Welcome to my zone 9 garden. My roots are deeply planted in the sandy soil of sub-tropical central Florida, where the summers are long and hot, but the rest of the year is paradise!

Thursday, January 29, 2009

January Orchids

January was a good month for orchid blooms, especially when you consider that they spent a lot of time indoors because of cold weather.
A couple of these carried over from December, and oh yea, there is a bromeliad stuffed in the middle. I bought it at Lowes. I just couldn't resist the sunset color combination.

I love this deep bold purple color. It looks like velvet.


This is a real beauty with a large and deliciously scented flower. It filled the entire kitchen with its sweet aroma, but on this day it is out soaking up the sunshine.

Ah, this is one of those very tiny orchids in a plastic bag that you find at one of the box stores. There is a picture attached to the plastic but you're never really sure what you'll get. I can't remember what the picture looked like but I am very pleased with this sunny yellow beauty.

I couldn't resist including this photo of Allie the cat. In our family, even the cats appreciate beautiful flowers. But as you can see, she has bad cat manners as she lies sandwiched between two orchid plants on the kitchen counter.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your orchids are beautiful, Susan. I love the yellow ones, too.

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Oh these are absolutely gorgeous. Their colors made my heart leap with joy.

Dawn said...

Course, kitty has to be in on the attention. Love your orchids. I'm trying chinese ground orchids, so far, some good.

Susan said...

Nancy & Lisa...Thanks, they are very colorful and wonderful flowers to grow.

Dawn...Yep, we call kitty "tag-along Allie" because she always is in the center of things. I've never heard of Chinese ground orchids. I'll keep an eye on your blog for a future photo.

Hildegard said...

Hey Susan, now I know were my big beige pot with the design on the outside went the pot in the back row.
Remember the big R -RETURN
thank you.

Susan said...

Oh I love the sweet smell of cattleya orchids. I'm a newbie to collecting orchids, but once you start there are so many lovely faces and aromas to find and enjoy. Mine are in the kitchen again with the falling temps.

Your bloomers are beautiful. A nice mix of colors and textures.

Susan said...

Mom...Oh, that's where that pot came from (LOL). Good, I can get rid of another one.

Susan...Orchids are really addictive that's for sure. A couple more weeks and we won't have to worry about bringing them in.

Susan said...

The trouble with bringing them in was that my newest ones had those teeny tiny ants in them. We thought we had eradicated them only to have them again. I discovered the orchid connection and had to repot the culprit. Ah Nature.

Dani said...

I wish I had better luck with orchids. Their blooms are spectacular!

Susan said...

Dani...The biggest thing with orchids is the location. We grow them under two large oak trees. They are shaded but do get a certain amount of direct sunlight. They are thriving in this location.

Susan said...

Susan...We've had that ant problem too. Not a lot of them but enough that when you bring them indoors it gets annoying.

Susan said...

Very annoying. It just seems to be with the orchids. Do you think they like the bark? Or they are just orchid lovers like we are.
Thanks for your input
Susan

Anonymous said...

I have never tried orchids. Yours are lovely. Are they indoors or out?

My Mother's Garden said...

Lucky you! This is quite a collection of beautiful orchids.

Susan said...

Fourwindshaiga...Welcome! The orchids are outdoors unless the temps drop below 50 degrees. They've spend a lot more time indoors this winter though.

Love the snow photos on your blog. I'll be checking it out somemore.

My Mother's Garden...Thank you. I do feel lucky to have so many beautiful flowering plants.

islandgal246 said...

Your orchids are beautiful! I need to pay more attention to mine they have been neglected. I am at wits end to find suitable containers for the very large and tall ones. Lovely garden too.

Susan said...

Islandgal...I'm sure my orchids would rather winter in your backyard than mine right now.

My husband plants large orchids in wire baskets with the coconut fiber lining. We have one huge one that takes two of us to carry in on cold nights. They don't seem to mind.

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