Dendrobium Kingianum blooms

At long last I have blooms.... 3 to be exact! It looked like she was going to give me many, many blooms but I left it in the cold window on a very cold night and most of the buds froze:-(

They/it smells fantastic and I look forward to the other 2 buds opening.... and next year I promise to be more careful about her winter care when the buds appear!

Diane

Hoya Shepherdii Umbels?

Are these umbels? Sure looks like it to me.... the beginings of one? Please Hoya Gods.... Let it be so;-)
Diane

It would be my first flower on a Hoya (Got my fingers crossed again:-)

Hoya Australis

My queery about my Australis might have been premature as there is new growth coming out where the leaves were turning yellow and falling off. I'm now not sure I should change a darn thing with my watering or potting soil? It might just be doing what comes naturally to fill out?

Any ideas?
Diane

Phalaenopsis Carlotta (purple multi flora)

My first Phal!
She's a beaut:-)
SuperStore has these mini and semi mini Phals for twenty dollars. Had to get one. (before they KILL them all!!)

Roots and leaves seem healthy, (but what do I know about it? Nada!) firm and green.It's growing in a 4 inch plastic pot with charcol and foam pieces in the bottom and planted in sphag.

Please let me know any of your opinions and growing tips.

Thanks
Diane
















I couldn't find my gravel to make a humidy tray so I thought I'd try Hydroton. I LOVE it! It stays all wet even if there is hardly any water in the tray! I think you can easily see how wet the pebbles are but you can't see the water line (Only about 2 oz. of water in the tray:-)

Chirita

She's just about to bloom:-)

Streptocarpus "Dilbeys Kim"

She's a beauty! Bloomed from the first baby leaf she grew and hasn't stopped since.

Hoya / Hydroton

October 11 update: Although my KQ looks smaller in these photos, I lost a vine or 2 due to shock, the remaining vines look great. I've left the container 1/2 full of water to help the roots adjust to their new environment. As I see new water roots growing I'll lessen the amount of water in the container to an inch or 2. So far I'm happy with the way things are going, but next time I'll start with rooted cuttings instead of an established plant. Diane




I decided to plant a Krimson Queen in Hydroton yesterday! I love this stuff as it opens soooo many doors to what I can plant in:-)

This is a votive candle holder. I sure like the word semi-hydro! (hope it works:-)

Juncus spirales

This truely is a crazy looking plant that I know absolutely nothing about and all I have been able to find out is that it's a bog/marsh plant that I assume should be kept wet/moist.

Any other hints would be most welcome:-)

Diane






Sept 20/06

Seems this plant didn't care for me or my environment:-(

Lyle, as he was know to his friends cause of his bad hair day, passed away today.

Diane

Liriope 'Cassidy'

OMG! I just got a Liriope a few days ago at SafeWay's floral department. I just couldn't resist!!! Especially when I saw the vase! Had to have it!!But because it's a grass, I have to put it up on the fridge every night so the CAT won't eat the ribbons.

This is Liriope 'Cassidy' and is one of those pattened hybrids that you are not suppose to propagate. (yeah right!!) I'm growing it in Hydrotron clay pellets (way to cool of a way to grow plants as you can use any container:-) The tag says to keep in indirect light and moderately moist soil. Average home temps. and grows 10 to 12 inches high.

Marble Queen!

I scored at the grocery store the other day! I've always wanted a 'Marble Queen' so when I came across it I just HAD TO HAVE IT!! Love the white!

Diane

Some of my plants Hate me!

This Aloe, if that is what you would like to call it, is an after thought. I was reminded by a GW'er that Aloes are his bane in life and that reminded me of mine:-(

5 plants I have HATE me!

first we have my lovely Diefenbachia. She looks good now but really she hates me! When it was living in soil she had a stem in it that was twisted around it's self 4 times.... Looked like a roller coaster and NEVER had more than 4 leaves!!! Now that I've cut it off that long stem and plunked it in water (about a year ago) she looks great and has (WOW!) 7 leaves. No food... only water... I think I'll leave this one be and leave it in water.
Now we have what I was hoping to be a beautiful Monstera. Really that is what that is! Not so pretty.... I think I'm not giving it enough light but I can't do better right now. She'll like it a lot more when I get my sky light put in next year!
Alocasia? Yes sir eee bub, but you'd never know it! We call it 'Evil the Plant', as the leaves used to look like Evil the Cat's face. I've tried everything to get this plant to thrive.... I give! I will continue to let it to grow but I wouldn't be too unhappy to see 'EVIL' die!

Which brings us to the Parasol Plant. (Heptapleurum) This doesn't like me either! It neither grows nore dies.... Just is!! Drops leaves in the winter and grows a few back in the summer... That's it!

I'm not really looking for advice on how to grow these plants, just wanted to confess my brown thumbs for them. I don't have the conditions they need to grow well so they just plod along:-)

Diane

Jasmine Sambac 'Maid of Orleans'

Satin Pothos

This is my Satin Pothos. She's located in a west window in my kitchen. The neighbor blocks a lot of the light that she gets but she still gets at least a couple hours of direct sun light a day. I take cuttings regularly to try and keep it full.

It's a Jungle in Here! (so DH thinks)

This is my main growing area, in the Living room, which consists of 3 old coffee tables, one of which is stacked on top of another one to give me more room:-), and 2 end tables. There lives 23 plants, most of which are Hoyas. It faces east and gets sun this time of year from sun up (4 am) to around noon. I'm sure I can find more room for plants.... I still see day light! LOL

This is the Kitchen/Dining room window. I have pretty much used up most of the window space there too but I have to leave room for the cat:-)

BTW both photos were taken from where I sit at the computer. The desk is right in the middle of the 2 spaces. I like my Jungle!



Welcome to my kitchen.

I've posted this picture so Toni could see my sky light. This is also my only west window to grow in, so it's packed full of plants too. A friend of mine made me the stained glass so I wouldn't have to keep shutting blinds every night. I am very happy with the glass and my plants don't seem to mind either!

On top of the fridge is where I keep all my newest plants that are in quarantine and where I start seeds and cuttings. It gets no direct sunlight up there but it is nice bright and warm.

Diane

Dendrobium Kingianum

This is my little Dendrobium that I receive from Boergreen 2 Januarys ago. Considering that it took 2 months to receive and it almost died of frost bite, I think she looks pretty good:-)

Today while admiring and watering it I came across this growth. Seems to me that it must be a bloom spike..... or a keiki? I'm hoping for a bloom (bloom, bloom, bloom!) but I'd be happy with a keiki too.

So what do you think?

Diane


June 14, 2006
Yup, she's gonna bloom:-)
The "King of Dendrobium Kingianums", Wilford Neptune, informed me that it is a bloom spike!!
This is where she resides.
This is my bathroom in my bedroom ( I am hiding behind the door so you won't see me in the mirror, so mind the mess) and the window that I grow my Dend. and a weird cacti that I got at a garage sale. It's the only south window I have and the trees outside block a lot of the morning and early afternoon sun.
Diane

An update on my Streptocarpus 'Kim' and Episcia '?' leaves.

Last fall I receive 2 leaves in the mail, included in a Hoya trade, that I had no idea what to do with!

Thanks to the GardenWeb folks, 6 months later I have 2 very nice plants:-)

The Strep appears to have a bit of sunburn on the leaves but it also has 4 bloom spikes. I think I'll have to shade it a bit more.

Epi is growing like gangbusters now that the days are longer.... Thanks for all the advice!

Diane

June 12 2006

So my Epi is actually a Chirita. New plant for me to learn all about:-) I've learned that I should have separated them when they were smaller but I didn't realize that at the time. I have separated them now. (and now have 4 more plants:-)

These Chiritas actually suit my growing conditions better than Epis, so it's a good thing. They prefer cooler and less humid conditions. That I CAN do!
Diane

My 2006 Spring Trade!

Thank you Audrey for the great plants that you sent me in our trade:-)

I sent her 2 cuttings of each, Pubicaylx, Rubra, Tsangii, and my Carnosa. In return I received green and variegated Compacta plants and 'Jade' Carnosa cuttings.

variegated Compacta

In the photo below... Is this a bloom spike coming out between the leaves? I hope so, but since I've never seen a Hoya bloom, I just don't know. (I was hunting for Mealies and found this growth!)



Green Compacta

Carnosa Jade ('Jade' was on the plant tag so that's what we are calling her!)


All in all, we had a very successful trade and I am very happy with my new Hoyas!
Diane

New Hoya cuttings:-)

OK, I must be insane!(or I think that other people must think me INSANE!) You can't take me anywhere without Hoya's on the brain! Tuesday a friend of mine and I were shopping for coveralls and we went into a industrial coverall store, which also dabbles in Hydroponics, and what to my wandering eyes should appear but a gorgeous Hydro-Hoya!!! Must have cuttings....Must have cuttings!!! I felt like Gollum, 'Oh.... My precious....'

I offered to buy some cuttings and once again they said no... You may have them and he started to cut 4 really nice size cuttings for me! Thank you so much, I said as I dug into my pockets for some change and gave him about 3 bucks and told him to have a coffee on me.

So once back in the car, I realized that there were 2 different kinds of Hoya in my hands (BONUS!) but what kind of Hoya's? I have no idea? The one in the top Hoya photo has almost black leaves(deep, deep green with flecks) and are very flexible and fairly thin leaves.

The hoya photo below, the leaves are rigid and waffled. I suspect that it's a 'Crinkle" that hasn't had enough light. (The plant was hanging about 8 feet away from a north window.) It's the bubblely texture that makes me think it's a 'Crinkle' variety.... But I'm not certain?

Any help in identifying would be greatly appreciated.
Diane

Fatsia seedling.

This is the Fatsia seedling. It's about a year old now:-) It's well on the way to being a happy healthy plant!




And this is the other plant a couple years ago. Same corner. (sorry this is such a crappy shot but it was pre digital)
She has grown TONS!!

Fatsia's Summer Home!

This is another reason why I love this plant so much! She got repotted and sent to her corner:-) She doesn't need direct light in the summer months and does really well in the corner with indirect bright light from the skylight. We have it back lit, with an old base from a lava lamp, and it just glows at night. Hard to get a realistic shot of the translucent leaves and the shadows, but I think you can get the idea.

Diane

"Lucky Bean " Tree

Castanospermum Australe is it's real name. I bought this plant, on a whim.... You know, the "Lucky" plant thing, about 2 years ago. It grew out of this huge bean that split in the middle and this lovely tree grew out of the center. The bean feeds the tree until it's no longer needed and shrivels up and dies, leaving it to fend for itself....

It looks a lot like a ficus benji but the leaves get much larger. (1 1/2" wide and 4 1/2" long) This tree is about 2 1/2 feet tall and sits in an east window.

Hope I am "Lucky" enough to keep it happy and healthy, as I'd like someday to see the blooms! I've got my fingers crossed:-)

Diane