Encyclia Phoenicea

[ABro]

I had to bring this home from the greenhouse. I love the blooms, and they smell like chocolate in the morning. I grew this plant from seed, and now the spikes are about 3-4 feet! It only took 5 years...

[Diane]

That's really great! And from seed! WOW..

[Brutal_Dreamer]

Very cool! I have a ton of patience, but --from seed?? Wow. Most impressive!

Cheers!
BD

[Piper]

Striking blooms, Aaron!

The 5 years from seed to such huge spikes is amazing! That's pretty quick.

Nice job!

Julie

[ABro]

I have alot of plants that I have grown from seed. I don't know where I got the patience, but my grandmother taught me early on that there really is no instant grattification with orchids. Unless.... You go see your local grower!

[Piper]

Tell us more about your grandmother, what she grew, and the lessons she taught you!

Please!

Julie

[Hoa Tony Nguyen]

Very nice!
Cheers. Hoa.

[ABro]

Hmm... Where to begin! Well she grew alot of catteleya, vandas, and encyclia. She had quite a few plants that she brought back with her from her travels. While I was growing up we would do alot of traveling to the carribean, and south and central America to see orchids in the wild. She was brought into orchids by her mother, and to be quite honest I have a couple of cats that I know to be over 100 years old! I remember my first orchid was encyclia tempensis. It used to grow wild like a weed down in the keys. I can remember being able to see it on just about every gumbo limbo tree. She had one on the gumbo limbo tree in her yard that was about 5 feet wide, and spanned around the whole trunk! The lessons she taught me early on were about light, and watering. Always as her general rule if you ever do anything with any plants you should always do it in the morning. She taught me about all of the parts of the flower, and the differences between the types of orchids. She taught me how to divide, when to do it, and why to do it. She taught me how to repot, and how to use certain types of potting media for different plants and different environments. She showed me how to make crosses, even though she never did any seed work, or make crosses. She taught me how to know what the plants need by the different ways it would "talk" to you. She taught me patience! How you teach that to a kid I don't know! But she managed to help me learn patience. I mean in all reality she taught me the basis of everything I know. As I got older I read more books, and befriended alot of people who "worked" orchids for a living I expanded beyond that first basis of teachings. She was old school, and didn't really use anything relativly new i.e. sphagnum and such. But needless to say, she still had some of the biggest and best quality plants that I have ever seen to date. It makes me sad to think about this because she passed away in Feb. At least my fiance and I went down to the keys to spend the christmas holidays with her. I think it was that trip that made her comfortable in knowing that I was doing well, and have become a man. There were a few years there that she was worried about me! After I was in the military I spent 2 years in a drunken haze not really doing anything with myself. Then I met my fiance, and I dried myself out and cleared my head. Became a contractor, and opened a buisness. My grandmother was deffinently proud to see that I realized that all of the little things she taught me about orchids not only pertain to orchids, but to life as well.

[Piper]

That's a lovely story, Aaron - thank you for sharing it! It sounds like she truly was an orchid whisperer, and that was one of many wonderful legacies she passed down to you. If she just passed in Feb, you must still be feeling the loss. But she really is still with you, and to be seen in every wonderful plant you look in the eye! And you have many!

Here's to our grandmothers!

Julie

[Mehera]

That is a wonderful tribute to your grandmother Aaron. I hope that I can have such an influence on my grandchildren!

Yes, here's to our grandmothers! (and fathers)