Laelia gouldiana 'Greta Garbo'
 

Growing in the crotch of a jacaranda tree at my mom's house in Mission Viejo, Orange County, California. She lives less than a mile inland from the Interstate 5 freeway. It has made one spike each year. This year it made two spikes for the first time.

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It came from Andy's in December 2015. I tied it to the tree that spring. You can still see the string I used - I'll remove that next time I visit. My mom waters it with a heavy-duty squirt gun. Here is a cropped section of the photo, showing old spikes:

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We moved into that new house in 1972 when I was in high school. I planted that tree in the next year or two. It was in a 5 gallon / 19 liter nursery container.

Lovely!

I like your Mom's watering approach. Very inventive with the heavy duty squirt gun (great way to eliminate some of the labor that is exerted with the watering chores).

Fifty-years definitely did justice to that 5 gallon bucket!
~Cheers

Beautiful! Happy plant!

Long lived plants are one of my favorite ways of marking the passage of time. My parents planted a ponytail palm in their San Diego yard when we moved here. Dad brought it home as a tiny nothing in a 1 gallon pot in the backseat of what eventually became my first car. The palm is now nearly 15 feet tall with a base at least 5 feet wide, and the top has branched many times over the years.

Your mom has a lovely orchid in an equally lovely tree.

Excellent! Brain storm flash here!! My grandson LOVES his high power squirt gun. He's not allowed to squirt at his sister, or his abuela (me). But I bet he'd be so excited to have target practice on some of my mounted orchids that I hang outside in spring. Guess who's gonna be my new summer plant gardener. :biggrin:

Years ago I gave two Super Soakers to the kids of some friends of mine. The kids were about 5 and 7. I told them "DO NOT USE THESE TO SQUIRT YOUR MOTHER WHEN SHE'S NOT LOOKING." :evil:

You can guess the rest.

I bought a piece of that plant from SBOE back in 2015 (+/- a year), but lost it in the 2017 freeze.

SBOE no longer has it listed, so if you ever have a division available, keep me in mind.

Very glad you and mom can still enjoy this "senior" orchid all together. The best things last forever.

I will... but try Andy's. That's where I got this one.

Oh wow, that's super cool!