Tuesday, February 3, 2009

A Pleasant Surprise!

So, I have been collecting orchids for the past year. All of them I bought when their flowers were in full bloom except one. I bought it at an orchid show for $15 bucks with the reassurance from the seller that this was a big bloomer with gorgeous flowers. My patience and careful care have paid off...LOOK HOW BEAUTIFUL IT IS!!!
It is called Epidendrum Green Hornet and is a hybrid of Epidendrum cochleatum (the Black Orchid from Belize) x Epidendrum lancifolium (a fragrant species from Mexico). It is definitely my favorite because it is so unique and has a mild pleasant fragrance! It's not something you would easily find outside of an orchid show! I think I will have to go back this year to flesh out my collection with some more varieties! All of my other orchids are also putting out flower stalks!!! I will definitely post them as they bloom.

Also bringing flowery happiness to my home...two more of my Christmas cacti are blooming!!
This white one is in my kitchen and the beige one is in my bathroom (sorry I didn't invest as much in these pics as I did with the orchid...).
I have one last cactus left to bloom, it is a nice fuschia colour. I can't wait! I have also been cross fertilizing them all. I am hoping that by next year the berries will fall off and I can get some babies started. It'll be cool to see what flower colours come out of the mixes! Once large enough they will make nice gifts (like in 2 years...now that's planning!). Let's hope they are fairly easy to germinate!

Flowers spell happiness on the cold wintery days.

6 comments:

  1. That orchid is simply breathtaking. Barb

    ReplyDelete
  2. It looks like a space alien! LOL! I think that's why I like orchids: they don't look very "normal". ;)

    I wish you could come tend mine for me. A friend gave us one and in the past 4 yrs, it has not bloomed once. I have no idea what kind it is.

    ReplyDelete
  3. It is beautiful! YAY flowers! :) Mine still has yet to bloom again, but it's still alive so I think that is a bonus all on it's own! lol.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love orchids. My daughter gave me one last year for Mother's Day and I'm hoping it will bloom again this year... fingers crossed.

    ReplyDelete