Our trip to Phelps Orchid Farm today
 

We (Laura, Linda/catlady and myself) visited Phelps Farm Orchids for the first...and most definitely NOT the last..time this afternoon.

First let me say that Paul and Trisha are really cool to hang out with...we were there for about three hours!
The time really just flew by with us shopping, talking, learning and laughing.

We recently had a thread here on OB regarding beautiful Phals that were more money than I usually spend on a chid ($75.00). I told my hubby about it and he said he would actually prefer me to buy better plants at a higher price IF that would make me stop bringing home 19 at a time :whistling: I do not always buy that many :faint:

So, my new mission is to limit myself to (his words) two or three really nice plants...and was extremely happy to find some beauties at Phelps :love:

I came home with these three:

Bro sanguinea 'Star Splash' x sib (in bloom)
Dor pulcherrima var coerulea
and one from my wish-list which I love more every time I look at...Trigonidium egertonianum (in bloom)

Paul and Trisha gave us each a really beautiful little Bc Bill Worsley as we were leaving.

Another great day spent with friends...life is good :cloud9:

Great looking plants, and they are huge! The doritis is going to be quite a show if each 'growth' puts out a spike. My single growth doritis looks quite puny compared to yours. I had never heard of Trigonidium before, the blooms sure are strange looking. What does Bro stand for? Almost looks like a milt spectabilis.(I know I could look it up, but it's late and I'm tired!)

Trigonidium egertonianum looks like a little bug eyed 'alien thing' with his hands curled in front of his face as he exclaims, " Oh no mr bill ! "

Charlie

Wow, they all look great Sue. Good to hear you enjoyed yourself :biggrin:

Camille, Bro is for Broughtonia...which I have killed a number of over the past few years :dunno:

After speaking with Paul and Trish, and knowing that I'm starting out with a well-established healthy happy plant gave me the confidence to try it again.

If I kill that baby, no more Bros for a while here ;)


The egertonianum is just SO cute! The plant is gigantic and the blooms are about an inch or so. I really love it :)

and Rosie...the day I had was just what the doctor ordered. I've been having a bit of a hard time lately and it was the perfect medicine :nod:

:dance13:

LOVE THEM!! whats the one in the third pic? its big i am in love with the ' bloom or pool' method :rofl::rofl:

Sounds like you guys had fun! I love those plants (especially the trigonidium). Never seen or heard of it before. :)

I don't think my bank account could have handled a field trip, though. I'm restraining myself from getting anything else for a while.

(Ironically enough, RF sent me a flyer yesterday that said they were having a sale on select plants. Man, this is tough) :rofl:

Sue, they're all beautiful! I thought that Trigonidium looks like an alien too! Lovely!!

Amazing how much joy we can get from our orchids...

I needed to keep my mind occupied today so I decided to spend some time cleaning up the leaves of the alien...and I found THE perfect pot to transfer it into. The color matches the rust shades in the blooms...perfect :)

:nod:I agree, very nice pot! And nice location by the pool on that stand. Is that its permanent spot, or was that only for the pics?

That was just for the pics...too much sun there for it :)

Wonderful Pictures of beautiful plants, but I'm loving the 5th picture of the first set especially... I wonder why! :lol:

Hehehe...my Sammi Doodles :love:

:frogfly:

A home full of animals and plants! Just Wonderful :biggrin: Warms the heart.

You should have a portrait done of your dogs, with all your orchids as the back drop... just a thought (though it could be considered a dangerous one).

And is that another new smilie?... Or just one I've missed?

We did have an old friend (unfortunately we're no longer in contact :( ) do a portrait of Samantha :)
She worked off of a photo and it came out great. I'll post a pic of it later :)

...and the :frogfly: is semi-new ;)

Gorgeous!!

I'm sorry you've been having a difficult patch lately, but I know just how much "orchid therapy" works. :)


One question--what did you use to clean the leaves? They look PERFECT. :)

I always love to see your pics. :)

Thanks :blowkisses:

I use mayo to clean my chids' leaves...and I must print this in big block letters as a precaution to anybody reading this...if you use decide to try using mayo as a leaf cleaner, YOU MUST USE A TINY TINY BIT and MAKE SURE YOU REMOVE IT ALL...There should be no oily feel at all to the leaf when you are done.

A member of my old orchid club didn't follow my very explicit rule and literally cooked his beautiful Catt leaves. He brought the plant in the a meeting and I could actually see the oil residue from a few feet away...that is the DON'T! :pray:

When I do it, I put a little mayo on a paper plate, and with a paper towel wrapped around my index finger, I pick up a little bit, less than the size of a pencil eraser, rub along the leaves to remove spots and residue, and then using a clean part of the paper towel, I remove all traces of it. What's left is a lovely plant...but please BE CAREFUL

:wow That was a mouthful but I really don't want anybody to harm any of their chids if they try this method.

How cool! (The Portrait not the loosing contact :( )
I was imagining a scene where a photographer was trying to keep the dog still... that was the danger part when close to plants ;) Now I'm looking forward to seeing the Pic though! :biggrin: Simple soul me, pics of plants and/or animals and I'm happy.

Regards the cleaning of the leaves, made me laugh. My mum does similar, only she uses diluted milk.

Everyone! :banana: Stay Well, Stay Happy! :)

:frogfly: I love this!

This is the picture my friend used to work on the painting...

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...033_Small_.jpg

and this is the finished product...

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...3_800x600_.jpg

The photos on the shelf are two of my favorite shots taken by Laura...she really has a knack for capturing great photos of my babies :clap:

:clap: Thanks for sharing Sue! That's made my morning. Loving the Photo's and Picture! :biggrin:
And well done to Laura too, getting good animal shots is not always the easiest thing to do.