Repotting Day

My poor orchids have been without devoted care for about 9 years. I'm determined to rejuvenate those that remain from the original 75 that overwhelmed me. Today was a day of repotting and trimming. It's only about 1pm so there could even be more. Just wanted to document a few so that in a few months I can post again and see the comparison.

Encyclia Cochleata

 One Bulbophyllum is now repotted as two

Dendrobium piece now mounted on driftwood

New Angraesum Sesquipe was repotted and I realized it's not that healthy. 

Back To The Blog's Gardening Roots

I started this blog with the intent of it being a backyard gardening blog. That is evidenced by a number of other gardening blogs I had linked to 'share". But, because family member far away were reading it and hadn't yet found FaceBook, it turned out to be a life activities blog. I would like to change that now and get back to my gardening roots with sprinkles of foster dogs and life events. So, here's my backyard walk though this morning.

My giant dendrobium? (tags been gone for years) has a  - 6 bloom spike although it's bent from touching ceiling of screen porch 

This one is called the upside down orchid

Bromeliads galore at my house. This one was part of a living bouquet received when Jerry's mother passed in 2014.

Phalaenopsis from the live bouquet when Marge passed.

Peace lily - a potted plant from my step mother's funeral (2006)

I've never figured out what this plant is. tiny blooms directly on the leaves.

This is my deciduous dendrobium that everyone thinks is dead. Even I have thought it was dead a few times but, as you can see, here it comes for 2018!

We haven't done any maintenance on the planters yet and they were looking pretty sad until the rains. Now if it would only stop raining long enough to fresh them up for the season.

I thought the elephant ear were dead this winter but with the rains they have returned!

We used to have grass on this small strip of yard. Then we planted a tree, cut down the tree, planted it (no sprinklers here due to walkway installation), unplanted it and now it remains I dunno what. Usually the ladder is not there. Jerry was using it to trim the palm. So, I went thrifting and painted picture frames to give the area some color at least until we decide what to do with it.

Broom border

Bleeding heart vine on the fence. The gate really - not a great spot.

The weird from cousin Erica. Shocking how heavy that thing is. I think it is made of concrete.

This area of pots held much more delicate plants. Can't wait to get into refreshing them. 

Hopefully someday I will have the whole patio bordered in liriope and oyster plant. 

Green Thumb Sunday

Hibiscus in my favorite shade of pink

My one and only tomato in my Topsy Turvy

Spider plant is doing awsome - making lots of little plants

Border is filling in with bromeliads & heliconias

Bromeliad with baby brome

One of the new broms from Green Thumb Festival and this one has been having trouble getting rooted and I've knocked it out of the ground a couple times :(

This is popping up in my brom garden and I can only assume it is a brome

Staghorn ferm suffering a little from the heat

Anthirium blooms look good but the plant is showing a little stress due to heat

Shrimp plant could care less about the heat

Dendrobium bloom in the key lime tree

And another

Remember the pool garden border I cut back a few weeks ago - it's back

Never got these vincas planted but they seem happy anyway!

Green Thumb Sunday

I took all these garden photos at night. I wanted to see the changes to my garden after all the rain during my abscence but it was dark and I couldn't see much (except the orchids on the screenporch, of course) so I took photos with my flash and was able to see my plants in the photos. I got all wrapped up in the runaway vines in the dark, LOL.
My Dendrobium (Nobile) is a dependable bloomer each year. And, every year I believe I've killed it because it drops it leaves and looks like a goner for months before I start to see new leaf stalks emerging and followed by blooms on the old stalks. I'm noticing some of the stalks have deteriorated and am considering cutting them off - it seems as if the blooming is on the previous year's cane only.

Encyclia Tampensis is very impressive this year. Look at all those bloom stalks and how loooong they are! The best year ever. I was excited last year because it had 15 stalks, although I broke off 2 of them, but this year is unprecedented even though hubby broke off 1 stalk. I bet they open today.....will update if so :)

Paphiopedilum also called lady slippers. When I bought this 4 or 5 years ago I was told it would have a single bloom. This is the 3rd year it has had multiple blooms. Truth be told, the flower is a bit more impressive on the years with a single bloom - bigger, deeper colors. I love the mottled leaves of this plant so I love it planted in it's tall pot (not a typical orchid pot) even when it is not blooming.

Another Native orchid....some type of Encyclia. First time it has bloomed for me; however, it's a newbie, somewhat. Teeny, cute little blooms.

One of my favs - this dendrobium is a prolific bloomer and beautiful color. My lousy photography doesn't do this plant justice.

When I was gone it rained and rained in the Tampa area and I came back to see that my neighbor's vines had crept through her hibiscus (that hangs over our fence and helps create some shade for my plants) and worked their way across to my Tampensis - one doesn't mess with my Tampensis! Actually, one of the vines is the flame vine that my hubby loves and the other is a weed :(

This is the view from inside the arbor looking toward the backyard. Everything is so filled in and lush even though I was only gone 5 days!

A pretty little photo showing my Tampensis, Phalanopsis, Oncidium, and some bromeliads in the ground.

The turn of the walkway. I had to have something textural there to soften the harshness of the turn of pavers. Who knew you could grow spider plants outside? I've discovered that the babies attach their roots to the ground and reestablish.

The green with white stripe brom on the right is one of my new ones from the green thumb festival. The dark one on the left is part of a mail order I did a year or so ago. It has grown BIG and has one pup (you can see one of the pup's leaves to the left and top of the mama plant).

Despite all the rain, my staghorn had a couple brown leaves. It gets a little more sun after moving it from the lime tree so I believe it needs a tad more water. Hubby didn't water it while I was gone but the rain sustained it.

The new brom border - this was the area I really wanted to see in the dark. They are all alive and well but haven't seen growth yet. I am so impatient, LOL.

The brooms and heliconias in this small border were whimpy before I left because it had been so hot and dry. Things are looking better now. I still need to get that Japanese honeysuckle planted in the ground............

And finally, my topsy turvy tomato. Apparently the rain didn't penetrate. I don't like vegtable gardening anyway, LOL.