'Tis the Season for Orchids!

Just a note to wish you all a very happy new year!  May 2014 be our best new year yet!  There will be lots of big changes in our lives here at the Daylily Soup garden in 2014, so I hope you'll stop by often to see what's going on.  I've certainly enjoyed your visits, comments and friendship in 2013.

For now, I'd like to leave you with these beautiful buds and blossoms from two of the resident orchids.  'Tis the season for orchid blooms around our home!  By the way, I found a great tried and true mail order source should you need a fix. ;-) You may have to wait a bit for a shipment now as it's too cold to ship currently.  Here's the link:  http://www.orchidsbyhausermann.com

Until next time, let's keep on shining!  

See you in 2014. :-)

'Flower Child'

Hey Friends,

I know I've been missing for a while, so I hope you've all been doing well.  I've been trying to keep up with your blogs while in holiday mode.  Soon, all will return to normal.  Even though the holidays can be fun, I think there's something to be said for normalcy.  Now that I've escaped to the computer for a moment of solitude with a nice cup of green tea infused with spearmint and lemongrass (trying to have a Zen moment), I'd like to share something very exciting with you.  The first new bloom of an orchid under my care has been witnessed!  Yes!  It's true!  Here it is:

This is so exciting!

This particular orchid is present for all of our meals at the table, so she has ended up being named 'Flower Child' (FC).   I moved her closer to the china cabinet (should really just call it my teapot cabinet) :-) hoping to find a place FC might look more at home in, but it's back to the middle of the table with her for now. 

FC started out as a moderately sized centerpiece, but now she floats high above the table. Above is my view while seated.  Time spent at the table is even a little more special now. However, if FC taps me on the shoulder while I'm elsewhere in the room, it will be time for a pruning.  Yes, I just threatened a dreaded pruning if things get dangerous!  ;-)  

Oh, please excuse the bougainvillea in the background.  She just moved in for the winter, and is in dire need of a trip to the salon.

'Flower Child' in all her glory (taken last night before the bloom opened). 

Hope you all have a lovely week.  Until next time, keep on shining friends! :-)

Frazzle Dazzle Time

Hey Friends,

Just a quick note to check in with you.  I am a little frazzled lately, but still have to dazzle as most of us do this time of year.  I'm not complaining because this comes with the territory, but my job has demanded a lot of my time lately.  Before schedule dictates again (off to work tomorrow), I would like to share some of my orchid photos with you, and let you know how my orchid project has been going.

Allow me to introduce my office orchids.  Yes, I have my own little Zen garden-on-a-stand by the window.  They flirt with the passersby on the walkway outside, and have drawn quite a bit of attention to themselves.  I'm surprised they haven't been hauled off to the Human Resources office yet for causing a "disturbance." :-) These lovelies have been at the office now for three months, and all of them are developing new buds, leaves or shoots while they are still blooming.  Amazing;  I'm so exited about this!  I love how orchids (or any flowers) draw people in and become the topic of conversation.  Then, before you know it, a new friend has been made. :-)

This one hasn't lost a bloom in three months, and has new buds developing as well.  Thank goodness I finally educated and applied myself to helping orchids thrive!  If only I could have all of those that have gone by the wayside under my care back for a second chance!

This one is still alive and well too!  No new growth of any sort has been detected, but it hasn't lost a bloom in about three months either.

Now that the addiction has been confirmed, stay tuned for a later report on my bathroom semi-makeover.  I'm turning it into a greenhouse of sorts for orchids.  The conditions are perfect in there.  Don't worry, I will do this tastefully.  I am loading up a bamboo rack across the tub with them, and recently hung a 'Staghorn Fern' (one of my impulse buys at the garden center) in front of the window in the bathroom.  Said window is very tall, so there's still plenty of bright indirect light flooding in for the orchids even with the fern hanging in the window.  There's more than one way to get a greenhouse. :-)

Until next time, let's all dazzle even if we're frazzled!  

:-)

Wayward Orchids!

My fever is a high one!  

It may be impairing my judgement ...

That's how I roll ... ;-)

More wayward orchids! 

Oh, my goodness!

They are equally as sneaky as daylilies!  

What have I done?  It's too late now.  

I'm in the throes of Orchiditis as 

Jen at Muddy Boot Dreams diagnosed it.

Sneaky,Wayward Orchid Close-up

Here's one that just hopped in the back seat on Friday while at the garden center.  Pay no attention to the box in the background.  This is the type of thing that happens when one has Orchiditis.  The victim is so consumed with the orchids, where to put them, how to care for them, how to keep them out of mischief, etc., that all else is temporarily thrown to the wind.  I realize that orchids are totally different creatures than I've dealt with in the past, so I just read Orchids Made Easy written by Ryan Levesque, which was recommended to me by my dear cousin, Georgene.   This book is packed with great information, so I want to share one of the cool tips I learned that would probably work on any houseplant.  Did you know that mayonnaise mixed with a little water, will remove water spots when wiped on orchid leaves?  Well, I'm off to catch up on all of the things that piled up this weekend while I played with the orchids.

Now that you know what I did this weekend, 

what did you do? 

I'd love to hear about it.

Hope you have a great week!

:-)

I think I have a fever ...

 It all began with a trip to The Fresh Market a couple of weeks ago.  Greeting me at the door was this stand of beckoning orchids which I was immediately agog over.  I oohed and ahhhhed over each one of them, but somehow I managed to leave the store without adopting one.

Yes, they had this magical glow with heavenly light shining down on them from above ...

  The story isn't over ...

Land of the 'Lady Slippers'

 So, last weekend, I went to visit my son.  Somehow (I have no idea how this happened and had nothing to do with it), we ended up at a garden center where I just had to browse the orchid selection.  It would be against my religion to leave the garden center without at least looking at the orchids!  There was quite a group of 'Lady Slippers' there.

I do believe he is smiling at me ...

Just look at the face on this one!  By now, I'm repeating to myself "you will be strong, you will be strong ..."  I was doing this silently, of course, because people would stare otherwise.

"Are we almost there yet?" she says ...

Well, as soon as I got into the Sequoia to leave, look who jumped into the back seat.  Orchids are sneaky!  They'll just follow you out of the garden center and jump into the back seat.

Right at home ...

Now I have found myself looking at orchid pots online to repot the currently dormant orchids I have.  I've also been looking at potting medium, fertilizer and a lovely stand that will hold several orchids!

I think I have a fever ...

Wordless Wednesday - Orchid Status

White Orchid - Still Alive & Well

Cream Orchid - Still Alive & Well

Cream Orchid

:-)

Well, well, well, look what the cat drug in!

"The Cat" has been busy lately.  Somehow, it got on the Internet and ordered two roses from "The Antique Rose Emporium."  "The Cat" ordered a "Don Juan" climber, which it envisions floating across the top of a fence that badly needs a rose.  "Don Juan" is supposed to have a delightful scent and do well in extreme heat.

Antique Rose Emporium

"The Cat" also got a "Buff Beauty" rose, which is can be either a climber or a shrub rose.  It has been considering making this a pillar rose.  "Buff Beauty" is also supposed to have a heavenly scent according to Holley at "Roses and Other Gardening Joys,"  and she should know with all of her experience with roses.  "Buff Beauty" is also shade tolerant.

The roses came in nice sized pots rather than bare root.. 

 "The Cat" also drug in:

White Orchid

This lovely, white orchid (now, how did the cat know I wanted a white orchid?) ...

Ivory Orchid

And this ivory orchid (smart cat) ...

Reminds me of vanilla.

I'll be sure to post photos of "Don Juan" and "Buff Beauty" as they mature.  Hopefully, I can get them established in time for a show this summer. :-)

O is for Orchid!

Well, well, well, I managed to make it to the Lowes Garden Center once again.  Yesterday, my husband was looking for paint, so that gave me plenty of time to browse in the world of plants ...

 

 I'm partial to white orchids.  Thought this one was a beauty ...

 and this one ...

Very exotic!  I had to take a close look to make sure it was a real flower.

Pretty in Pink

If a tropical drink were a flower, I think this one would be it. 

Symphony

My shopping cart ... notice I'm being strong.  There's not an orchid in it (this time ;-).  I did get an onion chive and a beautiful dianthus.  I have found that dianthus weathers our scorching summers quite well.  Our summers seem to be getting hotter with long periods of drought, so I've started appreciating drought tolerant plants over the last two or three years.  I baby the daylilies and the irises, but everything else has to be pretty tough.  It was 87 here today!

And a little something for the hummingbirds ...

Gardening, Shopping & Sushi ... Lowes, Mikata & Baskin Robbins

Yesterday was a beautiful day ...

gorgeous weather,

gardening, shopping

and sushi!

What more could a gardener girl ask for?

Yippee!  The irises are making progress (looks like I have more weeding to do).  I guess standing over them, and wishing them along isn't hurting!  Other "mad gardeners" know the gardening insanity of which I speak ...

I love my garden cart! It took many moons for me to finally get my little Cadillac.

Sycamore

The sycamore is one of my favorite trees.  They seem like they are made of porcelain with their smooth, white texture.  



"Mad Gardener" early in the morning ... that's a symptom of Spring Fever!



I'm going to have a mixed perennial bed here again very soon. :-)

Now, for the shopping ... on the way.

along the way ...

Here we go ... the Garden Center at Lowes ... I feel like a "kid in a candy store" already!




Hot Pink Geraniums - I'll be back for these!

 

I had to keep chanting to myself (silently, of course, since people would stare otherwise :-) ... focus, focus, you came here for specific plants, focus, focus ...




Cosmos

 

The Herb Department



I spent a lot of "thyme" ... yes, I just had to say that ... (among other thing$) in the herb department where I got:

• Rosemary
• Thyme
• Cilantro
• Oregano
• Sweet Basil
• Parsley
•  Pineapple Sage

Special Pineapple Sage Note:  it smells like a pineapple upside down cake ... fabulous!  I always plant it near my path in and out, so I can stop and enjoy the lovely fragrance.  I've heard this is a delicious addition to iced teas (I'm sure it's good in hot tea too ... I'll let you know how that goes).

I still need marjoram, so I can make my spaghetti sauce with totally fresh herbs. 



Just caught my eye ...




Roses

 

O.K., aside from the herbs, I had two Double Knock Out red roses on my list.  I have spotted them down at the end of the table.  Focus, focus, focus ... lol

Ohhhh, the orchid section!!!  Focus ...





I really think orchids could be my next flower addiction ...  I quickly left the orchid section ... too tempting (plus my husband was watching me).  There would be no way to smuggle one to the Sequoia without him seeing me!  The daylily addiction is bad enough anyway!

Time for dinner at Mikata and here's a pic of our favorite, fabulous sushi chef.  Dinner here is always delicious.  :-)

I think this is just what my husband needed after his journey through the Garden Center ... :-).



Seaweed Salad



Rainbow Roll & Green River Roll



On to Baskin Robbins for a scoop of Three Point Chocolate for my husband, and a scoop of Daiquiri Ice for me!

Again, focus, focus, focus ... lol

:-)