Long term neglect has given me few blooms the past couple of years.
The Dendrobiums in hollow sections of logs had almost no mix left around their roots. They have been topped up, removed from the patio and put under the freshly mulched trees. I’ll wait a while to feed them.
Some of the potted Dendrobiums and a Stanhopea in a coir lined wire basket have been put into the crooks of branches in the Melaleuca.
There are still a couple of potbound Cymbidiums and several more potted Dendrobiums to rescue.
The hardest part was finding anyone who could give me some old tights/pantyhose!
Photo: Stanhopea and Dendrobiums in their new home. The pantyhose will rot away and the pieces can be removed after the roots take hold of the tree.
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Comments
rosemarieGardener wrote:
I had to ‘google’ every one of your plants…lol. Beautiful plants/flowers. Thanks for the lesson.
Posted on 25 Apr 12 (about 1 year ago)
Bernieh wrote:
Huh, I’d think pantyhose are hard to come by these days. My Dendrobium sits in a wire basket with nothing but air around it, and it still produces a couple of blooms every year. It’s a hardy little thing. I’m sure your Orchids will come back and flowering beautifully.
Posted on 25 Apr 12 (about 1 year ago)
flowerweaver wrote:
I think the days of wearing pantyhose are over. Or maybe we all keep a pair for special occasions. How neat to live somewhere you can actually grow orchids outside!
Posted on 26 Apr 12 (about 1 year ago)
redloon wrote:
What an exotic idea to plant orchids in tree crooks, and for them to live outside all year long! Around here most orchid lovers seem to have a greenhouse or other such setup in which they at least seasonally house and pamper their prima donnas. Lady’s slippers grow wild in the ground, but aren’t very common. Your establishment method is interesting!
Posted on 26 Apr 12 (about 1 year ago)
LillyPilly wrote:
RosemarieGardener, all the Dendrobiums are native species, none are anything ‘special’.
Bernieh, is your D. under cover? I think my erratic watering is most of their problem. All will be much better off in the garden, at least while we are in a wet cycle. I had only five flower spikes on the Rock Orchid this year, down from 12+. Bad plant mother!
Flowerweaver, what do people wear? I tend towards wooly tights with boots if I’m ‘dressing up’ . :) Mum will wear them if dressing up, but she never snags them. Even knee highs are hard to get from her. I’m sure many of the orchids would do better with a bit of shelter, but they aren’t getting it.
Redloon, terrestrial orchids are lovely. I had one but alas, it didn’t survive the ‘extreme hardening off’. There are lots of orchids that aren’t easy for me to grow here, but if I can’t eat it it had better not be too challenging! Growing in trees is what they do naturally and one friend has a tree full. When he lived in NQ he used to go walking in the rainforest to find ones on fallen branches.
I forgot to mention that they have a pad of sphagnum under the roots to keep them hydrated while they get established. I also forgot that I have staghorns to peel off the hot brick wall the crazy former owners put them on. They will go on slabs of wood to be placed around the garden, and one will be tied to the large Lilly Pilly tree.
Posted on 26 Apr 12 (about 1 year ago)
Bernieh wrote:
LillyPilly, yes the D is under cover of sorts. It sits out in the shadehouse garden underneath shadecloth. While it is protected from the wind, it does get rain during the wet season. It usually blooms at the end of the wet, so I don’t bother watering it much during the dry. It seems to do quite well.
Posted on 29 Apr 12 (about 1 year ago)
LillyPilly wrote:
Bernieh, I think that is probably the worst thing I did to them, the erratic watering. Hopefully they will do better out from under a roof. This last few days of rain will be doing no end of good for them.
Posted on 29 Apr 12 (about 1 year ago)
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