Kaseys Korner

genius idea gone bad

You know how you think you have a brilliant idea then it goes totally awry??  That recently happened to me (just so you know things aren't always coming up roses around here).  I thought I had found the perfect solution for my growing orchid collection ~ a three tier corner stand that would conveniently fit around my bathtub and organize the paphs.  Here it is all neatly arranged:

I was so pleased with myself for "cleaning" this area up and freeing up room around my tub.  I watered all the orchids, set them on the stand then went about my business.  Big mistake.  Probably even a novice houseplant grower knows not to place plants so close to a glass block window.  Never occurred to me.  My beautiful paph 'Raisin Pie' (after only one week in its new position) was totally getting sun scalded:

I am sick, sick, sick about it.  I hope it recovers.  Remember how gorgeous this orchid was?

I definitely do not want to lose it.  Needless to say the stand has been moved but it doesn't look nearly as nice now as it did in it's intended corner position.  What is that they say about the best laid plans?  At least the little orchid "Alvin Beggman Poem' didn't seem to be affected.  He continues to put out more buds and blossoms ~ here's the latest:

Moral of the story, leave well enough alone! 

keeping me going

I don't know what I would have done without using my bathroom as a makeshift greenhouse this winter.  It's helped so tremendously in combating the seasonal blues I get every year about this time.  Something has been in bloom there practically all winter which is why I previously referred to it as my "happy place."  Thank heavens since absolutely nothing, zero, zip, nada, zilch, is blooming outdoors!

Check out the latest happenings ~ New violet tubeflower buds/blooms:

Gotta love them. 

The Paph orchid (unknown name) at center stage and rightfully reigning over the room:

Easy to see why, isn't it??

The Hoya was recently re-potted and decided it wanted to reside between the bars of this metal birdcage:

Excellent choice, wouldn't you say?

Also, another orchid has decided to bloom for me.  Not yet (I got ahead of myself) just buds so far:

It's a miniature cattleya variety called 'Alvin Beggman Poem' ~ I purchased it last spring for $7.00 ~ because it reminded me of a daffodil??

Maybe just the sunny color??  Anyway, looking forward to those little blooms. 

Last but not least, after torturing me since October by sitting in its pot refusing to do anything, Amaryllis 'Picotee'  suddenly sent up three bud stalks (practically) at once:

I don't know what was going on but thank you for electing to make an appearance ~ better late than never.  A full reveal will be forthcoming as soon as the first bloom opens. 

Of course, there are a few more things (like seeds, dahlia tubers, etc.) that are sprouting but I thought you might like me to save those for another day....  Happy Bloom day everybody and President's Day too (especially if you happen to have the day off).

which side up???

(Hint:  Read the message on the card)  This side:

or this side:

Maybe it depends on the day????  ;-) 

On a completely different subject, a kinda funky look at my Hawaiian 'paph' orchid 'Lasco:'

That's my "freaky" Friday post ~ it's been that kind of day.  Have a good one....

where you can find me

on a cold winters day is most likely in the "greenhouse" (aka my master bath).  Especially in the mornings ~ with a cup of coffee in hand, it's a great place to start the day.  It's warm, it's bright and it holds a lot of plants ~ see what I'm talking about?

There's always something happening there (well, if you're a gardener or into plants).  You might spot an amaryllis pushing up buds (this is 'Aphrodite'):

She held out on me for a long time and now is trying to push up three buds at once.  What gives with that?  If I had my "druthers" I'd choose for them to bloom one stalk at a time so the show is prolonged.  No complaining tho ~ a bloom is a bloom is a bloom and I'll take them any which way but dead. 

You're also likely to find a bloom (or two or three) on Hibiscus 'Powder Puff.'   She has produced buds and blooms all winter ~ an unexpected but delightful surprise.

Of course I can't leave out the latest acquisition ~ Violet Tubeflowers were placed there after their recent purchase.  They are so pretty I can't help myself for showing them off a bit more:

Isn't that a dazzling, dangling clump of purple?  Trying to make a tongue twister there and failing...

 

I know I photographed them for you when I first brought them home but I didn't feel I did the flowers justice.  These photos show better just why I was so excited.  If you look again at the first photo, you can see the (tall) plant on the very left side of the picture.

 

Whoa.  What a way to start the morning.  Now you know where I am if you should need to find me...

paph 'Lasco'

I thought you all might be interested in an update on the Hawaiian orchid I received last week?  Yes??  Good!  I've been watching it closely ever since it arrived and each day the bud has been slowly unfurling in my "greenhouse."  This morning it finally opened all the way.  Yippee.  That's the way to light up a dreary winter day!  Let's do a couple "progress" shots before we get to the full voluptuous bloom ~ you know build up the tension.  Happens all the time on TV so why not in the blog land, right?!  ;-)
Here it is a couple days ago:

then yesterday:

and finally this morning ~ are you tense yet??!!   (probably not, I didn't make you wait that long!):

Wow!  Hawaii really knows how to grow an orchid, doesn't it? 

My Mom had asked me if the slipper orchid had a name and my first response was "no" because I hadn't see anything that identified it.  However, upon closer inspection, I found a small white tag pushed down along the inside of the pot that read "paph 'Lasco'" ~ so I'm now referring to it by that name.  I haven't googled it so I don't know if that's correct or not but I'm assuming so??

I personally am not concerned at all about its name ~ I'm still just so thrilled to have it and think it's a gorgeous specimen that I'm quite lucky to have gracing my home.  Go Hawaii and go Thomas!!  You all (and the slipper orchid) ROCK!

from Hawaii with love

Butterball, our Lhasa Apso, must have known something was up yesterday morning ~ I kept finding him hanging over the arm of my office chair ~ gazing intently out the window. 

If I called him, he would look at me, but wouldn't budge from his "window on the world" position:

Until the Fed-Ex lady showed up, that is.  Then he came alive and so did I!  After just writing about orchids yesterday, I'm feeling beyond spoiled by my new package:

Could it really be "a Live Orchid Plant??"  Oh my.  Yes it could.  Nestled securely inside the box, flown all the way from Hawaii, (Bob's Tropical's) was a Slipper "Paph" Orchid:

How wonderful is that?  As you can see, the bud is a solid dark, rich, burgundy color.  What you can't see is there's another bud coming up amongst the foliage as well.  WOW.  How lucky can one girl get?  The tropical card enclosed:

had this message:

I so more than like it,  I LOVE it!  You're the BEST brother ever.  Thank you ten million times over Thomas.  What an amazing & thoughtful surprise.  I will be enjoying this one for many years to come.

 

10 months, 27 days and 11 hours

(to be exact) is how long I've waited to find out what this fabulous little Paph orchid looks like!  I would say that is patience, wouldn't you??  If only I'd had a little more the other day I could have spared you two posts about one orchid!  Since I didn't, I'm hoping you'll hang with me thru the follow-up.  Are you more than ready?  Then let's do it!

Paph Orchid (name unknown) in full reveal mode:

Oooohhhhh.  Aaahhhh.  Are you saying that in unison with me??  I thought so!  It gets repeated a lot around here ~ almost every time I look at it in fact.  It's reminiscent of toddlers watching fireworks.  Same response.  But hey, as you can see, I've waited almost one whole year to see it bloom.  I bought it (foliage only) on February 25th of last year.  The fact that I could elicit a bloom from it at all astounds (& thrills) me but now that it has, I can't quit looking at it.  From every angle.  Side-to:

seems to be the best way to appreciate the "slipper" which is quite fascinating all by itself.  I want to insert my pinkie into it in the worst kind of way.  Don't ask me why?  Strange, I know.  I won't do it tho ~ I promise.

The color combination of burgundy and green is awesome too.  I would have bought it blooming if I'd seen it, but now I just feel plain lucky.  Taking a chance (no tags, etc.) pays off sometimes, doesn't it?

Plants like orchids make you marvel at nature (if you don't already do that every single day).  Each detail is inspiring, down to the shiny raised dots on the hair-lined petals:

Just incredible.  Thank you for allowing me to share my bliss.  I am officially obsessed with orchids ~ the "paphs" to be specific.  I was told it would happen ~ I should have heeded the warning and never brought the first one home...

the waiting game

is almost killing me.  Remember how I've been watching the bud on my unknown Paph (Lady Slipper) Orchid?  I first noticed it waaaayyy back in Aug or September:

Sort of non-descript looking in this stage, right?  A month or so later, it had developed a longer, curved stalk but only minor changes to the bud:

Since I just ventured into the world of growing orchids last year, I had absolutely no idea how long it took to go from bud to bloom stage.  Apparently, they have almost the gestation period of a human baby.  Who knew?  By November, there was STILL a long way to go before bloom time:

But things were looking up in December:

Finally, I could see the light at the end of the tunnel.  I've never twiddled my thumbs or sat on my hands as much as I have with this orchid.  Having no idea what color it would be, etc. (remember it was on the clearance rack because it was done blooming) I was beside myself with anticipation.  However, the wait continued.  The New Year was rung in and our orchid greeted it like this:

 

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can ~ make it to bloom time, that is.  I even bought a fancy pink crystal stake hoping to coax it into speeding up the process. 

Nope.  Nothing doing.  It's on it's own time table.  There's nothing to do but wait it out.  How much longer can it possibly be tho ~ look where we are this morning:

OH MY STARS.  It looks like it's going to have a burgundy slipper with a striped hood (??) and spotted petals???  All I know, is I really can hardly stand it now.  Please, please, please, I'm begging you, open today ~ before I do something rash like fold back the petals myself...

beginning with promise

or ending that way, however you prefer to view it.  Either way, it's a nice note as 2009 was a somewhat challenging year in many aspects.   Because it was, I plan to embrace 2010 with open arms when it arrives tonight.  The gardener in me, says it's promising due to the array of buds & blooms currently gracing my home.   They speak of beauty and happy days, of new life and anticipation also of success (by my definition which means victory merely by getting to the blooming stage).  I would venture to say, there are perhaps more buds than I've ever had on a January 1st.  Hopefully that bodes well for the New Year?  The amaryllis are going crazy in the "greenhouse" ~ just look at them lined up ready to bloom:

That's another 'Elvas' bud in the foreground, with a second 'Razzle Dazzle' bud behind her and in the background, just opening, Amaryllis 'Fairy Tale.'  'Fairy Tale' is looking a lot like 'Razzle Dazzle' ~ maybe just a bit more refined???

When I was ordering bulbs, I had a fixation on red and white striping.  It's very apparent now that they're all blooming!  Also very nearly ready to open is the unknown "paph" orchid:

It's been a slow but fascinating process (as a newly inducted orchid owner) to watch the bud develop and evolve.  Hibiscus 'Powder Puff' continues to delight me with blooms as well:

 

The blooms bring a bit of the tropics to our anything-but-warm climate.  Lastly, there are the Paperwhites I posted about yesterday ~ they can hardly refrain from blooming much longer:

So many beauties.  Even more I didn't picture ~ like the paph orchid 'Raisin Pie' I showed you earlier in December and Amaryllis 'Charisma,' 'Siren,' 'Green Goddess' and 'Exotica' who all continue their impressive show.  If you judge a year by blooms, 2009 is finishing up with a bang.  Judging by what's to come tho, I'd say 2010 is going to top it!  Let's hope that's right.  Happy New Year to you all. 

sneaky little clivias

You never knew that adjective could be applied to a plant, did you?  It's an incorrect usage ~ I'm sure plants don't have hidden agendas ~ it was just the first thing that popped in my head when I spied two buds almost hidden in the clivia foliage.  See them compressed between two strapping leaves??

I've actually been holding out on you since I first discovered them a couple weeks ago.  Shame on me.  I was beyond excited thinking what I was seeing was the makings of a big bodacious bloom stalk.  I've been waiting and waiting for it/them to push up out of the foliage so I could take a really nice photo for you.  Meanwhile, it's become quite obvious, that I do NOT have a bloom stalk at all.  Merely two buds gone rogue. 

I had to gently pull the foliage back to get these shots.  Darn.  Oh well, enjoy the moment, right?  I wasn't expecting any blooms yet anyway.  You might remember this is my first year growing clivias ~ I found both my plants deeply discounted (one at a nursery the other at a big box store).  I have long admired them during winter visits to greenhouses but they were so expensive I always passed on purchasing one.  After bringing these two home, they were repotted and placed in my makeshift greenhouse.  I was just preparing them for a trip to the basement (for a cooling period in hopes of forcing a real bloom stalk) when I found the buds.  

 

I guess the best thing to do now is let them bloom then move them downstairs??  A companion to the clivias (in the makeshift greenhouse) is this Paph orchid (unknown name ~ also bought 50% off ~ are you getting the idea I'm cheap???).  Its bud is very slowly (painfully slow if you ask me) continuing to develop.  I liked the image of it back-lit by morning sun:

 

I need to just leave them all alone and let them do their thing but it's so hard.  The suspense of finding out what I actually bought gets to me ~ I want to see something!!!  That's the downside to buying plants not in bloom and unmarked, right?  Oh well, they were purchased with the thought of helping me survive the long, cold winters.  The element of the unknown adds a bit of excitement to the dreary days and definitely helps fulfill that purpose.  Take your time, keep me on my toes, the days will pass and soon spring will be here again....

Can you believe I'm saying this already ~ it's only November!