Orchid Show!

    I haven't purchased orchids in several years.

I have a lot of orchids that are doing well and tending to them is an enjoyable hobby that doesn't take up much time.  Recently, however, I decided that I wanted to add a few specific orchids to my patio.  I was looking for varieties that are proven survivors for me but when I started searching on line, I found that ordering them would be very expensive and when I've ordered orchids in the past, they are small and frail.  The next option was finding an orchid show nearby.  Luckily, the Orlando Orchid Society's yearly show fell on Valentine's Day weekend.  Count me in!

     An orchid show can be overwhelming if you don't know what you're doing.  Each vendor at this show had a small square space within which to showcase their wares and they crammed their spaces full of every conceivable variety of orchid.  The vendors were packed so close together, there wasn't room for more than one person to walk between the stands at a time.

     I avoided my usual panic attack by being completely prepared with a short list and a tight budget.  The closeness of the stands allowed me to quickly scan and price the orchids I wanted and I studiously avoided being distracted by the ones I wasn't interested in.

     I've wasted plenty of money (thinking I was saving money) by purchasing baby plants that would need years of nurturing before I could even begin to hope for a bloom.  Most of those plants died long ago.  Now, on the rare occasions that I buy an orchid, I get a mature, healthy plant.  The vanda in the above photo came from Smiley Orchids in Clermont, Florida.  I often pass through Clermont on my way to Brooksville and plan to stop in some day to check out their operation.  Greenhouses are wonderful places to visit: warm, softly humid, quiet, and filled with beautiful plants.  I lost all my vandas to a freeze about 5 or 6 years ago.  It was 2 years before I purchased another but its blooms reminded me of why I had several in the first place: stunning!

     I was also on the hunt for a stanhopea.  I have one that has always been happy and produces increasing numbers of unique blossoms every year.  The orchid show didn't have a big selection of stanhopea but I found this interesting plant:

     This stanhopea has been growing for years but the price tag was ridiculously cheap so I asked the seller why.  She explained that it has belonged to a club member for years and he has never gotten it to bloom.  He's given away many starts but no one else has gotten it to bloom either.  I'm not a miracle worker or an orchid expert, but I do know how to wait, so I accepted the challenge.  We shall see...

     My 2 other purchases were a hardy looking schomburgkia hybrid (on my list) and a well-established, fragrant cattleya (not on my list).  I was in and out in under an hour.  Fun!

And now, for a product review.

     Do not be seduced by the Grill-n-Go.  Regardless of what they show you in the photo, it does not pack enough firepower to cook a hamburger, and maybe not even a hot dog.  I bought 2, on sale, and I hated to just chuck the second one in the trash so I took it apart and used the grate to repair my old BBQ grill.

     

     I finished my walkway yesterday, despite the hens being under foot the entire time.  

     They are on the watch for bugs hiding under the boards but a few unlucky lizards got caught in the fray, too.  I watched Goldie get medieval on a brown anole.  She "immobilized" it, then swallowed it whole.  Crazy!

     Anyway, the completion of this latest walkway revealed a perfect area to turn into a pigeon pea patch.  I'll start the seeds today.