Bloomscrolling--what's in bloom where you are?

[Bernard]

@AndyD Beautiful! I was very much into orchids for a while but ran into difficulties. The environments they come from are so varied that unless one has thousands to invest in a super good, large greenhouse, it's a challenge trying to accommodate all their needs. I am down to one Dendrochilum and one mini Cattleya. The Cattleya was on the discard bin and one day I noticed new growth, so I started watering it again and it's growing! Orchids are so darn fascinating and the colors so stunning, it's hard to resist. I was in the supermarket yesterday and brought home a pink Phal. This happened after I was rummaging upstairs and came across a book on orchids that I sat down with. I think it's rekindled a desire to get more. Heaven help me.

Another favorite of mine is Streptocarpus. This one has almost doubled in size since I bought it earlier this year. It's outgrowing it's small terrarium.

[AndyD]

They are irresistibly beautiful, but tricky. I am reliably informed by MrsA that this white one needs little water and lives pretty much off air! Others she's had have needed a moist bathroom environment. Back in Malaysia one of her uncles had a huge greenhouse devoted to growing them.

As it happens there's an orchid show in Durham next Sunday which will be fun

[wtg]

There's a sweet autumn clematis way back in the yard. There was a trellis there but it fell over and broke over the winter. I never got around to putting another one in, so the clematis ended up becoming part groundcover/part climbing vine. It even headed over to a nearby arbor where I have a couple of other sweet autumns started.

I'll do something different next year, but for now I think it looks kind of neat! Smells wonderful, too.

[AndyD]

That's the nicest ground cover.

Theres nothing much but green in our garden, however the orchid show last week was colourful

[Bernard]

@AndyD OMG. So beautiful, it's hard to resist being drawn in. That Phragmipedium is stunning!

[AndyD]

I ought to have taken my Sony camera, it's a struggle to frame, isolate and get depth of field with a phone camera.

[Daniel]

@andyd Your last picture- great!! Wow.

[wtg]

Those orchids are lovely.

Years ago I had my own little collection of orchid plants. I think my favorites were the Oncidium Sharry Baby ‘Sweet Fragrant’ . The whole house would smell like vanilla when the plant was in bloom.

We also enjoyed searching for yellow lady's slipper orchids in the woods in Door County. They are very fussy about where they will grow; we were lucky enough to have the perfect conditions in several areas of our property and they came back reliably, year after year.

https://doorcountypulse.com/the-ladys-slipper/

[Bernard]

@wtg I've had pink lady slippers (Cypripedium acaule) on my property. Twice a plant has come up and flowered two years in a row, thereafter disappearing. The conditions for their growth are very specific.

Here is one I discovered shortly after moving here:

[Bernard]

I have followed this guy, William Green, on Youtube for many years. His channel is called "My Green Pets".

Link to video