brachiata are holding their own too. Funny-- the orchids (vanda, terete, trichoglottis) wired to the chicken wire above are growing better than those simply hanging..

In bloom; white and red bleeding heart, bougainvillea, vietnamese gardenia and the begonias of course, all of them. The Pandora vine is taking a bloom break. Unfortunately the absolute queen of fragrance, the orange tree, has finally finished and at every flower there is now what might be a  fruit someday.

Tricky love

I've killed at least half of my orchids. I threw two more out today. My gorgeous blue vanda is looking burned out. Too much fertilizer. I'm such an addict. I'm advised by all to fertilize once every two weeks during the growing season. I put a tablespoon of Jack's in with every morning spray. I once heard "if there were a pill that made everything perfect, absolutely everything. I'd take two", this describes my relationship with fertilizer and orchids..  Will glyphosate kill the bamboo rhizomes I need out of my big beautiful pot?

Urban Babylon



Your very own blogger

The hanging gardens of Herzog & de Meuron at the Perez Miami

Found an interesting fertilizer at Homo Depot today; Alaska, All Purpose Fertilzer. Pellets made of fish, kelp, feather meal, blood meal etc. Clean, relatively non odorous. I like organic foods for breathing some life back into soil that's been in pots for several years. I love PlantTone which is loaded with dried blood etc., but it smells too bad to keep in the house. 

Sunny mid-80's in February

Breezy and warm the past two days, well into the 80's. The blood orange is covered in small flowers that have a heady scent. It's never had such a profusion of blossoms. It is a gorgeous sweet 'food' smell. Like Ylang Ylang it is delicious.  The begonias are still in bloom. Big Mac has some strong stalks topped with florets. The dicentra, both red and white are putting out quite nicely as well. It's a beautiful time of year in the S FL container garden. The thousand of dollars of orchids are another story. I can tell it's going to take some time to learn about this family, if they don't all die before then. I won't be buying any more until I have a much better feel as to what works on the South facing terrace, being washed by a fairly constant briny ocean breeze. 

The warm weather has prompted a round of feeding and cut backs on jasmine and begonia U402--which is one of the most charming bloomers of all.

All at once.. in the middle of winter.. everything just started blooming..





More than the begonias are in bloom..
 Here a Vietnamese gardenia really, really sweetens the air

Need I say more, a generous orange/coral bougainvillea shares it's bright color with the world



The usually shy white dicentra responds to a kick of Plant Dynamite (daddy's little helper) 

私はミキモトで真珠を購入する -- just an FYI

The begonias are in bloom

 

 

 

Big Mac

Sand bagging

1. I've blocked the run off spouts with sand bags to comply with condominium by laws. I began scrubbing the tiles, that didn't last too long.

2. Do not over pot begonias.  I have a Selph's Mahogany that was a 4" cutting of a rhizome. There are now 2 major rhizomes with smaller rhizomes coming up. Potted in a pint plastic pot in some MiracleGro Moisture Control soil, it's filling up the pot nicely. Seaweed tea with some SuperThrive every week or two seem encourage root growth. My Big Mac has filled up its pot and the rhizomes are beginning to climb up. Happy and big. All begonias, except Red, are in bloom. Beautiful stalks topped with white and pink flowers which will last for weeks.

More later.

Keep the roots plump and hydrated in the cooler drier air

They've been cold mornings for the past week or two-- low 50's. There hasn't been a pressing need to water the containers, though I've watched for wilting leaves. Keeping the vandas et al sprayed daily of course a must, put a few drops of SuperThrive in the sprayer, maybe pump up the roots to withstand the cooler, drier air.

Fish food

Sprayed all orchids and foliage of the rest with a seaweed / emulsified fish tea. I mixed and let them brew together overnight. This is the first time using fish emulsion on the Vandas. Very interested to see the results a few weeks down the line, hopefully some happy growth. The rhizomatous are sending up their late winter, early spring stalks. Yes, the days are getting longer quickly. Below, a family shot; b 'Selph's Mahogany' and b 'Big Mac'. They need the dappled shade and they need to be left alone once you've agreed upon a place-- I've said it before and I'm saying this to myself. LET THE PLANT BE once you've found the happy spot.

The boys. Selph's flowers are a beautiful light reddish pink. Big Mac's more of antique linen. 

Fort Lauderdale Orchid Show

Fort Lauderdale orchid show visit today.  The very finest Chinese silks do not have colors as intense some of these flowers.  Bought pots, clay pellets, and a great pot clip hanger. I forgot the clip hanger at the pot store. Piss me off. Bought 2 trichoglottis, not sure why as I already have 2 trichoglottis brachiata. I'll figure out something. 

Light green petals with cinnamon red printed on the lips

How long can this keep going on ..

We have had several cold nights dipping down into the upper 40's, No immediate casualties, though the renanthera is loosing it's bottom leaves. They are turning yellow and dropping off. Otherwise everyone looks fine. Even the burly marx usually quite cold sensitive didn't looked bothered, as Catherine Tate would say. I don't like going off topic, no matter how boring, but I worship Catherine Tate. What a fucking liberty!

Went to RF Orchids today. Was tempted by a huge pot of papilionanthe teres offered at $250. The Fort Lauderdale orchid show is going on, so I held off.

Like I said, I have to get out the sawzall and cut out the bamboo of my beautiful pot and get the sea grape going. The goal being to get a substantial bonsai'd tree for the vandas to be tied to. Might take the palm across the terrace down and have sea grapes on both sides..

Nylon sand bags have been suggested to block the drains.

I love orange flowers

Big swinging roots

A very grand hallway

Blah

Neighbors have complained and I will have to stop the run off from my watering. Need to get on my hands and knees and scrub the floor. Need to have some sort of containers for the pots. Boring stuff. Still need to saw up bamboo rhizomes and use that fabulous pot again.

Schomburgkia Thompsoniana, happy and gets sun on both sides all day (at least with the winter sun).

Ascocenda adisak blue-- the baby is growing up.

La parte antigua de San Juan, me encanta

Perfection.

BRB-- going on a boat trip south, not done here by a long shot.

The holiday season was very distracting. However I did find the time to pot the second of the Noriko Sumida semi-teretes into a 'rustic' hanging orchid pot. I really like the habit of the semi-teretes. As to the Sawzall, I found my own in storage-- they are great tools, though I haven't yet begun to clearing out the bamboo roots out of the beautiful pot that was it's home. I think that a sea grape might be the most appropriate tenant - sun, salt, wind tolerant, and they can be grown and kept manageable in a container. There is one in our gym that's been there for at least 3 years.  

The begonia have begun sending up flowering stalks. They are doing quite well which isn't as easy as it sounds on a breezy, briny, sunny terrace. I believe the secret to a happy plant, beyond simple, dedicated care is to allow them to acclimate to a particular spot -- allowed to stand their ground so to speak.

We're expecting a cold snap during the coming week when I'll be away. Tuesday night is forecasted to dip into the upper 40's. Our house-sitter nicely offered to bring in orchids as needed. I'm going to leave them where they are. If they can't take a little cold for a night, I'm not going to coddle them. The temp is scheduled to warm on Wednesday going back into the 70's during the day.