These grey windy days of winter sure don't give you much to cheer about in the garden. Right now I could cheer because I have a bit of excitement in the living room.
As I was spraying the Staghorn Fern today I noticed another bit of color and form on the tree limb I have the Staghorn mounted on. Peek through there. Do you see it?
Yes. Yes that is it. The little Phalaenopsis that I attached to the limb has a bloom! What a brave little bloom.
Let us go around to the lit side of this and have a look.
Awww, isn't it pretty? It is a different color than my other ones. It is also as I say a small one. It seems happy as a clam here. It has another bloom stalk and several more buds. I can't wait until they open.
If you enbiggen the following photo you can see how this little orchid is reaching around the limb with one of it's roots to hold on.
Can't really see it? Here let me take you closer. You can also see the piece of twine that I used to tie it onto the limb. I will let it rot off. It will be gone by next winter.
I will show you the other side as well. Two big new roots clinging.
While I was in Key West, Fl a couple of years ago I saw orchids growing on trees. I just had to try this myself. It WORKS!
I would love to put all of my orchids onto a limb. They naturally hang down though. I would have to put a tall limb into a pot so I could easily see the blooms.
You can also see in this photo that the Staghorn Fern is responding to longer days. We might not be able to tell the days are getting much longer but the plants know.
Is anything exciting happening with your house plants?