| January 8. 2007 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Cattleya trianaei - only one flower this year, but the plant is slowly adding more growths, so patience is in order. |
| Brassavola Little Stars, flowering on schedule. I brought it into the living room, the scent is beautiful in the evening. |
| And here are some newcomers. I had bought in Summer a very cute Neofinetia falcata 'Tamakongo' from Jason Fischer at the Parkside Orchid Fest. In the meanwhile, I read and learned more about these special Neofinetia falcatas, and I now simply had to get some more. I called New World Orchids, since their selection looked great and everybody seemed happy with them. With expert help from Alex at the nursery I was able to choose three good plants. They arrived the next day, perfectly packaged and shipped. These Neofinetia falcata are from left to right: Benisuzume, Amami ( a smaller form, some Amami can get large) and Shutenno. After looking for months also at the beautifully decorated Neofinetia pots. I really had to get one of those too. They come in a variety of patterns and I chose a very pretty dragon pot. New World Orchids also sells a beautiful hardcover book, showing page after page of these fancy Neofinetia falcatas with their Japanese AND English names. A section lists the plants, another depicts the flowering plants and there are also some pages on Neofinetia pots. It is simply beautiful and informative. And - they are many sites on the internet to read up on Neofinetia falcatas. (The Amami is a Fuuran, the other fancy varieties are called Fuukirans.) The All Japan Fuukiran Society comes out every year with a fancy poster called a Fuukiran Meikan, which lists these plants in a type of ranking similar to the Japanese Sumo-wrestler banzuke. Here is my first Neofinetia falcata bought a few years ago, it has not flowered yet, but it is adding growths every Summer. I may need to keep these Orchids a bit cooler in the Winter for them to flower. See the picture below. Even when not in flower, aren't these plants gems in their own right? |
| Pleurothallis grobyi - these pictures were taken at the end of December. It needs lots of rainwater and good filtered light. Cute little sprays of tiny flowers make this an attractive little species. The spike will produce flowers for months to come. Take a closer look at the flowers below - |
 |
 |
 |