Ahh, its been crazy around here for the past couple of weeks!!  Christmas has come and gone, New Year's has come and gone, and here we are in 2013.  I wonder how long its gonna take before I can write that instead of 2012.

Its wintertime, and there's not too much blooming in the greenhouse right now, although I do have some spikes on most of my Phals, and a couple of my Onc. hybrids are doing a little something.  I have some Dendrobiums that have buds, but they are taking FOREVER to open!  I can't wait, though.  They are spectacular!

Here's what's going on right now:

This is a NOID that I picked up at the Ventura County OS meeting raffle.  It is one of my favorite, even if it doesn't have a tag.  I love me some red!

Epc. Siam Jade 'AVO'.  This one had 3 buds on it, and 2 of them blasted.  (Boo hoo).  Same thing happened last year, so there's something I"m not doing right with this one.  I hope I'll figure it out next time around.

Cattlianthe Donna Pasenen.  I've been battling mealy bugs and scale on this one for a few months now.  I don't want to use harsh chemicals, but the organic stuff and home remedies haven't been effective.  I'm going to give it one last go, then I'll have to break out the big guns.  In the meantime, I had three more buds on this one and they all opened perfectly.  I'll update the pic once the petals and sepals are completely unfurled.

That's it for now.  I am currently waiting for my Cochlioda vulcanica to fully open, and the Angraecum didieri bud is HUGE, so it should be open in a week or so.  I can see the spur unwrapping...so exciting!

The red NOID pictured above decided to shoot another spike up.  Its just peeking out of the leaf axil now, so it'll be weeks before it starts opening.

But for me, the most exciting thing happening is the Phal hieroglyphica that I got last year.  IT started a spike last January which stalled, then in late October that spike started up again, and there are like, 3 or 4 subspikes off of that one, then 2 more new spikes coming in!!  If they all bloom together, it's sure to be special.

I have to get back to work now, but I'll be back soon with some updates.  Until then, Happy Growing!