Shout Out From The Shade House

Hey Everyone,

i really should have gone to bed hours ago but i just can't get to sleep if i don't do a blog post, so tonight i spent the night dividing and then repotting a big Stanhopea, and i believe it may be S. negroviolacea, but i can't be certain, it's a friends plant and i haven't seen the flowers for a while, the cool thing about it is that i split it in half for my friends mum so that it was a more manageable size because she'd asked me to split it into as many peices as i thought was applicable, well, when i told her i'd split it in half she said "Thanks heaps for doing that for me, I'd really like it if u kept a basket for yourself", HOW COOL IS THAT?! woohoo, another stanhopea added to the collection, i do love them

well now for the photos

this first set are of a Sarracenia purpurea, i was hoping to self this flower but i believe i may be too late, or maybe, fingers crossed, a lovely insect has already pollinated it for me, i'm not sure so i'll just have to wait

the plant, i need to get in there and trim off the old dead pitchers but i was waiting for it to remove the nutrients from the old ones to fuel the growth of the new ones first so i think now would be the right time

pollen from the flower that had fallen onto the plate while i was moving it from the pond outside the shade house, normally it would be sitting in water but i didn't want to spill it in the shed

the flower "bunches", if someone could please tell me the correct
name i would be very grateful

Next is this wonderful Hoya, which i believe is H. carnosa, i have now found a hardcore love for these amazing plants and i have started taking cutting after cutting after cutting of friends plants and i now have around 10 individual plants, the ones i struck just before winter are now growing like mad things, it's very exciting.  i was really excited when i saw the flowers forming on this, since i got the plant about 6 months ago it has more than doubled in size and when i got it, it had not visible flower "spikes" but now i'm lucky enought to have had 5 form, WOOHOO, I must be doing something right :)

the whole plant

flower on the large plant

Next up is my Dendrobium jenkinsii, i bought this last year and it has grown dramatically and i was hoping i gave it the right amount of water during winter (none for about 2 months then a little sprinkling once a fortnight in the last month of winter).  well i believe i did it right because in the photo there aren't nearly as many buds visible as there actually are, i was shocked when i walked into the shade house tonight and saw some flowers open, i will go down there specifically later this week to take some proper photos

the large plant

a small peice that fell off when i was repotting it, thought i'd give it a go mounted and it seems to work :)

Nepenthes Gothica, it's a new pitcher coming, hopefully it will be as big as the one i got last spring, it was HUGE!

 Now these following photos are of my Oeoniella polystachys, the fragrance is absolutely amazing on this and i most definitely suggest it to anyone that likes nice smells, i'll talk about it more later this week but it's getting late.

This is one of my Unknown Orchids, i believe it might be a Lc perhaps but i don't know, any tips would be greatly appreciated

Tolu. Irene Gleason 'Snow Fire'

 I received 2 Tolu. Irene Gleason 'Snow Fire', among about 30 other orchids from a friend, and someone i would call my mentor, last year, they flowered then and are at it again this year, they aren't all open yet, but they still look wonderful

Tolu. Irene Gleason 'Snow Fire'

Tolu. Irene Gleason 'Snow Fire'

Dendrobium Ellen, an amazing indestructible Hybrid which i'll have to tell you about this week just to tell you how utterly amazing it is

a Nobile Dendrobium, i got it from a friend a few weeks back, it does have a name but like a ninny i forgot to get a photo of the name tag

Zygonisia Cynosure "Blue Birds" coming into bud at the moment, second time flowering this year, you go you good thing

A spathoglottis unknown i got from another friend, it's now showing signs of life

look who's Chiloglottis sp. aff. truncata has a heap of flowers coming, WOOHOO it'll be my first ever aussie native terrestrial orchid flowers :)

My Myrmecophila brysiana finally has a spike coming on it, WOOHOO its exciting

Oh Dendrobium keithii, GO YOU GOOD THING! WOO LOOK AT ALL THOSE FLOWERS!

a wonderful present from a wonderful friend, a Terete Vanda

Side View

a Nobile Dendrobium, i'll get the name tomorrow

and finally the two stanhopeas that i divided and potted, how nice.

Well, nighty night all, have a wonderful day and happy gardening

Michael