My Orchid Garden -- The Pretty Spot

[marie458]

I grow outdoors year-round with no greenhouse or shade cloths. My yard is covered with tall pine trees and lush areca palms that provide an amazing natural balance between sunlight and dappled shade when and where I need it. My orchid growspace also contains a cabbage palm with fronds shaped like huge Japanese fans and a Dahoon holly tree. So, I’ve learned how to prune them both to further adjust light levels in key areas and avoid sun damage. I enjoy learning new ways of letting Mother Nature help me give my plants an optimum growing environment, too.

A majority of my plants are potted in hanging baskets or plastic pots with lots of aeration holes. My handyman husband, Eric, helps build my wooden slatted baskets. He also made several wooden planks that are attached to certain trees and a totem pole to provide extra hanging space. I group most of the orchids together by genus with cattleya alliance/species specimens in the majority. My small collection of vandas hang together bareroot.

Last month Eric created the awesome, freestanding mounting wall you see in one picture. I haven't always been keen on mounting my orchids, esp. the cattleyas. However, my new mounting wall has given me the motivation to up my mounting game -- starting with some dendrobiums and a few oncidiums.

Finally, this month I'm working on some flowerpot fairy gardens to add to The Pretty Spot before summer ends. My dream has always been to create a special place where I can indulge my orchid passion and retreat to daily for peace, quiet and solace. Hope you enjoy this peek at my orchid garden setup.