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Bad kitty was bad—one of them (not naming the suspect because I didn’t witness the crime) broke off the tip of the bloom spike on my Phalaenopsis. It will not be deterred from blooming, though, and has sent out two oddly angled ones with a few buds on each.
I think it needs repotting after it finishes blooming.
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is that the “swan” phalaenopsis with the huge white flowers? my neighbor gifted us one and it is really lovely (and, as much as i love orchids, i was never into the solid white - until now!).
in general, phals like being a little crowded in their pot. be careful if you do repot and use a good medium that won’t hold too much water. your roots look very healthy, i wouldn’t rush into it. just don’t let the roots turn dry, they can come up out of the pot all they want, so long as they stay green, plant is happy.
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This orchid had bloomed last around the time my father died in 2021. I kept the dried flowers in a bowl afterwards near a picture of him. Noticed the spike in February. Honestly didn’t expect it to bloom again and was just content to keep it alive this long.
I have a better picture I think though now that the last bloom has opened, but I have to upload it…
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Nope, just the standard purple phal sold in all the grocery stores. I rescued it after a relative died, so there’s a sentimental attachment.
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I always thought that the English name of these flowers ‘wood anemone’ sounded alien. Not exactly horticulture as they are wild flowers.
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this Dendrobia (sp) has surprised me! it has not bloomed in two years and just today - w0w! - new life! these blooms appeared on an old shoot that i had all but given up on.
this type of orchid is so finicky. long, vining shoots (not spikes, like the phals do) grow leaves and blossoms. these had dropped all their leaves, sent out air roots and, just when i thought they were lost, it has new leaf growth and blooms.
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So I ordered a bunch of plants from a place online. I’ve had really good luck with them, and their prices are ok. But I got enticed into buying some night blooming jasmine, and it shows up, but even as I’m digging the hole, a voice inside my head asks if this is going to be an action I come to regret.
Sure enough, jasmine is highly invasive where I live, and all parts of the plant are poisonous to people and animals.
As much as I want to enjoy the perfume, I just can’t doom future me (or the person maintaining the property after me) to another plant to do battle with.
It galls me that this company has no qualms about selling it. The big box stores sell many of the plants that I spend a significant amount of time trying to remove: English ivy, morning glory, trumpet vine, mint and lemon balm, grapevine, and raspberry… All of these have been planted either on my lot, or near my lot. Luckily no one has ever planted bamboo in my plot.
The rest of the plants I bought are benign… Hosta, huechera, ferns. I got them all in today, but the jasmine is going in the bin.
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I planted one tiny sprig of mint in my flowerbeds two years ago. This spring I resolved to pulling it out. My goodness but is that stuff ever tenacious. There were thick subterranean vines running everywhere! And if you miss one piece it can start sprouting anew!
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Good luck! The family farm of my late mother’s partner grew mint in late 1950s or early 1960s, back when the chewing gum manufacturers bought the real stuff. It was still growing along the fence lines and around the irrigation head in 2017, despite decades of row crops with the associated herbicides.
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Putting together @Wayward’s kitty gif and @NukeML’s post—next time make it catnip, and go into business!
(But only if you’re not allergic to the stuff. I once interviewed for a job in an old warehouse/factory type of building that now has many small businesses in it, and there was a strong herbal smell throughout the entire building—no, not marijuana. I had time before the interview to explore the building, and noted that there was a business making catnip toys. By the time I left the interview I had a double-whopping sinus headache, and knew that I couldn’t possibly take the job…)
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Pollinators are essential!
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what a wonderful thing you are doing! is this through a community program of some sort? where do the larvae come from?
note to self: look into this here, locally.
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My flame does urban farming; and on weekends, I often help him plant starts and propagations. This was a new project we just started.
(My fire escape is starting to look a bit like a terrarium.)
See my reply to Nick above.
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