Orchid File

I'm declaring 2015 a great year for orchids!

Cymbidium

Dendrobium 

Dendrobium Spike

Epidendrum

This Month In The Garden - April.

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.

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? 

Prediction

My rock orchid has flowered for the first time in years.

Many of the native plants are flowering profusely this year, I'm therefore predicting a long hot and dry summer.

It may be some sort of protective mechanism to ensure the species survives a  treacherous season.

Bush fires have already caused much concern in and around the Blue Mountains over the past week.

Day 312/366

Thanks Honey Pie!

This Month In The Garden

JUNE
Initially, I didn't think that there would be much to photograph in the garden this month.  How wrong was I.

The cacti are doing surprisingly well.

Above is the centre of a Swamp Lily, at least I think that this is what it is.  It's an Australian Native which we've had in the ground for around five years and is yet to flower.

Cherry Tomato in flower.  There's been a good crop this year but the fruit is too sour to eat.  Perhaps the fruit have not had enough sun.

Strawberries are fruiting now too...but I really thought that summer was their growing season?

Some of the wattles are in flower. Here are a couple of ants making their way to a feast of nectar.

Angophoras have been sprouting all over the garden.  I love the colours and the textures of the seedlings.  Unfortunately, most sprout in awkward positions and are not viable.  This one is growing in alongside a potted Kaffir Lime bush.  

I planted six or seven of these Conestick bushes in the garden about seven years ago.  This is the first time that flower heads have formed.  I'm looking forward to seeing the first flowers.

When it comes to Cymbidium Orchids, I think I can safely admit to having a green thumb!  Already, there are about eight spikes forming on my four potted cymbidiums.  Unfortunately, they are all the same variety and I have given away tens of these plants over the past twenty five years or so. Each year I promise myself that I will purchase a new variety but I've never got round to doing this.

It's still June, so I was very surprised to find that the mulberry tree is full of new buds.  Sorry, but the picture quality is not good.  I was so surprised by this find, I just had to post.

  Now that the Winter Solstice is over, the days can only get longer.

Happy gardening!