Garden Updates

This might sound strange to some people, but if you read my other garden posts, you knew I have lots of orchids, and lots of them bloom in winter. Right now, I have 3 den., 1 catt., 1 hawaii blooming, and two more others ready to open any day now.
These two are about to open.

This is a strange one to me. For several weeks now, I have noticed a weird seedpod looking thingy growing out after a flower faded on my pink jasmine plant! I didn't know jasmine does this! Anyone has any idea what this is?

This last one is beautiful also, just totally out of season. My forthysia and winter jasmine normally bloom in Feb or Mar, when the winter is ending. But this time they got fooled by mother nature. We had our cold weather and first snow before Halloween, then two months of unbelievable warm weather. Lots of plants got fooled, some daffodils and plum flowers have been reported. Poor things may die next time we have a snow storm. I don't care so much of the forthysia, but I do hope my winter jasmine can survive!

Garden Updates

I am so lucky! I didn't even lift a finger this year to get all these gorgeous flowers! Hooray for perennial garden! Perfect garden for lazy gardeners!
And my potted plants are doing pretty good too! Before I had little caterpillar, I gave away half of my plants, only kept my orchids and jasmines, and some air filtering plants. I don't have time to take care them as before, but they are still rewarding me with some amazing flowers. This pink jasmine was a gift from AK a couple years back. This one is the first flower of this season, and the color is more intense and flower is bigger! Looks like there are more buds coming, going to be quite a show!
And this baby (Encyclia radiata) just 'enjoying' my ignorance. It blooms every year, and 3 or 4 spikes at a time! The sweet scent is so strong, I normally cannot have it inside.

Garden Updates

Remember what the perennial bed next to the deck stairs look like a couple of weeks ago? Yes, it was dominated by my magnificent Peony "Gardenia". Just a short break after they faded, here is what the bed looks like now. Like a totally different garden, isn't it? That's the beauty of a perennial garden. Your garden constantly changing colors and shapes throughout the whole growing season.

Here are some close ups of the beautiful Asiatic Lilies.

My Rhododendron is blooming as well. Funny thing is for 4 years, I never really looked losely at the flowers, I thought they are just boring pink flowers. Imagine how surprised I was when I saw the yellow details.
I also love the contrast between the darker pink buds and softer pink flowers.

The sedum I planted 2 seasons ago from seeds (the finest seeds ever, like cinnamon powder) finally started blooming too. I always thought the reason the plants looked different than the sedum (autumn joy) I know is because they are too young, they might need a couple of more years to grow to that size and shape. Man, was I surprised! It's a totally different sedum! I did some research online, and think it might be Green Mantle. Now think about it, I am counting myself lucky. If it was Autumn Joy, it might be too big for the spot, and will block the sunshine to my peony. Green Mantle is more like a ground cover, so it forms this bright green thick mat in the front of the flower bed, and hangs over the edge a little bit as well. The contrast between this bright green and the darker green leaves of peony and others made the bed more interesting.

I didn't plant any Cilantro this year, so it's probably the seed from last season. I love the delicate shape of the flowers. I need a macro lens for this. =)

Oh, my Columbines are still going strong. But now, it's a mixture of old and new, the seed pod and flower buds. Love how the delicate flowers can turn to this weird shape seed pods. Nature is very interesting.
And I love how this white Columbine flower looks against the huge hosta leaves. In Chinese, we have a saying, to showcase the beauty of a red flower, you have to use green leaves as background. It's true for white flowers too. =) And they don't have to be from the same plant. Isn't that the basic idea of flower arrangements?

Last but not least, one of my potted plant is about to bloom. I have seen its flowers online, but never thought mine will bloom one day! I saw the spike while taking pictures of the azalea. What a happy surprise! Cannot wait to see what the flowers look like when they open up.

Spring Inside And Out

of the house, I meant. Here are just some shots of the happy flowers in my garden and inside my house. Enjoy the warm sunshine! Can you see all the flower buds? This baby is loaded! The smell is just heavenly. Cannot wait for my new pink jasmine to open. That one has lots of buds also.

BTW, that beer water thing really worked. The spike stuck at about 2"! Watered with half water half beer a couple of times, now it's about 10" tall. I can actually see the flowers! Wish I had done it earlier. But better late than never, right? This one is not like the common clivia, the flowers are not as orangey (is that even a word?). They are more like water color painting. Just like one of my lily.

I lifted the spike and supported with a stick after four flowers already opened. That's why the lower flowers look funny, turned sideways.

Hmm... Jasmine

(Sorry about the quality of these pictures. I was running out of the house to catch my train.)

These are what I saw and smelled this morning when I came downstairs. My "Belle of India" and "Maid of Orleans" both opened. There were 8 flowers in total. The smell was so very nice and strong. What a wonderful way to start a day! They were not so happy after I took them back in before winter, but com'on, it's New England, they won't survive even one day outside. They lost lots of leaves and branches, due to the low humidity and less sunshine indoor, and I kept forgetting to water them. I felt sorry for ignoring them, but I have to take care of the new baby and myself first. I thought they were going to die. So, I gave them a BIG haircut. They didn't do anything for a while, and then all of a sudden, they are happy again, sent out lots of new growth, and many flower buds as well. I am glad I don't have to throw them away. They remind me of my childhood all the time.

Beautiful Orchids

Several AK's orchids are blooming in the office. Snapped some pictures to share with you. Enjoy! Check out my flickr set orchid for more. The new pictures are at the end.

Phphiopedilum barbigerum

Phalaenopsis Schilleriana

Den. maiden charlotte

Den. bigibbum

Orchids Update

Finally remembered to take pictures of my Hawaii, when the first two spikes started fading. Two of the flowers dropped off already, had to put them back for the picture. Anyway, it's so beautiful. It grew several new bulbs over the summer, and they all bloomed. Now I have 4 spikes, total 10 flowers! Guess it's finally settled in my house.

I also found another orchid ready to bloom. I got it from AK a couple of years back, and it has been quiet and small. I just repotted it a month ago, and guess it's happier. AK identified it as "Dendrobium bigibbum var compactum", and said it supposed to be purple. Cannot wait.