This and That

Hippeastrum unknown, what a beauty

Hey Everyone,

i was thinking of doing a post tonight of some of the photos from the EDOS Show but if i'm going to do that then i want to do all the correct labeling and it being a Friday night sadly to be honest i just can't be bothered hehehehe :) i would have done it earlier but i've been busy dancing with the dogs to music, singing along to music with the dogs, and of course finding random videos on youtube :) hehehehe.  oh and of course reading about and listening to intervies with my absolute hero, Sir David Attenborough on the BBC Wildlife Magazine website on him.

but anyways, best get onto the plants.

i figured it was about time i tried taking some black and white photos, what do you think? any tips?
it's of one of the trees that i gave a hardcore prune to.... ive been doing that a lot lately :)

a big Platycerium that i was just casually given by a friend, one this size would cost a bazillion dollars to buy

 these two are the same flower but the one on the lest was taken during the day when it was unfolding and the one on the right was at night when it was almost done :)

the buds on the rose are starting to open

My Paph. hirsutissimum, i took the photo with the morning sun coming through the window

well, i'd best get off to bed now, gotta help a friend move house tomorrow


Happy Gardening

Michael

Morning Mumbles

Hey Everyone,

I thought I’d write part of my blog post while I was waiting at the bus stop this morning.  It’s a lovely bus stop with plenty of trees, not much traffic and it has a creek running under the road and through the surrounding bush land/parkland on either side of the road, just for added interest.  This morning the smells are amazing, it rained last night so the eucalyptus oil in the leaves that cover the ground beneath the big old ghost gums has filled the air with their lovely smell.  Dancing through the air with the eucalyptus oil is the glorious smell of warm, moist earth that contains plenty of organic matter.  Now some of you may think I'm crazy for liking the smell of “wet dirt” but no doubt there must be at least one person out there that understands the beauty of the smell too.

I must say, to me the bus ride into school this morning is far better than yesterday.  I think it might be to do with the rain, maybe its because of what I associate with rain (green lawns, happy plants, spending the weekends in the glorious sunshine mowing the lawns, then getting to see the amazing look of it afterwards, and many, many other things), or maybe its because the rain seems to enhance all of the colours, the greens are greener, the browns are browner and the world just generally looks like someone has hit the “enhance” button.

Due to the overcast weather I saw a very rare treat today.  This is a Midnight Cactus (Epiphyllum) on the way into school and normally I only ever get to see the dead flowers on it, however due to the extended darkness due to the overcast weather it had 4 flowers still open on it.  From what I could see it look beautiful.  I’ve never seen an epiphyllum flower in real life before so I’m really excited that I got to see one just then.  I just wish the bus wasn’t going so fast so I could have seen it for longer and it would have been cooler if it wasn’t on the other side of a 4 lane road… oh well, one day I shall see one up close J

rain clouds above the city, and behind that the clouds are climbing Mt Coottha, where the brisbane Botanic Gardens are :)  took the photo at school today on my iPhone, look at how dark it was

the water droplets on a Bottle Brush, taken on my iPhone at school, i had to be really sneaky so i didn't get it confiscated.

my contribution to the art show :)

Well, that was what I wrote to entertain myself on the bus this morning, and because I was helping set up the art show at school this evening and have therefore been at school for 12 hours (BLURGH) I’m tired so I’m going to bed… night night.

Happy Gardening

Michael

Wordless Wednesday 10/10/12 - Fauna and Flowers

The view down on the waterfront while we had Fish and Chips for dinner, Yum

Jacaranda in the Twilight

I'm participating in my first ever wordless wednesday and so far i've ruined it by not making it wordless...

I decided to join Tina and Linda for Wordless Wednesday.

and Susan's Outdoor Wednesday... i must apologize, i couldn't figure out how to post her button/logo, so once i send her an email and hear back from her i'll post it here >  < :)

and Stewart for his Wild bird Wednesday

Well, i'm going to be wordless now.

Satin Bowerbird

Jacaranda in the Sunset

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