What's Goin' On - In My Garden!

[Oldandintheway]

You are right. Our plant is Dactylorhiza fuschsii. Despite its name it is common on some roadside verges and on the edges of forest rides in the area and does not require a marsh to grow. We saw the ones at Scarborough Castle today when we went to see the Kittiwakes nesting on the castle rock.

Not a bad guess from this distance!
Fancy you seeing them at the Castle just after I stumbled across them on line
A small dedicated garden bed of those in a mass planting would look fantastic (if it were possible)
However, I believe most terrestrial orchids don't transplant well & would most likely die in the process.
Most live in a symbiotic relationship with different types of fungus & need them also to survive.
Enjoy it while it lasts Tony.

[Shesawaya38485]

I have never tried orchids because I've heard they are "difficult" but I do enjoy looking at them

I'm more of a "stick it in the dirt & give it a drink" type gardener. I've spent the past two days out working in the yard and it was so sad to see how dry it is. Spent an hour watering and it started raining - lasted all night - LOL!! A good thing, as I planted a hibiscus tree and a hydrangea bush (pink) as well as some hollyhocks and spider flower seeds, so they are well watered now.

Building an actual "potting shed" is in the game plan for the near future and as I was sorting all my pots, I ran across a "weed" that looked similar to the Epipactis helleborine. Put a tomato cage around it so I don't pull it and can figure out what it is when the flowers bloom. Probably just a weed....

Off to take a walk in the woods - turtles should be out after all the rain we had.

Enjoy your weekend, everybody!!

[Oldandintheway]

G'day all
Very strange weather here ATM - 27c (80.6f) in Winter - go figure!
The plants don't know if they are Arthur or Martha - BUT - I'm taking advantage of this in the hopes I can get a jump on Spring?
Normally, I'd only consider re-potting & start feeding my orchids & other plants in mid to late August, but with this warm patch we're having, I've already started
Here's a couple of early examples - 1, had to upsize & mass plant all my various coloured Epidendrum ibaguense into one pot (added a wire trellis for support) as they got too big for the orchid house. They can stand full sun in any event. That terracotta pot is 12 inches in diameter & the plant stands 5 feet high to the top of the flowers.


2. My Dendrobium kingianum has 5 flower spikes & I'm hoping to develop this into a large specimen plant - eventually. (it's well on the way)




Recently bought a Maiden Hair fern & another Croton that I'll add pix of ASAP, also had to repot several other ferns & vines into new media & larger pots in most cases! - Cheers all & happy gardening

[Shesawaya38485]

The orchids are beautiful!! I really love the pink one There are supposed to be some in my area (according to my books) but I have never seen anything that resembles what is in the book. I wonder if my woods is just too dark for them?

I did find some Maidenhair fern and another fern (can't remember the name of it off the top of my head) to plant in my full shade garden by the house. I also found some Jack-in-the-pulpit and some Spider Lily bulbs, which shoot leaves but never bloom because they get no sun.

Since the woods comes up to my back door, I like to keep a section (about 240' x 25') cleaned up to deter "wild critters" from coming too close to the house. Notice I said "like to keep" - LOL!! It's been about 10 years since I worked it so I've spent 3 solid days cutting, chopping and sawing on a 45 degree angle hill and am not finished yet. I ran across a fat muscadine grapevine that had grown up about 60' into a tree and it "challenged" me. Been "resting" some badly pulled abs the past two days from tugging, but I WON!! What I really wanted to do was to swing on it like Tarzan but I knew 1 of 2 things would happen 1) somebody would drive by and see me and cart me off to the loony bin or 2) the vine would let go of the top of the tree while I was in mid air! My 80 year old mama told me she was so proud that I was finally learning to make "mature decisions" - LOL!!!

I hope to finish up this weekend and get back to listing on Monday. I've got about 100 items ready to go, just have to get them on here.

Hope y'all have a wonderful weekend!!

[Oldandintheway]

G'day all - well as promised, here are the newest 2 pot plants! 1. Maidenhair fern & 2. Croton anna
I've also got a small cheap walk in shade house on order that should arrive Wednesday, to take care of things that need rain protection when in bloom.
Will give you a look at that when it's installed.

[madelaine]

Here is a new orchid flower in our garden - not as grand as the tropical ones but a small payment for all the pleasure of old's garden

[Oldandintheway]

Here is a new orchid flower in our garden - not as grand as the tropical ones but a small payment for all the pleasure of old's garden

They're all nice in their own way, & a fascinating group of plants altogether!
That is not one that I'm immediately familiar with, could it be a Phaius type? I'm not into terrestrial orchids, & don't know much about them sadly.

BTW - I'm still waiting on delivery of the new walk in shade house - hopefully today sometime

[Shesawaya38485]

Here is a new orchid flower in our garden - not as grand as the tropical ones but a small payment for all the pleasure of old's garden

What a cutie!! I do have some topical plants, which I faithfully tote in and out of the house each spring and fall as I need to see GREEN in the winter, but my favorites are the "local treasures". Every place I have lived, I've had a special garden dedicated to the flowers that grow wild in that area. Granted, the "locals" considered them weeds and I got more than one strange look for deliberately planting a "patch of weeds" in the middle of a perfectly good lawn - lol!!

Old - your fern and croton are very nice! What grows here in the woods is the Adiantum pedatum (photo below) and you have the A. jordanii which only grows along the west coast of the US.




I have only had one croton and it is still with me but it dies back to a twig in the winter (in the house) and then gets new leaves every summer when I put it outside. This has been going on since 2005 - is that normal for crotons???

[Oldandintheway]

I have only had one croton and it is still with me but it dies back to a twig in the winter (in the house) and then gets new leaves every summer when I put it outside. This has been going on since 2005 - is that normal for crotons???

Shesawaya, you are very lucky to have that fern growing wild & I can understand completely why you would encourage growth of the "local weeds" - they are little gems!
As for the croton - no - that is not usual for my location. You'll note that we are in the middle of our winter right now & my crotons are as per the pix.
Obviously we don't have it cold enough here for the leaf shedding to happen, you may try keeping it in a warm sheltered place year round if possible & see if that makes any difference. Happily it regrows for you in spring/summer.

BTW my new little shade house arrived & I'm in the process of assembly & installation today! Then all I have to do is fill it up!

[Oldandintheway]

Here ya go! - the new plant sauna
I had the ideal spot for it between the water tanks on the end of the shed (read "man cave")
Now all I have to do is fill it up (that won't take long!)