Dendrobium nobile budding in September--questions about care

[CJ Green]

Hi folks,

I posted early in the summer about a den nobile that I bought in rather sad shape. I repotted it and put it outside for the summer. I don't have a lath shelter or anything so I just set it on my picnic table and moved it under the umbrella as needed to shade it from the worst of the sun. It seems to have done really well. The little 2-inch shoot is probably a foot long now. The huge keiki with the trimmed roots is still alive, but the roots never grew (although one of them turns greenish when I mist them). But the biggest news is that there are six buds on the youngest of the mature stalks, and one very large bud on the keiki (maybe another keiki??). In the photo on the right below you can see a tiny bud on the top and a bigger one on the side; the rest aren't visible.

This is my first den nobile and even though I've read up on care, I'm still confused about how to proceed at this point. I had the idea that den nobiles get a winter "rest" of cool temps, high sun, and little water so that they will flower. But if the buds have already started, do I still go with that plan? And if buds are starting to form in September, when do the flowers open? Also, how early can you tell whether the buds are keikis or flower buds?

Any advice from den nobile growers about winter care when there are buds on the stalks would be welcome.

Thanks!

ETA: I feel a little embarrassed about all that string in the photo! That keiki is just holding on by a thread and I kind of had to tie the whole thing together--it looks pretty awkward. I was really hoping the keiki would grow roots so I could pull it off and plant it.