I have Cattleya Orchids that I've bought online and never seen in bloom. I was so excited when this Orchid put up a bloom:
It was only one flower, but I'd had this plant for years and was excited to see it bloom for the first time!
Finally, the bloom opened up! Isn't it pretty!? But I don't like the background...
I don't like this background either...
What do I have to do to get a decent looking background? My dirty shed and my neighbor's deck in the background is not cutting it!
I took the plant down from the s-hook where it was hanging, walked down the ramp and toward the front yard, where I was going to give it a better background. Then after I got some good pictures, it was going inside so I could enjoy the bloom. But hey! Where's the flower? I looked back where I had just traversed and found the bloom laying on the ground. What a dumb-ass! I had knocked it right off of the plant! So, I used my scissors to freshen the cut end, put it in a shallow cup of water, and enjoyed it for about a week and a half before it wilted and died. It was a beauty!
I blogged about my Orchids in previous posts. And I promised an update. Two of my Orchids are doing great! So, I'm doing pictures of them first:
This is my Cattleya:
Taken on 11/10 showing the buds just coming out of the sheath:
Taken on 11/17, using my finger to show the size of the flower buds:
Taken on 11/21 just to look pretty. This is the first time I've ever seen this orchid bloom:
Taken on 11/21 to show size of blooms:
Taken on 11/21 close-up to show detail -- pretty and fragrant. Looks like velvet:
This is my Dendrobium:
Taken on 11/10 showing flower spike with flower buds:
Taken on 11/17 with one bloom open:
Taken on 11/24 with two blooms open. Pretty, but not fragrant:
My Epidendrum taken on 11/10. Still looks the same today... Not sure what's happening here:
My Mini-Cattleya taken on 11/10. Seems like the sheath died. Not sure why. We had a hot patch of weather while it was still outside and it might have gotten too dry. The Cattleya above was in the same environment. But it might have been better able to handle it since it's a larger plant. Maybe I'll have better luck with this one next year:
And a couple of random pics that were on my camera when I downloaded it... This is one of my Camellias. I love Camellias. They bloom in the cold weather when just about nothing else is in bloom. This particular one has a fragrance too -- kinda spicy.
And this is a regular visitor on my back deck. I had a bag of bird food that was infested with moths. (So annoying.) I put the bag outside so they wouldn't infest my house... Picture is taken through window and screen. Talk about being in hog heaven:
And in Bald Eagle news, it looks like the Northeast and Southwest eagle cam nests will both have two eggs this year. If either nest was going to have a third egg, it would have been laid by now. I checked in on both cams this evening and Moms were on the nest, incubating/sleeping. Seemed really cold and windy at the Northeast nest... And I looked in on the Berry College nest -- no one was home. But that's ok, since there aren't any eggs yet...
Pam Monahan has posted some new pictures of Bald Eagle HK. She's got a really neat picture where I first thought he was coming in for a landing. But he's looking up and if he was landing, his wings would be stretched out to slow him down. And he would be looking down, concentrating on sticking the landing. But with his wings in this position, he's trying to get a big stroke for some big lift. My final answer: He was taking off. Neat picture.
Bald Eagle Camellia is 32 miles away from his check-in point of three days ago. I think he's enjoying this beautiful weather!
I mentioned in my September 24th post that I've got a couple of Cattleya Orchids in sheath. It occurred to me to take some pictures! (My Orchids spend the summer outside in dappled shade. Some get more sun than others, depending on the type.)
About the two that are in sheath: I bought both of these Orchids online (years ago) and have never seen either bloom. So, I'm really excited! The sheath is that rounded bit coming up from the junction of the leaf with the stem. You can tell by the size of the sheath that a big bloom is on its way:
The other one is a Mini-Cattleya. They typically had two leaves per stem and the sheath comes from that juncture. The leaves and sheath are considerably smaller on a Mini-Catt. The bloom will also be smaller. But the blooms on both are supposed to be very fragrant, which is why I bought them. Something else to note: Each year, the leaves should get bigger than the previous year's leaves. I definately succeeded with this one! Which is why it's happy and giving me a flower!
I've also got a couple of other varieties putting up flower spikes. This is a Dendrobium, one of the easiest Orchids to get to rebloom. I've had quite a few of these rebloom. Some of them have flower spikes and some of them put out blooms along the stem, at each leaf junction. This kind has a spike. There's only one spike, but it's still a success for me!
And this is my Epidendrum with a flower spike. This is the first time I've gotten it to rebloom!
I'll post pictures of them in bloom when they get there...
There is a new location posted for Bald Eagle Camellia. I wonder if he's wandering a bit more now that it's cooler? He does seem to be exploring more these days.
In my wanderings, I found this site called Dog Heirs. Here's a place to start, with a rescue of a Wolf. From there, click on links for whatever looks interesting to you. I've already spent about a half hour poking around and still want to look at more stories that are offered. Here's a dog rescue with a funny ending. I love stuff like that!
I grow orchids. I don't necessarily have luck getting them to re-bloom. But I love a challenge! I have orchids that I bought online years ago that I've never seen bloom. Have I ever mentioned that I'm stubborn? I attended some classes over at the Norfolk Botanical Garden and at McDonald Garden Center with Steve Urick, who takes care of the orchids at ODU. These classes were probably two and three years ago. Probably 4 classes in total. I must have finally gotten something right. I had already noticed that two of my cattleya orchids are in sheath (getting ready to bloom). Then, out of nowhere, I caught sight of purple and discovered that a completely different cattleya orchid that I hadn't even noticed was in sheath was suddenly in bloom. Just one bloom. But it's still my first cattleya to rebloom! So I'm really excited about that and I can still look forward to the two that are getting ready to bloom!
I mentioned the Berry College Eagle Cam in a previous post. I looked in on the cam last night and this is what I found!
And tonight, they've got a date/time stamp on the cam. And someone is home! This is looking like the cam to watch these days!
I think the American Kestrel is one of the prettiest birds. Ron Dudley has done a post on his Feathered Photography blog with some interesting pictures that show their hunting behavior. These pictures are neat, especially the dive-bombing picture. But I especially love the last picture in his post. It's a stunning picture of a perched American Kestrel. Just beautiful!
