Saturday Update #5

No new orchid blooms yet but several have faded so now total orchids in bloom down to 7 plants. Still, interesting flowers are to come very soon! Here are a bunch of plant pictures from the last week. I'll have pictures of actual orchids next week.

A trumpet gentian Gentiana acaulis. I planted this guy last fall and it has put up one gorgeous blue flower. That blue color is so mouthwatering.

These flowers close up at night and open in the sun, an adaptation to the cold mountains where they grow on. Supposedly the species is very adaptable and can tolerate heat along with drought so fingers crossed for summer survival here.

The peak of spring blooms in Elizabeth Gamble Garden

Slightly different vantage point.

More mouthwatering blue flowers. Delphiniums are so pretty.

I was unaware that double wisterias existed. Or double any-type-of-legume.

The whole vine was quite a spectacle

Pretty iris.

Spanish bluebells. These bulbs naturalize well in the Bay Area and have lovely blue flowers for 2-3 weeks each year.

Bluebells naturalized on the side.

Saturday Update #4

    All the same orchids as last week were in bloom. The only new orchid bloom of this week was Dendrobium Fancy Angel 'Lycee'. This nobile hybrid sports lovely honey-ish-scented flowers with shades of pink and green with white. As with other members of the nobile complex, this hybrid requires more water and heat during the summer with a dry, cool winter just like the monsoon cycle in its parents' Himalayan habitats. I grow mine outdoors, where it gets supplemental hydration in our dry summers and shelter from the winter rains. When given this treatment in addition to generous (Cattleya-ish) light levels, the plant blooms easily, being quite temperature tolerant and forgiving to haphazard treatment. If too much winter water is given though, the plants usually do not bloom and often instead make keikis, which I guess is good if one desires to propagate the plant. An annoying thing about these plants is that they are quite top-heavy and often flop down. To avoid this, either stake them, don't even bother (my method of course), or grow them upside down like in nature.

I swear the flowers were pinker back when I got the plant. Hopefully the color will intensify after a few days.

    Yep, that was all the orchid business in this post. The rest is just random pictures of spring.

Spring flowers

Valley Oak starting to leaf out

Busy Bee

Next to the lab I intern at in Stanford was this nice patch of wildflowers

Very nice work landscaper!

Additionally the wall of the lab was covered in fragrant jasmines.

Native lupine species

I think this is a type of ice plant. In the Arizona Garden at Stanford

More of the jasmines

Saturday Update #3

    This week's orchids in bloom were the same as last time, giving a total of 9 orchids I have blooming that I have owned for a significant amount of time over 6 months (I returned the S. japonica to my friend so it doesn't count as one of them). Additionally, there are multiple exciting buds coming up including Masdevallia ignea and the Masdevallia glomerosa I got at the POE (doesn't really count as a plant that I bloomed though). As promised, here are pictures of the Dendrobium kingianum.

A tough Australian plant that can withstand almost anything. My plant is not very floriferous but it still blooms in my haphazardly provided conditions. Maybe it's because my backyard lacks areas of full sun. The sunburn was caused from moving this plant out of shade to sun too quickly last summer. Care is easy: Just give it moisture during the summer, hold off during the winter, and the plant will grow vigorously.

The small flowers are very cute and lightly fragrant, with a honey-like scent

The Bletilla continues to bloom, putting up quite a nice show this year. For some reason though, every year there are only 2 growths. Shouldn't the plant have multiplied by now? 

Bletilla in the light

The rest of this post will not be very orchidaceous so if you're here for orchids and nothing else, now would be a good time to leave.

The bulbs ending their bloom. To hasten the demise of the spring flowers, a recent heat wave hit, with temperatures going up to the high 70s. What a weird meteorological year.

The last full hyacinth inflorescence

A random Acacia seedling I found at my school. It appeared to have been "bonsai'd" from foot traffic or something as the plant exhibited both juvenile and adult leaves but was barely 3 inches tall.

A pretty bunch of flowers near my friend's house

A large patch of cyclamens in midground (their leaves were beautiful) and Peruvian scillas in foreground to the right.

Cute, little mushroom growing in my Masdevallia Orange Delight's mix. Oh wait, does this mean that the media is way too decomposed?

The last Tulipa Peppermint Stick. This plant was growing from underneath the tile piece.

The first of the Tulipa saxatilis coming up. This tulip species is supposedly the best suited for mild Mediterranean climates. Hopefully it will live up to that reputation.

Sparaxis coming into full bloom

Persian Ranunculus starting to bloom.

Bright red freesia hybrid starting to bloom. They are extremely fragrant, like most other freesias.

My finger slipped and "accidentally" took this pic in the backyard. It's quite fascinating.

3/18/14 visit to Eleanor Pardee Park. Here is the freshly sprouted growth of some sort of chestnut. I believe that it is an American rather than chestnut due to the stronger curving of the teeth but I'm not positive. Here on the west coast, chestnut blight has yet to arrive, so these planted chestnuts are safe for the moment.

Not sure but probably Tulipa clusiana chrysantha in the EP park test garden for drought tolerant plants.

Tulipa saxatilis in the same place. It seems like these two botanicals can thrive in the area without special care so hopefully mine will as well.

Byzantine gladiolus. Doesn't everyone love gladiolus species?

Some more Peruvian scillas. The racemes are huge

So pretty

A very floriferous coral aloe (Aloe cristata)

    Yeah I know this is Tuesday and this was supposed to happen on Saturday but I was really busy for the past few days so the writing of this was delayed. I shall try to be more punctual this weekend.

Saturday Update #2

    Yes I know that this is Monday, not Saturday but I started the post on Saturday so technically it's fine right? Anyways a few new orchids bloomed this week: Masdevallia Orange Delight, Bletilla striata 'albostriata', Dendrobium kingianum, and an unknown Cymbidium hybrid. Additionally, one of the flowers of my new Pterostylis curta 'Kuen Hee' opened! All of the orchids mentioned in the previous post are still in bloom.

Masdevallia Orange Delight. The plant is rebounding nicely after being horridly chilled late last year with several new growths. The flowers are slightly fragrant and show a slight purplish sheen in real life.

Generic-ish Cymbidium hybrid under generic outdoor Bay Area Cymbidium conditions. It is kinda pretty I guess.

Bletilla striata - the Chinese ground orchid. These orchids are cold hardy enough to be grown in Philadelphia apparently. This plant is easy to grow in semi-shade, with enough water to keep it evenly moist during the summer (like most garden plants) and dry-ish during winter when it becomes dormant. This cultivar 'albostriata' has white linings to the leaves, making an interesting effect. I purchased this plant in 2012 and it has bloomed every year.

Hard to see in the picture but one of the growths is actually coming out of a drainage hole on the pot's bottom... For some reason as I moved this plant from the front yard into my atrium to display, I didn't notice that growth. 

Close-up of the flower with one petal awkwardly cut out.

Close-up of the Pterostylis flower (front facing forward) displaying its "hood".

Sideways view. My favorite parts of the flower are the two "antlers" jutting out in the front.

    I forgot to get a picture of the Dendrobium kingianum but I will put it here next week. The spring bulbs are now in their full ephemeral bloom. 

Tulipa Peppermint Stick. Hopefully this botanical tulip will not need the cool rest that many Dutch hybrids need and will bloom reliably in years to come.

Crocus tommasinianus 'Lilac Beauty' - Supposedly the "tommie" crocuses do better in mild winter areas than others so hopefully this will also do well. Or actually, I think this might be one of the bulbs I planted 2 years ago... I cannot remember.

Crocus sieberi ssp. sublimus 'tricolor'. A truly sublime and tricolored crocus.

The rest of the rock garden tub filled with bulbs.

I did not expect this Dutch tulip to rebloom. It and 2 of its neighbors have done so, sporting giant blood red flowers.

Sparaxis hybrids. A few years back I got a pack of 15 corms and they have done wonderfully. I thought they wouldn't do so well as the area they're in is not too sunny but I guess the fact that their patch is dry and warm during the summer, similar to that of South Africa, has caused them to thrive.

If they got more sun though I think they would not be so scraggly. 

I did not plant this pansy. Weird as it's not very likely that pansy seeds would be transferred from the plants 6 feet away that are probably not too fertile. Oh well it's a lovely flower so may as well enjoy it.

Narcissus Thalia planted in my lawn. These guys have done reasonably well but I think they're not enjoying their place that much as flower count has fallen slightly each year. 

The lovely jasmines are starting to bloom and release their fragrance. The scent is so powerful that when I go running at night, I can often smell them.

Scilla siberica. I planted a bunch 2 years ago and I thought that they wouldn't rebloom due to our winters being too warm but this year a few popped up and displayed these beautiful icy blue flowers.

Clivia blooming. This South African native has not done so well this year, only having 2 of these giant flowerheads as opposed to many more in the past. The plant is still large and healthy, so I'm not particularly worried.

Springtime growth (scraggly from our not-so-intense light)

When hit by direct light, the peppermint stick tulips open fully, glowing brightly like stars.

The hummingbird chicks are developing their first set of real feathers! The Vanda they're on is not particularly enjoying it, especially because of its water shortage. I just watered it today, being careful not to sprinkle any onto the chicks.

Until next time, happy growing!