We have had a most unusual weather pattern this past summer and now into autumn. We are into our second autumn month and I have seen not one gold coloured leaf as yet.
On April 4 Springwood received 76 mm of rain. In one hour on the same day 10.4 mm of rain fell. I have had to rescue some of my potted plants from the extreme amounts of rain. One of these potted plants is an orchid that I have managed to grow from a cutting given to me by a local orchid enthusiasts and professional grower, Alan, who I met by chance at a garage sale. He was generous and happy enough to take Mr HP and I for an impromptu tour of his nursery in Glenbrook one Saturday afternoon last June or July. He offered me two cuttings he found on one of his work tables which I gratefully accepted and then gingerly planted into two small glazed terracotta pots when we arrived home.
I have only every grown dendrobium or Sydney rock orchids so I was a little dubious about the success I would have with these. For the first six to seven months they resided in the loft studio above our garage bathed in filtered light from a west facing window. I watered them rarely, almost forgetting their existence. I didn't hold much hope for them but after a few months some new growth appeared and then as the weather became warmer and our youngest moved back home, they began impinging on his space, so I moved the pots outdoors and hoped that they would continue to thrive.
Which they did.
On Easter Sunday one little flower bloomed and today I was thrilled to find all the flowers blooming happily, bopping their little heads in unison each time someone walked by the table on which I have now placed them in an attempt to control the amount of water they receive.
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Although I'm not 100% sure...I think they are Cirrhopetalum ornatissimum.
It's been love at first sight! I wonder what surprise the other little pot will have to offer soon?
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