Orchid Blooms

These bloomed within the short span of time.
The weather had been extreme in these few weeks made the temperature difference
stressing these to bloom.

Regardless,
I still had not enough time to fully enjoy their blooms
and their exclusive fragrance that often made my day.

Some orchid species though never seemed to bloomed
ever since I had introduce them in my garden.

Some had totally rotten and died due to unforeseen shock that had occurred.
Its either crown rot, root rot or vermin attack.

Often its compulsive buying that I end up regretting
as I never actually witness them in second blooming.

Except for these orchids - I'm just going to maintain them for their visual display.

Feeding had played a major role in this floral display.
But again, coming into the right regime proved challenging
due the unpredictable rainy season that often wash off the foliar feeding
in that few hours after application.

Sometimes,
zealously I had overdose it and I'm guilty of overfeeding
causing some burns on the roots and leaf structure.
The ones that survived, bears many blooms.

Of the many orchids,
these constantly bloom with a longer spike.

My pride and joy of constant bloomer.

This is my overall display of orchids
which I had placed them in plastic coke bottles
stuffed with Styrofoam and some common organic material
(coconut chips, charcoal and broken pottery)

I had realized that these roots don't seemed to like root bound inside the container.

Forcing them in re-potting had cause some of them to their early death.
Leaving them be seemed to be the best solution of these.

This is the first time bloomer - Aerides species.

Has a very nice fragrance too.
Lasted about few weeks regardless the weather and truly enjoyed them in my garden.

This is another new bloom - Doritis orchid the white variety.

Rarely blooms but does know how to make a statement.

Well, these are the orchids that makes the show in my garden.
Do let me know what you think?

Orchid Collection 2

I have been keeping this particular Cattleya for years. One thing for sure is that they are extremely hardy and worth the keep. Regardless the situation - they never fail to bloom at least twice a year.

Orchids

It would quite frustrating when you find the orchids you have don't flower.
Don't you think so?
I have almost a dozen of orchids and not all of them bloom
And so - I opt for the ones that are easy bloomers -even then, they are quite a challenge.

You - regardless what - these orchids still need good fertilising regime:
Weekly, weakly...
And a good fertiliser too - too much and the roots get burned and the leaves prematurely fall..
Too little and inconsistent - well, nothing is going to happen.
So- there you have it - the Curse of the unbloomed orchids.

It took awhile for me to identity the pattern.
I'm still learning and so far I realised that the best fertiliser is still the organic ones: Sheep manure and bat (guano)
I do once awhile use foliar fertiliser but somehow its not happening as I expected.

The other thing is the temperature drop - that makes the orchids bloom.
Sometimes in the tropical - everything is constant so there is no big hike in the temperature difference.
Unless its a rainy season - few days of rain and one sunny day burst them into blooms.

But when they do bloom - its worth all the wait and the efforts.
Do tell me your orchid secrets - would love to hear from you.
Till then - enjoy my garden flowers.

Epiphytes Blooms - Orchids & Bromeliad

It felt forever for me to get into blogging,
the worst scenario was I had forgotten my password
and not even sure what email I was using.

I had to dig up a stack of papers of which I thought
I had placed my passwords and email that goes with it.
I felt lucky that I manage to retrieve it,
now its all about getting into the hang of blogging
I realise that it is matter of habit - you stop and you loose it...

So, for those who were patiently waiting for me
and was wondering what happen to me -
well, lets just say I got busy and weeks went into months
and a change of lifestyle and commitments brought one to another.

Regardless, my garden is constantly thriving (whether I'm busy or not)
There are always something beautiful to discover in my garden
When I look for it - it truly rewards me.

This Cattleya Orchid is blooming for the first time in my garden
followed with the Bromeliad bloom
Truly natures wonder.
These are part of my hanging garden.