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!

Monday, September 09, 2013

Late Summer Surprises


Who doesn't love finding wonderful blooming surprises in their garden? I know I do, especially when it involves an orchid plant. My orchids are tucked so far back in my garden beneath the giant trees that I don't often see what they're up to. With all the steady rainfall this summer, I haven't had to venture back in that mosquito-laden area to water them. So, when I decided to walk back and see how they're doing, I was delighted to find these late summer surprises.


The vanda (yellow) and ascocenda (tangerine) orchids are so easy to grow and they bloom at least twice a year. They simply hang in a wood basket with no orchid medium whatsoever. I do believe the white and purple orchid is a Miltonia which is also a very easy orchid to grow and never fails to reward me with a generous amount of blossoms.

Are there any "late summer surprises" lurking in your garden?



6 comments:

FlowerLady Lorraine said...

What lovely summer surprises you had waiting for you. I love easy to grow orchids. Mine look healthy, but not blooms yet on the ones I got earlier this year.

Thank you for your kind comments on my blog Susan, they mean a lot.

Love and hugs ~ FlowerLady

Dawn said...

No Medium?

How interesting is that. I have quite a few orchids but only one of them flowered this year.

So - to be clear - your orchids just sit in their wooden baskets - roots exposed - and secured by something to the basket perhaps?

Susan said...

Hi Lorraine...You are so very welcome. It's a true blessing to know you!

Hi Dawn...That's right. The plant gets placed inside a wooden-slat basket and the metal hanger helps keep the plant upright as it grows. Eventually, the roots cling to the basket as they would a tree trunk in the wild. Lately, I've begun securing the plant to a long metal "s" hook (no basket) to see how they do. The extra long roots hang down like long hair. They look lovely hanging from tree branches.

Leslie Kimel said...

Your orchids are so pretty, especially hanging in the trees among the Spanish moss. That's my favorite way to see orchids growing.

It's great that you've gotten so much rain. The showers kept going around Quincy, so we only got 3 inches in August. I'm hoping it will rain tonight!

Unknown said...

How funny....I was wandering around the yard,yesterday,and found some of the orchids blooming in my yard,too.I think it has been all the rain.

Carmen said...

Beautiful orchids. My orchids are not flowering now but I did find flowers in my plumeria plant.

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