Indoor Garden With Orchids.....

Being that nothing is really growing outside right now, it is fun to fuss over and photograph my orchids that are blooming at the moment.  Right now I have 5 plants that are in bloom and I have to say, I like photographing them at their different stages of growth from spike to buds to flowers.  The orchid above is a great bloomer for me and when the plant started producing buds this time, there were 3 that initially formed.

While these 3 blooms were putting on a nice show for me, you can see from the above photo that 2 more buds formed on the spike, waiting patiently for their turn to bloom.

In this photo, only one of the original blooms remain and you can see that the 2 buds have gotten very big and will burst into bloom at any time.

I love this little red Phalaenopsis, it is the second time it has bloomed for me and this time it formed 2 buds which turned into beautiful flowers.

It was a happy surprise when the Phal above started forming a spike as it had just stopped blooming and I was amazed it started again so soon.

The above Phal I have had for years and I have not had any luck getting it to rebloom for me.  I decided that it was now or never so to speak and if it wouldn't rebloom for me it was getting left behind when I moved.  I spent a lot of time with it over the past months trying to coax it into action and imagine my happines when the spike above first started to appear.

It formed 7 buds on this particular spike and now of course, since I have gotten it to bloom for me, it will be a regular bloomer without any special effort involved and it will also be moving with me, sitting with the other orchids on the front floor of my car. 

I've had this plant for so long that I had actually forgotten what color it was and to my happy surprise, it is yellow with a red center.  Yellow is a color I have been wanting in my orchid garden so I was thrilled.

Indoor Gardens And A Lucky Giveaway Winner

When it's cold outside there is no better time to enjoy my inside garden. My Orchid garden keeps me happy and inspired all throughout the winter and seems to make the time between winter and spring pass more quickly.

Thanksgiving weekend we journed to Parkside Orhids in PA, my very favorite place to buy plants and I purchased the sweet yellow Phalaenopsis above to add to my collection.

I also purchased this lovely yellow/purple Cattleya. I had thought it would be white and purple but to my surprise, when it opened, the blooms were a yellow/purple. Yes, I did read the info on the card, this Orhid was also sitting with all the white and purple orchids that I loved....the name was the same but the colors weren't. While I did mean to pick the white Cattleya that day (I was in a white mood I suppose) I'm perfectly thrilled with this beautiful Orchid. It made for quite a nice surprise.

Now that this beauty went out of bloom it is time to repot this very large Orchid, it is quite root bound in it's current plastic pot.

I also purchased this lovely small white Cattleya which is not only beautiful but very fragrant as well. Parkside Orchids is a wonderful place to shop for plants....I always have great luck with each purchase I make there. http://www.parksideorchids.com/

A sunny dining room window where some of my Orchids grow on their humidity trays. I also had a happy surprise this week, I just discovered my Phalaenopsis on the far right hand side in this photo, is spiking. In a couple of months I should have some large pink/purple flowers on it to show you.

Something I've been wanting for a long time, a grow stand for my dining room. It took so long, searching on line for weeks, to find one that was a nice piece of furniture as well as offering me ample room for plants. This is my Christmas present....I got it in October, I wanted to get an early start I guess.

I was on my way to the recylcling bin last week and couldn't believe my eyes, a rogue Black Eyed Susan was blooming in my sleeping perennial garden. This was a first for me, a bloom among the snow and ice. I had to run out with the camera and take a photo.

Last week I was thrilled to find out I was the winner of a giveaway held by my artist friend Catherine Holman. I got to pick the print that I wanted from her ETSY shop and I couldn't resist this summer print, I think it is just beautiful. Thanks so much Catherine, I cannot wait to get a frame for it. Catherine is a wonderful and talented folk artist and you can visit her at: http://www.catherineholmanfolkart.blogspot.com/ to see her beautiful creations.

Beautiful Orchids......

During our vacation back in July, Chris and I journeyed to my favorite Orchid nursery, Parkside Orchids in Ottisville PA so I could add to my collection of these beautiful plants.

I wasn't planning on buying another Phalaenopsis that day but that is exactly what I did, I saw this beautiful pink spotted Phalaenopsis and just had to have it.

I actually went to Parkside to get some more Oncidium Orchids because I so enjoyed the one that I purchased there in the winter and it is doing very well in my sunny back studio window. I found this gorgeous delicate red Oncidium and just fell in love with it and decided that this one had to come home with me.

One of the colors I was hoping to find when I was there was a beautiful yellow Oncidium. There were several at the nursery, I loved this one though as the blooms were small and that is exactly what I wanted. I learned when I was at the Orchid show this year, that of all the Orchid species, the Oncidium has the truest, purest yellow.

This Orchid is one of my favorites but is not new to my house. This is "Woody" named because of the wooden planter I put her in, I've had Woody for 3 1/2 years now and back in May, I was very excited to see a spike growing up from the moss. I love the delicate color of this Orchid....

so very pretty.

I hope you've enjoyed the Orchid photos, both new additions and old favorites.

The Garden Awakening Continues....

A view from above of last years Hibiscus stalks. I cut them down as far as I can and wait for the new ones to grow up and out shadow the old. Just today I noticed my Hibiscus are starting to break dormancy and in July I'll see.....

Hibiscus in full bloom, in all their glory.

Just breaking ground now.......

Black Eyed Susans and different colored Cone Flowers will be blooming this summer.

Threadbare Coreopsis seems to be getting taller and taller each day and soon.....

Be filled with cheerful yellow flowers.

Flower Carpet Roses in different colors have grown all their leaves back......

Soon all the blooms will emerge.

The inside garden shouldn't be overlooked either, just this week I noticed another one of my Orchids is in spike and in a couple of months I should have some of the beautiful flowers above. This photos was taken when this Orchid was last in bloom. It has the sweetest color and is one of my favorites.

In art news, I'm about 3/4 of the way through a new venture, I'm creating my first painting pattern packet. The painting itself is finished and now all I have to do is go through, make sense of, organize and transcribe all my notes (of course, this is the hardest part). I hope to be showing that packet and explaining what it is all about in my next post.

The Indoor Garden...

This time of year, because I live in a cold state, I focus on my indoor blooms, most specifically my orchid collection. They bring me a tremendous amount of joy during the year, I love caring for them and watching them grow. The ultimate reward of course, is when you can get a spike and at that point you know that blooms are just a few weeks away.

This beautiful blooming Phalaenopsis orchid has just been added to my collection a few weeks ago and has 7 gorgeous purple blooms. When it goes out of bloom I will cut the spike appropriately and see if I can get it to rebloom. If it is a bit tired at that time and decides not to rebloom, I will repot it into one of my favorite orchid pots at that time.

These big and beautiful blooms add so much cheer to my sunroom studio, I appreciate and admire them every single day. Don't be surprised if you see orchid blooms in an upcoming faux window painting.

To my absolute delight, one of my favorite orchids that I've had for a few years now, just started to spike a few weeks ago. Rosey Tyke above has the most beautiful miniature blooms and in the photo above, if you look to the right of the plant, you can see the spike coming out of the lower half of the orchid. I was also happily suprised because Rosey Tyke just bloomed for me in the spring so it made me very happy to see it spiking again now.

The little one above is also almost ready to bloom, it has two tiny red buds that I'm waiting for to open. It is a new addition to my orchid collection and is called Sogo Grape.

I was also very happy to see the orchid on the left spiking a few weeks ago as well. It is the largest orchid in my collection and hasn't bloomed for 2 years now so when I saw it spiking, I was delighted. It has very large and gorgeous white blooms with yellow centers. In a few more weeks the flowers should be ready to bloom. You can see from the photo that the spike has gotten so long that I have put the support on to give it strengh and protection. Generally when a spike is about 12" long, that is when the support should be attached. I'll be sure to take lots of photos of the blooms on all the orchids when they open.

Deep Purple Phalaenopsis

This is definately my week to be excited about Orchids because this Wednesday I'm going to the Orchid Show at the NY Botanical Garden. As promised, I will post some of the best photos from this years show....lots of eye candy for the Orchid lover for sure.

This is one of my Orchids that I bought back in the fall, I happened upon it totally by chance when I walked into Home Depot one day, it was a lucky find. I walked in the store to purchase another mailbox to paint on and saw a beautiful , large Phalaenopsis Orchid on a display table by the door. It had always been my policy to not buy Orchids at home improvement type stores because every time I saw them there, they looked half dead. I discovered that day that I could buy Orchids at these types of stores, in fact, they have great deals on these plants if you can catch them at the right time...ie...immediately after the grower ships them to the store. That way, they have not had time to sit there, be mis-treated, handled by lots of people and in general, knocked around.

Well, the minute I saw this Orchid, I had to have it, the mailbox went out the window and I totally forgot about it that day. This plant is huge and beautiful and was a great bargain I think at $24.00. This Phal did not come with a tag so, I got really creative and just started calling it "Big Purple".