I got myself another orchid fix today

[voyager]

I've been Vanda happy the last few weeks.

I picked this one up 2 or 3 weeks ago. It has a name but I don't remember what it is now.
The tag is up in the tree with it.
It was only $8.

I may have already posted this pic in another thread

I picked this one up last weekend and mounted it on one of our Ohia trees, a NoID hybrid:

It was their usual market price of $8.

I picked this one up this morning, an Aranda Woleco:

I walked by it after seeing its $15 price tag.
But, after looking through all their orchid offerings I went back and grabbed it.
I couldn't resist the color.
Plus even at $15, it was cheap.
I'll get it mounted today.

Got a 32yd load of cinder soil and a couple of 16yd loads of green waste mulch delivered the other day.
I'm in the process of setting up a new growing area.
The soil is so thin over the lava flow underneath that I need to build soil to have good growing areas for fruit and banana trees, and other things.
I've got 10 tall apple bananas to go into the area I'm working on now.
Plus, I'll pick up some Vanilla orchids soon and set them up in there too.
Then, we've got a few Volunteer veggie gardens going where I've used the kitchen wast compost under some of the fruit trees: various tomato types, kabocha pumpkins, papayas and a few others I haven't ID'd yet.
I'll put the next batch of kitchen compost in this area to see what we get.
I'm amazed at how fast the tomatoes develop here.
I've always lived in a northern tier state or Alaska.
The cool nights really slow down the fruit's growth.
Here, you can almost see them inflate as you look at them.
Our fruit trees blossom profusely but don't set much fruit.
I've only seen 3 honey bees in almost 2 years.
I'm getting ready to set up a couple of apiaries in the not too distant future.
We'll see if I can increase our fruit yield and get some honey in the process.
I posted a link to a good informative PDF book in another thread [ Vanilla panifolia : new edition ] about growing and utilizing Vanilla orchids.
Several more of my mounted "barn cat" yard orchids have bloomed.
I'm so busy I don't have time to get photos right now.

[GardenTheater]

Beautiful haul! Love the red vanda!

[No-Pro-mwa]

Gorgeous.

[lotis146]

All very beautiful, I'd like to imagine that they're quite happy around your home.

Interesting that you have to build your own soil, and depressing about the bees. Good luck this year!

[voyager]

In my other thread about my in bloom orchids I said:

This one was labeled as being an Epic. Hainying Orange 'Ching Hua'.
It sure don't look orange to me. But, it does look to have Encyclia in it:

I mixed the labels up.
It is an Epi. Mabel Kanda Miyao.

This is the Epic. Hainying Orange 'Ching Hua':


Then, this NoID Miltoniopsis has begun to bloom:


There is also another NoID Miltoniopsis darker in color:

They were acquired at the same time.
But this one is not doing so well.
It only put out 1 flower, and is not increasing a rapidly as the first one.

And finally I picked this Vanda up today:

it is fragrant, nicely too.
It has a tag calling it a V. Verapal Fragrence X V Mimi Palmer. I can find Mimi Palmer, but I can find nothing about the V. Verapal.
Anyone recognize this hybrid or a possible misspelling?

I've got some other things that I've been working on, non orchid things.


Went to the Master Gardner plant sale a week or two ago.
I picked up a Hibiscus brackenridgei.
It is an endangered Hawai'i native hibiscus.
No pic of it yet because it is not in bloom yet, and probably will not be for a while.

I planted it and this hibiscus yesterday:

They had just brought them out at HD.
They were still on the cart and hadn't had prices put on them yet.
I got pic of the litter.

I've been wanting one of these for a long time now, an Ohai Ali‘i (Caesalpinia pulcherrima)
These are just the flowers it puts out:


It forms a tree to 40', but can be pruned to keep it as a shrub.
They form many cone shaped tassels of these flowers, and supposedly bloom constantly.
They open red and develop the yellow fringe as they age.
They are a Lei flower.

[lotis146]

WOW, fantastic!! Props for growing an endangered native, I hope that hibiscus grows happy and healthy for you. All very nice plants, & I can't imagine that last one at 40', what an awesome tree that must be.

Interesting tint on those Miltoniopsis leaves, no doubt related to the sun. My Catts have been getting more red & purple tints on their pbulbs & leaves since I put them out where the sun is clearly brighter than where they were indoors. I do enjoy seeing how they're effected by natural conditions, even if it's never really "natural" by most orchid standards.

[voyager]

Originally Posted by lotis146

All very beautiful, I'd like to imagine that they're quite happy around your home. ...

Most are happy. Some aren't, but, none have died yet.
Although, there are a couple that I'm inclined to think that they won't make it to the next bloom.

---------- Post added at 07:25 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:45 PM ----------

Originally Posted by lotis146

WOW, fantastic!! Props for growing an endangered native, I hope that hibiscus grows happy and healthy for you. All very nice plants, & I can't imagine that last one at 40', what an awesome tree that must be.

Interesting tint on those Miltoniopsis leaves, no doubt related to the sun. My Catts have been getting more red & purple tints on their pbulbs & leaves since I put them out where the sun is clearly brighter than where they were indoors. I do enjoy seeing how they're effected by natural conditions, even if it's never really "natural" by most orchid standards.

This is the Hibiscus brackenridgei:

I grabbed one of the larger ones that I could find.
It is about 2-1/2' to 3' tall.
They are more adapted to the lee side of the islands, the drier side.
But, I have hopes that a well drained soil will allow them to do well here on the windward side with high rainfall.
Time will tell.
It gets a smaller yellow flower.
Some have other coloration in the throat.

The red tag at the base of the plant is my license to possess it.

I just saw somewhere that the Ohai Ali'i only gets to 20'.
Sometimes it only forms an 8' shrub.
The guy I bought it from may have been exaggerating its maximum size.
Or, that may be the champion size, the largest ever recorded.

I was a little worried about the location I put the Miltoniopsis in.
It is on the sunny South side of our lot, but on the shady side of the tree.
It is a bit sunburned, but it doesn't seem to be overly harmed by it. It is doing well , so far.

One thing I learned while growing in Alaska.
orchids are tough!
They can take a licking and keep on ticking.
Granted, some are a bit delicate.
But, generally they are not delicate.

[voyager]

Originally Posted by voyager

I've been Vanda happy the last few weeks. ...
... I picked this one up this morning, an Aranda Woleco:

I walked by it after seeing its $15 price tag.
But, after looking through all their orchid offerings I went back and grabbed it.
I couldn't resist the color.
Plus even at $15, it was cheap.
I'll get it mounted today. ...

I finally drove over to Yamamoto greenhouses to take a look at their Nobile hybrids.
The peak season for them to be in bloom is Feb and March.
So, they were not in very good shape.

I saw a fascinating orchid sitting in the midst of all those Nobiles.
I don't know what it is.
But, it has caught my complete attention.
I asked:
"What is it? Is it available? And if so, how much?"
The gal I was talking to, asking about it, said that it belonged to her husband. She had no idea as to what it was. And that it was probably not for sale, which was what I expected.
I will be going back to pick out some Nobiles soon.
When I do, I'll get photos of that plant and post them here trying to get an ID on it.

After finishing up at Yamamoto, I drove a few miles further down the road to Akatsuka Orchids.
I hadn't stopped by there since the first we came to Big Island on a vacation almost 5 years ago.

They have a beautiful store, gift shop, orchids, etc. which is a very good tourist draw.
There were 3 tour buses parked out in front and the place was packed with people.
The orchids are in superb condition looking beautiful.
And there were hundreds of them on display.
As I walked around looking at the orchids I saw some Aranda Wolecos, just like the one pictured above.
There was one, about 1/2 again longer and in bloom similar as mine pictured above.
It had a price tag on it for $75.
I almost choked.
They had several smaller ones, a little too big to be called seedlings, but probably 2 years from blooming, priced at $32.50.

I'm kinda feeling like the way I'm treating mine is on par with taking a princess, dressing her in rags, then setting her to cleaning the kitchen and scrubbing the toilets.

But, she's still going to continue living in a tree around here.
No time for divas.

[voyager]

Didn't pick up any new orchids last weekend.
Nothing appealed to me.
This weekend I stumbled across two that I couldn't pass up, both fragrant.

Vanda Mimi Palmer


And Miltoniopsis Andrea West 'Cream Puff',


Both have a nice, strong fragrance.
I was completely surprised by the Milt. being fragrant.
I didn't know they could be.
The blossoms on both are getting old and are close to dropping.
But, I did get to see and smell them.
Plus, for $10 and $8 respectively, I consider them to be an excellent buy.

Now, I've got to find a place to mount them low enough to be able to stick my nose into them when they're in bloom.