South Florida experienced yet another crazy weather day on Sunday. Rain, thunder, tornado watches and warnings. Madness. I sat with Fiona the greyhound to gauge her reaction to all the weather warnings. She slept through it. A good sign and nothing happened except more water and leaves and debris down and probably more weeds will emerge shortly.
After all this weather, I decided to cut the orchid in the Gumbo Limbo tree so I could see it before it was smashed to bits. The stems on this orchid are about four feet long, as it is installed in the crotch of the tree it is a bit difficult to see anyway. Probably 10 feet above the ground. I dashed out into the rain and clipped the orchid. So satisfying.
This is a Schomburgkia orchid. Native to the mangrove groves on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico on the Yucatan peninsula. How it found its way here is a mystery to me. Based on its coloring, orchid, red and yellow, I decided to put it in my big red vase. My husband refers to this as the ‘I Dream of Jeannie’ vase. Hopefully, you remember the 1960s TV show about Jeannie or the Genie?
I thought some layers of tropical foliage and a bit of red would accent the vase and the orchids nicely. The red flowers are Firecracker plant (Russelia equisetiformis); the big leaf in back is a Split Leaf Philodendron (Philodendron selloum); the left green leaf is from a Lady Palm (Rhaphis excelsa); grey striped foliage is Inch Plant (Transcandentia zebrina)
Fiona on a sunnier day. Looking for sky raisins (my husband’s words again). She eats bees sometimes.
That is all from my garden this week. Hoping for sun and blue skies. To see more vases follow the link to Cathy’s blog http://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com
Happy Gardening!
The Shrub Queen 
Bravo for rescuing your orchid for your own enjoyment. It will likely last much better inside than being thrashed about by the weather. Hope your weather improves. It seems the whole east coast is getting loads of rain!
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Well, the orchid wilted this morning! I am leaving it to see if the buds open. Much better weather today and the week looks good.
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Maybe splay the stem end for better water uptake??
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I recut and splayed the stem, it is perking up.
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👍🏼
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Thanks I would never have thought about that..
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Old florist’s trick… 😉 all woody stems require it.
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Aha! Other orchids I have cut had green stems..these are more woody and resemble bamboo.. purple bamboo.
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The xylem in woody plants clogs with bacteria more readily than in herbaceous ones, so may require freshening more often than the latter. That’s why they recommend cleaning the vase and recutting every other day for a longer vase life. 🌿🌷
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What a dream to grow orchids. I tried ground orchids once, but they didn’t last. All the weather missed us. Not our turn.
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The weather blew the cattleyas out of the palms, so I hope they will make it- put them back in. I had those ground orchids for a couple of years, I guess they are short lived perennials? or prefer the Far East?
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What a sweetie Fiona is….and OMG that orchid is incredible….a truly perfect tropical vase to swoon over. Brings me a bit of warmth I need right now.
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Thank you, she is a good dog. Glad it warmed you up.
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Oh my! SKY RAISINS! That describes them perfectly! They must be good. Most dogs seem to enjoy them.
Philodendron selloum is the primary Philodendron that can live in landscapes outside here. It is uncommon, but rad. Other species succumb to chill.
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I know, it seems weird dogs like to eat them as they get stung sometimes. It took a long time for the Philodendron to establish, the old, gnarly ones are cool, but these are not there yet!
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The old gnarly ones eventually let the bases of their trunks die, and then become floppy as they hang up by their roots. I miss their grand foliar and root weirdness! Several ‘Xanadu’ (which somehow became a separate species rather than a cultivar) inhabit Brent’s front garden. I still prefer the classic Philodendron selloum.
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Yes, Xanadu just looks like something bad happened. ugh.
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Oh?! I thought that I just did not like them as much as the bigger and bolder sort. Others dig it.
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I see them in mass plantings here. Just don’t like them.
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I can’t imagine an orchid having a 10 feet long stem – would you be able to show us a picture of it in situ sometime? Today was one of the rare occasions I knew roughly what almost everything was ie orchid, philodendron, tradescantia, Firecracker – not the Lady Palm and the Firecracker only because you use it a lot
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The stem on the orchid was about four feet long. It is installed in a tree about six feet above the ground. It is difficult to photograph as the flower stalk ends up in the canopy of the tree. Strange. Lady Palms are a fairly common houseplant, sometimes called Rhaphis or Bamboo Palms, they may be a source of raffia.
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Another fabulous composition, Amelia! The orchid is gorgeous and, like Cathy, I can’t even imagine having something like that growing in my garden. I haven’t even had much luck with Cymbidiums in recent years. I’m glad that Fiona took the rough weather in stride.
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Thanks, Kris. the orchids are a strange thing. Seemingly, letting them take root onto a tree is the best way to grow them here. I killed every one I ever had as a houseplant.
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Glad that you rescued that beautiful orchid stem Amelia. I like your husband’s name for the vase 😂 I don’t remember the tv show but I remember the song. The weather in Florida was mentioned on the BBC website – I hope that it has calmed down now.
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Thank you, Anna. The orchid, sadly, has wilted. The weather has calmed down considerably and is quite nice currently.
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That is a gorgeous vase! And have you tried rubbing it for the genie to appear? 😉 The orchid is also marvellous. A wonder that such delicate looking flowers can survive heat, hurricanes and all. I am glad you cut it, as it has possibly changed my opinion of orchids. Normally I don’t like them as I find they look a bit ‘plastic’. But then I have only ever seen the sort sold in our shops. (Which perhaps ARE plastic! LOL!)
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Thank you, Cathy. No genies yet and the vase has been rubbed a lot. I guess the orchids in stores are like bad mangoes they ship well. This orchid, to me, is an odd thing and the flowers are fantastic so I am glad I got it out of the tree.
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A most striking orchid and I love the way you’ve paired it with the beautiful foliage. So nice to see Fiona too – thanks for showing her 😊. Hope your weather has settled and you don’t have too much weeding to do. It’s been raining quite a bit here too and the garden has turned into a jungle. I must go around trimming bits so we can still look out the windows!
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Thanks Annette. The weather has settled but I am having some jungle here with all the rain. The weeds are very happy as well.
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