Better Pics of Tangerine Orange

Thanksgiving Cactus in Bloom

Right on time! This is Tangerine Orange.

Cymbidium Honey Bunny 'Sweet Bell'

Went to the November orchid society meeting today and George Hatfield was our speaker of Hatfield Orchids from California. He specializes in Cymbidiums and brought pendulous ones for sale. I couldn't help it, but to get one too since I had no luck with the traditional upright Cymbidiums. So this is the one I picked out, Cymbidium Honey Bunny 'Sweet Bell'. You can see a picture of it in bloom at Hatfield Orchids. It is my largest orchid to date I believe! I didn't mean to get one as big as this, but it's hard to get both flowers and plant size sometimes! I didn't want another pink one as I already have a pink one so I picked this yellow one. It has two spikes ready to bloom this winter already! I'm excited :D Below is a pic of how big this plant's leaf span is compared to my fake fireplace and my dog, Samba!

Stargazer Lily Bulbs

I had planted my Stargazer lilies in a rush when I first got them and did not think about how they would look eventually. So I finally got the chance to move them since their foliage has turned yellow. They are easy to snap off! I hope it doesn't hurt them, but they sure have grown! No wonder they were taller than I this year with tons of blooms! I did, however, forget to put some bone meal down when I replanted them. Oh well....I will top dress them later! Here's a few pictures:

The largest bulb...actually it had grown another bulbs and both of them were stuck together! Check it out...the bulb has its own fat roots and then all the tiny roots at the top (closer to my hand) must be what feeds the plant itself.

One of the other larger bulbs....also a multiple with a smaller one. The smaller one was grown next to a honeysuckle. Not sure if it made a difference, but it was definitely a smaller plant this year unlike the other two.

A look at where the stems snapped off when I dug them up. This is the largest one. You can see how big it is compared to my gloved hand! I don't think they were any bigger than a bulb of garlic when I first bought them! They sure as heck weren't yellow either! Not sure what made them that color...

Brassavola nodosa

A few years ago I purchased a flask of Brassavola nodosa seedlings. I sold all of them and kept only one, the biggest strongest one. I should've kept them all and made a specimen plant out of it! Anyway, I was downstairs in the basement this morning and noticed that it is spiking! At least I think it is a spike...it doesn't look like a leaf! I'm pretty excited as this is such a beautiful white orchid and it's fragrant to boot!

Dendrichilium in Bloom

This is Dendrochillum ecalosum x bicalosum.

Masdevallia in Bloom

This is Masdevallia Sun Spot x triangularis.

Oncidium in Bloom

This is Oncidium Moon Shadow 'Tiger Tail'

Meyer Lemon in Bloom

Hand pollinated three blooms today!

Meyer's Lemon

I got a Meyer's lemon a few years ago on sale. It almost died once. I threw it on the side of the house and told it that if it survives it gets to come back inside in the fall. I guess my pep talk worked :) It has given me one lemon a year. I guess that is all it can handle being that it is just a tiny tree. If you haven't tasted this lemon you HAVE to! It's technically a lemon x tangerine. Looks like a lemon, but once you taste it...oh my! It is sweeter than normal lemons, perfect for lemonade! You can totally eat this without making that face! I highly recommend it! They are easy to grow, tolerate abuse well too! They are thorny, which I did not realize when I first bought it, but there are so few spines that you can just cut them off, which is what I did. They are pretty long and jab pretty darn well!

Anyway...it blooms twice a year for me, spring and fall. This fall it is LOADED with flower buds! The first two buds opened today and oh do they smell heavenly! I have one full grown lemon on there right now that I am waiting for to ripen up. The spring bloom gave me another baby growing. Hopefully the bees are still out right now and I will be blessed with more! I may have to play bee here! I'll have to get a picture of it tomorrow.

Pomegranates

Just read an article about growing pomegranates. I never thought about what they grew on. Sure sounded like a weed! Anyhow...it sounds easy to grow, but maybe not here in zone 6a. It would probably have to be potted up for me, but how do you keep a tree small while still bearing fruit of edible size?! Well if you live somewhere where you can grow them it's worth it, I think, since they cost about $2.50 each at the cheapest! Check it out:

http://ag.arizona.edu/yavapai/anr/hort/byg/archive/pomegranates.html

Also, google for "pomegrante+plant" and you'll see what it looks like!

Fall Activity

In a recent post in my organic gardening group someone mentioned an easy way to turn my clay soil into good soil. Only thing you have to do is plant Daikon radishes! They grow deep and break up the clay. Then when you leave them in the ground over the winter here in zone 6a they freeze and die. Thus, decomposing and enriching the soil. Sounded like a great idea! The only problem is that I have part sun or shade, but I'm going to try it anyway even though they require full sun! I ordered my seeds from Seeds of Change.

I dug up my Dahlia 'Seattle'. I hope I did things right. The clumps have definitely gotten bigger, but whether they will become bigger plants next year remains to be seen! I also dug up some of the "potatoes" from my ornamental sweet potato vines. Going to let the rest of them rot in the soil just like the Daikon radish plan. They don't grow as deep, but something is better than nothing!

Last night for Halloween I got a total of 10 kids only. Two girls, my neighbor's kids, took two full sized bars each! That irked me a bit...greedy kids! I figured there would be more kids this year since Halloween was on a Saturday, but we only got about 1/3 of the kids we normally get. Good thing I didn't buy much candy! All my Halloween decorations are down and the fall door decoration is back up. I did forget to take off that fake spider web stuff though. Will do that later.

It was time change again and we gained an extra hour today. Sure was nice! I'm feeling a bit lazy.... However, I did manage to get myself to vacuum the first floor and clean the bathroom at the very least! More orchids are about to bloom too...!