New lodgers and what was I thinking?

Discussion in 'Member's Gallery' started by Droopy, Oct 24, 2008.

  1. Droopy

    Droopy Slug Slaughterer Plants Contributor

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    I've been promising mother to go shopping for some roe deer deterring netting, and today we went. I wasn't going to buy anything. (Hah! :oops: ) The first irresistible object we passed was this:

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    Yep, it's outside my front door, on top of the cats' shelter, awaiting our attention.

    The next table held orchids that were priced at less than 1/3 full price because they were fading. I reasoned that the poor things needed a caring home, so I grabbed a couple:

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    While I was trying to give the bulbs display a wide berth, mother thought otherwise and dived right in. She found a packet of snow drops, Galanthus woronowii, and thought they looked interesting. So that was added to the growing pile of stuff too. When we returned home, we checked the snow drops on the net, realized what they were and went right back for another five packets. :rolleyes:

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    The girls' Amaryllis order came in a couple of days ago. One is double red, the other pink-and-white. They are magnificent bulbs and we're potting them tomorrow:

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    I also ordered some Muscari "Golden Fragrance" and expected small, round bulbs. But these bulbs are huge!

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    I am now busy surfing the home page of the pumpkin grower to find out what we'll be making with all that lovely pumpkin meat. And I'm desperately seeking commodation for the orchids in our window sill. It's so full now I think the only way to make room is to repot a couple of leaf Begonias and put them on pedestals somewhere.

    I need more hours and a bigger living room. Anybody? :D
     
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  3. glendann

    glendann Official Garden Angel

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    I think you did good myself.Thats what I would have done for sure .I don't even go near plants right now my green house is over flowing and I still have more to put inside.I think I need another addition on my green house. 8x12 isn't large enough :)
     
  4. toni

    toni Mistress of Garden Junque Staff Member Moderator Plants Contributor

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    Very good shopping trip, the orchids are beautiful.

    I have a recipe for wonderful pumpkin spice cookies that I will put in the Recipes and Cooking forum.
     
  5. gardengater

    gardengater Young Pine

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    Droopy, the Orchids are gorgeous. I've tried without success to grow them, mostly Phalanopsis. Could you give us a little dissertation on growing them indoors?
    Gardengater
     



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  6. eileen

    eileen Resident Taxonomist Staff Member Moderator Plants Contributor

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    Droopy if you haven't got space for those gorgeous orchids I know someone in Scotland who would give them a loving home. ;) I think you and your mum were very restrained in your buying - if I'd been there we wouldn't have been able to fit all our purchases in the car!!! :D :D
     
  7. toni

    toni Mistress of Garden Junque Staff Member Moderator Plants Contributor

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    Eileen, I think they were a little too restrained....I mean the orchids were only 1/3 of the full price and she only bought TWO of them. There were others that needed good loving homes too :'(
     
  8. Droopy

    Droopy Slug Slaughterer Plants Contributor

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    Glendann, is there ever enough room? I'd love more recipes, thank you toni for taking the trouble. Eileen, you should see all the goodies I managed to pass by... The weather is horrible now. But come spring it will be an entirely different story! I'm glad the new camping car is seven meters long.

    Thank you for the vote of trust, Gg. I don't do much to them, really. I remember to water them while they bloom, but they get sorely neglected for the rest of the year. I place them in a south-facing widow with blinds, so they never get much direct sun. I feed them orchid fertilizer once a week or fortnight (when I remember or have time) when they start growing again. I can tell by the roots, they form green tips. I mix liquid fertilizer in a bucket and just dip the pot in and count to ten. Some time in June I put them outside on the veranda, and leave them to it until the temps are nearing 10C/50F, then I bring them back inside. We usually have rain so I rarely water them outside. Most of our Phalaenopsis have now formed buds, so I have to try and remember to water them once per week or so.

    The Paphiopedilum that I bought today needs more attention. They don't like to dry out so I have to put them where I can see them.
     
  9. Droopy

    Droopy Slug Slaughterer Plants Contributor

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    (Whispering: Mother bought one, and the two we left behind were beyond salvation I think.)
     
  10. EJ

    EJ Allotmenteer Extraordinaire

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    Those orchids are stunning. Going to a garden centre/nursery is like going to a candy shop, so many temptations put in our way. I think you behaved admirably, keeping your plantaholic reputation alive and well. :)
     
  11. kaseylib

    kaseylib Young Pine

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    Looks like you'll be busy for awhile. The orchids are indeed beautiful. I bought what was called a ground orchid locally...it had orchid-like flowers, only smaller, but the leaves were long and thin coming up from the dirt. I don't think it's an orchid at all, but it still made me happy and I HAD to buy it!
     
  12. Peppersage

    Peppersage In Flower

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    Oh you really must keep us posted on the orchids, i'm to chicken to try them.
     
  13. Netty

    Netty Chaotic Gardener Plants Contributor

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    Great finds Droopy!
    The first thing I think of when I see a pumpkin is PIE! And don't forget the whipped cream! :)
     
  14. Sjoerd

    Sjoerd Mighty Oak

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    What a haul! You guys did really good. I wonder what you are NOT showing us. I'll bet that you are just too embarassed to show us the other pile of seeds, bulbs and plants that you bought. :D
    Never mind, we can guess.

    You and your mum are going to have alot of things to take pics of come spring...but now, those orchids are absolutely gorgeous.

    It's enough to make a person jelous. :D
    Well done, Droopy!
     
  15. petunia

    petunia Young Pine

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    Though, I, myself am not into orchids-you have picked out some pretty ones.
    ("I need more hours and a bigger living room. Anybody?")
    between a few small dusty millers and my geraniums and all my coleus I think I have finally run out of space in my livingroom. I was just trying to think where the christmas tree would go this year.
    Thanks for showing us all your new plants.
     
  16. Droopy

    Droopy Slug Slaughterer Plants Contributor

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    Thanks all for liking the new orchids. :D The weather has been appalling for weeks now, and I've had no chance to do anything outside. My restraint is due to lack of space, not lack of wanting to buy new plants. :D

    Please post a photo! I'd love to see them. I saw a sign advertising ground orchids in that nursery. When I went to check them out, they were Trichyrtis, not orchids at all. I think about all the people who don't know. I would have felt very tricked myself!

    I didn't buy anything else this time, Sjoerd. :D There were lots of pretty house plants, but we have no space for more of those, and there weren't any really tempting bulbs either, except for those snow drops.
     

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