Cattleya and Phalanopsis season - November blooms 🌺

Tuesday, 14th of November 2023 [99]

Back in a day I used to post a regular updates of what’s blooming inside my indoor garden, but somehow that habit, like many others slowly disappeared into the abyss.

What better time than NOW to bring it back?

Now is the time many of my orchids are in bloom or growing spikes. Now is also a time when work suddenly became less busy, so I don’t need to do much overtime and have some time to write instead!

Let’s start with Cattleya orchids, cause these are slowly becoming my favourite orchids. Why? Because they’re just so easy to grow, especially the full size varieties. I can’t say the same about medium and mini size ones - these haven’t bloomed for me for good few years for some reason.

Oh wait… the reason might be that I don’t give them enough care and attention! Full size orchids really have a bigger chance of surviving and some even thriving in my house. Mainly due to the size of the pots they’re in - they can take more neglect than those in smaller pots, as one watering goes a long way for those.

This particular orchid’s name is Cattleya Bicolor. One of very few orchids that I still own and have their ID label in tact. Also a sign that I purchased it from a specialistic orchid grower that actually identified it properly. Looking at the label, it’s most likely from Burnham Nurseries, the bigger orchid grower in UK.

I tried to take more interesting pictures of this cutie, using portait feature in my phone, but as you can see I failed 😂 I’m really not much of a photographer, am I?

But hey - at least from my failed attempts you can tell that I have more than 1 plant, apart from orchids, I also grow my own kefir and even what perfumes I use 😉

My Cattleya Bicolor really need repotting next season, but I am also not looking forward to it. Look at those strong roots that attached themselves to the outside pot! There will be lots of screeming when I try to detach those roots and I really don’t like to cause pain to my plants 🙈

One possible perk to repotting might be that she’ll grow more than one cane in a growing season and consequently give me more than 1 bloom a year. Not that I’m moaning - I do get excited whenever I see the spike breaking through the newly matured sheet.

Speaking of more blooms - my No ID yellow Cattleya out and beyond this year. Not only is she utterly stunning with her bright yellow petals and dark red lip - that on its own is a gift that keep giving, because I simply adore yellow orchids.

On top of that she grew at least 5 spikes with up to 6 blooms on each one 🤩

I’m sharing only a few pictures of her, cause I want to dedicate one full post to this gorgeousness once I capture it in max blooming time.

Not let’s check out some Phalaenopsis orchids. In theory this should be their blooming time. The dropping temperatures in Autumn should give them a signal to grow a new spike, provided they have enough stored energy to do so. Many of my Phals however are still confused and they already bloomed their socks off earlier this year. Each to their own, hey 🤷🏻‍♀️

The one below surprisingly gifted me with 2 blooms. I say surpsingly, because it’s in dare need pf repotting. Most of its roots are rotten in the 5-6 years old bark and at some point the leaves were so dehydrated I thought I will loose it. Luckily she grew a few aerial roots, which I carefully tucked inside the outside pot and let them soak in a little bit of water at the base.

Next year I promise I’ll repot you! I wanna see those amazing spikes with 12+ blooms that I know you are able to produce 🤩

Next up is my other Phal that really needs repotting badly. This one however has tons of aerial roots that I spray somewhat regularly. I think it flowers for the 3rd time this year. Who cares about changing seasons, when you can bloom all year round?

Next up is Phalaenopsis Liodoro. This guys has been blooming continously for around 6 months now. It’s one of those amazing Phals that has an amazing scent plus it grows spikes that can bloom over and over again.

I’ll need to dig up some more pictures when all 3 spikes were in bloom - it was quite a show, plus my bedroom smelled divine! Sadly I broke one of those spikes when I tried to stake them 🙈

Apart from orchids I also grow succulents and a few other house plants. Succulents with their fat leaves and gorgeous shapes have beauty of their own. I don’t ever expect them to bloom when I buy them, but somehow they always do!

Like this little guy… I almost missed it, as it spiked in between the pots and the window. Not the most gorgeous bloom in the Universe, but it always makes me smile when most unexpected plants in my house start to bloom. It’s actually a reason why I was encouraged to grow more house plants 😁

Apart from blooms I also have a few spikes still in progress. Next month (hopefully) I will be delighting you with the pictures of this deep red Dendrobium Phalaenopsis.

I didn’t even notice that it managed to mature not one, but 2 canes in this growing season. More blooms for me 😍

That’s also pretty much the only Dendrobium orchid that blooms for me on a regular basis, every single year since I purchased it in 2018 in Netherlands. All my other Dens mainly grow canes and keikis (baby orchids).

My Oncidium Twinkle is also one of those reliable bloomers. At least this, dark red (or cinammon like @ewkaw calls it) variety. The cream coloured one seems to be not doing too well at the moment, so I’ll be very surprised if it decides to bloom this year.

One more future bloom to report is my Christmas cactus. Good job it decided to bloom before Christmas, because I’ll be away in Poland for 3 weeks in December and I wouldn’t want to miss those spectacular blooms!

I have 2 colours of those. The first one is very light pink. I took this one as a small cutting from my nan’s house a few years back. It has been blooming a few times since then.

Encouraged by the success of the first one, I purchased a red variety from Lidl some time last winter. While my little cutting from nan has grew in size a lot, this one actually lost 2 out of 3 plantlets that were in one pot.

Never mind. The last one seems to be doing really well and I moved both of them away from my windowsill into hanging pots where they can showcase their blooms to their hearts desire without getting in the way or risking to be broken.

Last, but not least is the object of envy!

Just kidding 😂

It’s the cactai that is currently in bloom at my friend’s Nunzia house. Seems like a reliable bloomer too, because she delights me with a picture of its blooms for the second year in a row 😍

Yeah, I want it too! But no, I can’t have it. I have no room for more plants! I’ll just admire Nunzia’s pictures whenever it blooms for her 🤩