A Little Excitement

These grey windy days of winter sure don't give you much to cheer about in the garden. Right now I could cheer because I have a bit of excitement in the living room. 

As I was spraying the Staghorn Fern today I noticed another bit of color and form on the tree limb I have the Staghorn mounted on. Peek through there. Do you see it?

Yes. Yes that is it. The little Phalaenopsis that I attached to the limb has a bloom! What a brave little bloom.

Let us go around to the lit side of this and have a look. 

Awww, isn't it pretty? It is a different color than my other ones. It is also as I say a small one. It seems happy as a clam here. It has another bloom stalk and several more buds. I can't wait until they open. 

If you enbiggen the following photo you can see how this little orchid is reaching around the limb with one of it's roots to hold on. 

Can't really see it?  Here let me take you closer. You can also see the piece of twine that I used to tie it onto the limb. I will let it rot off. It will be gone by next winter.

I will show you the other side as well.  Two big new roots clinging.

While I was in Key West, Fl a couple of years ago I  saw orchids growing on trees. I just had to try this myself. It WORKS!   

I would love to put all of my orchids onto a limb. They naturally hang down though. I would have to put a tall limb into a pot so I could easily see the blooms. 

You can also see in this photo that the Staghorn Fern is responding to longer days. We might not be able to tell the days are getting much longer but the plants know. 

Is anything exciting happening with your house plants?

August Happening

So far this August has been one for the books. It is unseasonably cool and we have had enough rain that I even had a friend comment that she has never seen my garden look better at this time of year. I must say I agree with her.

I went out the other evening to do a twilight lap around the garden. 

As I returned to the patio I found that the night blooming cereus was about to bloom. I had been watching the buds swell the past few days. Both of them.  I was surprised that the Cereus didn't develop more blooms what with the mild weather. Maybe it prefers the weather to be hotter and drier. 

As the sun was going down the buds began to open. 

Amazing how if you sit there long enough you can almost see the movement of the bud opening. 

I waited and waited to see if I could get a shot of a moth coming to the bloom. I wasn't fortunate enough to see a moth but it was still fun watching the blooms open. 

Just me and the moon out there.

Have you had any exciting happenings in your garden lately?

Tomorrow is another Super Moon. You know I will be watching. Will you be watching?