More Vanda Orchid Pictures

Here are some of my Re-Bloomers from the past few weeks.

Vanda Rasri x denisoniana

Vanda Pachara Delight

Mokara Khaw Phaik Suan x Kultana

{Ascocenda Aroonroj x Vanda coerulescens} x {Vanda Tessellata x Vanda Mimi Palmer}

Orchids Mounted on Palm Tree Slabs

I have been growing a variety of orchids on pieces of palm trees that I have collected. I have found that the orchids thrive on the palms. Some have attached themselves in as short as 30 days, and others 90+ days. As of right now the first mounted orchid is growing 2 spikes. This Encyclia tampensis was laying on the ground at my property. An old branch had fallen and I grabbed it before any of the hogs could get them. That was a few months ago. And it is growing like crazy. Already attached to he palm it has lots of new growth and the 2 spikes. And I also have a few others that have some new growths but no spikes yet. 1 is another Encyclia tampensis and the other is an unknown waiting for a flower to ID.

The Life of an Unusual Bottle Palm Tree

The Life of an Unusual Bottle Palm Tree

I have learned in my few years of growing stuff to snap a lot of pictures. I have been sorting through all of my 1000's of unorganized pics to put this together. This is the life of an unusual Hyophorbe lagenicaulis or Bottle Palm Tree beginning 12/17/07, that I did not realize was unusual until this past 2/12/09. So here the story begins. On 12/17/07 I was purchasing joey seeds from a guy in Thailand and still had space left from shipping quote so I also ordered some bottle seeds. On Feb 7, 2008 I received the seeds from Thailand, the 20 bottle seeds I ordered came with 43 seeds which I though was a score.

After a short 24hour soak I sowed the seeds on 2/8/08.

On 4/16/08 I plucked and planted 3 sprouts out of the 43seeds, and that is all I have still to date. These pics will show the special 1 growing up. He is the 1 on the left.

4/18/08

4/28/08

And here again on 5/9/08

This is him getting bigger. 6/19/08

And on 9/13/08 the 3 seedlings were up potted to 1gals. Even at this point I still did not notice anything. Are you seeing anything yet?

I can't find anything until 2/12/09, I know I have some more somewhere. I was carrying the palms and orchids back outside after a cold snap when I noticed the unusual bottle palm.

a little closer, wait......is that

this bottle has developed a double trunk

So after almost 2 months I decided I had to check out what was going on an this is what I found on 4/7/09

and the old leaf removed to see the trunks

This is my current pic from 5/3/09

Half Moon Cay Bahamas Stop

Tonight I am posting vacation pictures. Just getting back from a 5 day cruise to the Bahamas and Grand Turk. I have some habitat pictures of some palms growing at Half Moon Cay, Bahamas. Half Moon Cay is a 2800 acre island in the Bahamas. It is a private island owned by the cruise line. When we originally booked the cruise I thought that this was going to be a boring stop with the day devoted to the beach. But when we pulled up on the tender boats I knew what my day was going to be like. They have left the island almost untouched. They have only developed 50 acres or so for some pavilions and a few little store fronts. They had nature trails all over. So here are the pics from my ventures across the island.

Carnival Destiny

The marina the tenders pulled into. I first spotted the Pseudophoenix sargentii or Cherry palm growing on the rock ledges. These pics shows how harsh of a habitat the grow in.
The landscaping was done were nice with use of Cherry Palms every where.
Then I spotted 2 different Coccothrinax sp. 1 had a very fat trunk the biggest Cocco trunk I have seen, and the other pictured below was a typical thin trunk. I am not sure what either are.
These are a few Bismarkia nobilis seeds I collected in Nassau and planted in the area pictured above and below. So I planted 5 seeds. Maybe years down the road I will have another stop there and hopefully see that at least 1 of them make it.Baby Psuedophoenix sargentiiOn the right side there was a Blue Curly Tail Lizard. My camera did not catch it that good though.
Off in the brush I saw this monster growing. I had to make it back there for some pics.
On my way back I almost tripped over this orchid in spike.
Here was a bath up to some old ruins. There was another monster on the path.
This 1 had a big hole in it. I found out that this was somebodies lunch a long time ago. The heart of the palm is eaten by natives. They say it does not kill the palm. Here is the proof, but it sure makes the palm look ugly. This was the only 1 with a hole out of the 100's we saw.
View from the top of the trail looking out over the islandA few more Cherry Palms. Still none in seed. Heading back to the main area.
Some pics of the fat trunk Palm. If anyone knows fill me in. I found a couple seeds on these.

And right before we left there it was in all of its glory. The only 1 I saw in seed the whole day.
Those are my Half Moon Cay Bahamas Pictures, Thanks for Lookin'

Surplus Sale Items

Collecting and starting seeds I have managed to have a surplus of items and I always am answering emails about extra plants for sale. So I found the paypal store front widget and have set up some of the extra stuff I currently have. I will be changing it regularly. But the pictures suck on the storefront. So I created this post listing all of the items that will be available in the store. As I add and remove items this popst will be edited as well so that there will always be a large picture and description of the items for sale. U.S. shipping only on sprouts and plants. No shipping on any sprouts or plants to California, Texas, or Arizona. Seeds will ship anywhere.

95% of the time seeds will come cleaned of fruit unless otherwise stated. I have personally collected and sprouted all items. Fresh stuff! Any questions please Email first, before purchasing. All sales are final.

Thrinax radiata - Florida Thatch Palm sprout $2.50
1st leaf sprout. Shipped bare root wrapped in perlite.

Phoenix canariensis - Canary Island Date Palm $7.00
Pic is avg. size. Over a year old. Shipped bare root wrapped in spaghnum moss.

Adonidia merrillii - Christmas Palm Tree $7.00

Pic is avg. size. Over a year old. Shipped bare root wrapped in spaghnum moss.

13 Adonidia merrillii - Christmas Palm Seeds $2.50

13 Hyophorbe verschafftii - Spindle Palm Seeds $3.00

13 Sabal domingensis - Hispaniola Palm Seeds $2.00

13 Sabal causiarum - Puerto Rican Hat Palm Seeds $2.00

6 Pseudophoenix sargentii - Cherry Palm Seeds $2.50

6 Livistona decora - Ribbon Fan Palm Seeds $1.75

13 Livistona australis - Australian Cabbage Palm Seeds $3.50

13 Heterospathe elata - Sagise Palm Seeds $3.00

13 Coccothrinax fragrans - syn. Cocco. argentata - Fragrant Palm Seeds $2.50

13 Arenga caudata - Minature Sugar Palm Seeds $3.00