i recently got a 6" planiflora cutting and i keep it indoors here in kansas city missouri. i got it dec 5 and its grown anout an inch and has set off 2 new roots. i dont know if this is impressive or not but it seems to be doing better and better each day so im happy with it. id LOVE to get some more (of any variation) but cant find it anywhere near here (i got mine when i was out of town). i just mist it down with a very diluted fertilizer meant specifically for orchids when it gets dry on the top. i keep it in the center of my room. (the window gets too cold right now being a MO winter and all) the temperature of my house is actually 68F but with the blinds open it sometimes gets around 72F-78F in my room. and thats about all. i actually stare at it often wishing i could do more for it. but as every orchid fan knows... theres only so much you can do. =( ----------------------------------------------------------- ps. i feel like a mooch for asking this... but as i said. im looking for more vanilla and i cant find any. is there anyone who is planning on trimming their orchids and who might be able to send some cuttings?(of any variation) ... for... free...?(heh heh... im almost kind of embarrased to ask but... hey! why not try right?)lol. also, some care tips for that variation would be much appriciated... im sure i only got VERY lucky with caring for the one iv got.

Find your local orchid society (even if it's a few miles' drive); contact an officer and ask if you can bring a bunch of cool-growers for sale at the next meeting. If you are there to give cultural tips and barter, so much the better. And you know orchid society members are weak and easily lured by plants... If you have to bolt before the meeting, leave them with a friend and have the $$ sent to you. Speaking from z9a, the cool growers (and lots of the intermediate) will take sooooo long to finally die (which they will), it will break your heart if you bring them along. Regards - Nancy

I think it's both, Sally, but I know a lot more guys now who shoot things just to put the heads on the wall than I ever did. I worked for the Prosecutor for over three decades and it just got worse and worse, the crimes got more and more serious and people became more violent. My family has always hunted and fished to eat, now people spend thousands of dollars to shoot an animal that's penned up inside a fence so they can have it stuffed and add it to a "collection". Those wild boar/antelope/whatever ranches are absurd, I might as well walk out into the barnyard and shoot Bossy Cow. And the meat should at least be donated to a food bank of shelter, sheesh. I have no understanding or respect for "trophy" hunters. Ugh. If you're going to shoot it, eat it! Annie

Hello, Frances. I am going to offer another suggestion that someone in MO tried and that it may work in NJ. I have little details so consider it an experiment. Use it if you continue having issues this year and the above suggestions do not help. So, to get around the tendency of VS to go from white to brown in the heat of the summer, prune the shrub late in the season (june maybe?). This will delay blooming and, hopefully, it will make VS bloom later than normal (like in the Fall, when hopefully when temps are lower). If you prune next year and it has problems this year and next year, try pruning even later, 1-2 weeks, until you find a date that seems to work most of the time. I am not sure how well this can work in locations like mine where the length of the hot season is extreme (May/June thru Sept) and where VS leafs out much earlier than in places up north. Pruning it here may make VS bloom smack in the middle of the hot July time frame; or just as temps kick into the daily 100s . I may have to prune it twice to delay bloomage and that sounds like a pain. So, I am also trying something else. The Quickfire and Little QF shrubs are some of the earliest paniculata bloomers so, after they leaf out early, they should bloom white early and then -I hope) they will turn pink before the worst of the summer arrives for me and makes the blooms turn brown. VS usually just goes from white to green-pink (or white to brown) so sometimes there is no pink-only or magenta phase.