A few flower pics so that readers will know what sort of Dendrobium we are talking about. The bad news is that in Sydney, Australia only the deluded try to grow them and the Climate here is somewhat similar to San Diego. Main blooming season is Autumn/Early winter though the Dendrobium Garnet Jewel has flowered at other times of the year. I think you need a glasshouse warmed to a minimum of 55F for optimum results because you are liable to get bud drop if the plants are cold and wet at night. One of our Novice grower�s seems to have success with them on a home unit Balcony facing east but she grows the "Garnet Jewel" type which has an infusion of other Dendrobium Types. I have not tried to grow them indoors on window sills because we have furry friends. So, First two orchids photographed at last orchid society meeting and i suspect that they were grown in in glass-houses. I own the Den Garnet Jewel and growing details are .... 6 x 8 glasshouse. 50% shadecloth, Heated to lift day temp in winter and not worried about night temp dip. Cannot afford the heating bill to maintain 55F. Constant air movement from Fan under bench running 24/7 all year. Dendrobium Alice's Rainbow Dendrobium Pioneer River Dendrobium Garnet Jewel

sammy, thanks about my roses. There was someone here who cut bottles in half then duct taped them, seemed to have a good success rate, but I don't think she filled the bottom with soil, just put the cups in there. I don't want to mess with pulling off duct tape; it's stuck on there pretty tightly; you'd have to exercise extreme care pulling it off. I use a bleach solution in a bucket and/or directly on all containers and run everything through it first (not the cutting or rooting medium!), then rinse very well, just guess at proportions. The rooting medium I sterilize with boiling water the night before, let it sit overnight; if get too much, squeeze it out the next day before I stick cuttings into it as they don't do well if you get it too wet. It's easier for me to cut my bottles like Jeri does. Even though I'm rooting under lights, I still need them for when I transplant, the first week, cap on and off, tricky, have lost some in that process. After about a week you can take the bottle off and let your transplanted cutting acclimate, very gradually introducing it to the sun, watching for signs of stress and curling leaves. Sometimes they falter but pick up, but in spite of everything, I still have a few losses at that stage. I top water at that point. When I transplant the cutting, I try to keep as much medium around the roots as possible, cup it in the palm of my hand after gently emptying it out of the cup, scoop a fairly decent-sized depression into a pot of prepared soil, then plant it, very gently pushing the soil around it to get contact with the delicate roots. If you've already struck your cuttings, I can't really advise you but think you could transfer them to plastic cups if it hasn't been too long. Be sure you have at least 2 drainage holes at least 3/8 to 1/4 inch in the bottom of the cup. The nice thing about the clear plastic cups is you can see the white roots forming in at least one side. When they start going thru the drainage holes, they are ready to transplant. It's just nicer to watch their progress that way and not have to tug on them although I confess if they are slow and it's been awhile, I tug very gently to see if I get any resistance. Somebody might tell me that I am wrong about any of this, but do not water your cuttings directly. Mist if you think you need to and bottom water only if they look like they are drying out and watch for condensation again. Do not let them sit in water once they are dampened again. I had some redbud seedlings in cut off pepsi bottles with several drainage holes. I wouldn't do it that way again but some might. I lost them all over the winter, should have buried the bottles but might have lost them anyway. The soil was good quality, but it seemed to me maybe it was a little too confined and upset some balance, suppose it depends on what you're trying to grow in them. No, it's not fun but nerve wracking until you start to get some successes. Then that motivates you to keep going with it, and it gets a little fun. It takes mine a long time from rooting to see the first blooms mostly because of being once bloomers, my zone, and overwintering. Some people have repeat bloomers kicking in fairly fast after transplanting. If I can get them in the ground the same year I root them and they make it thru the winter, they will bloom the following spring. Once bloomers don't bloom full size at first for me. There're so many different ways people do it and get success. It takes awhile to find out what works best for you. Good luck!

In a similar vein, I went on a rant to my SO the other day about "low maintenance" or "no maintenance" yards and plants, to the extent that I swerved into no-maintenance houses, carefree jobs and "easy" children. There comes a point, with all this no-care philosophy, when one must ask oneself: what do I care about and into what am I willing to put my time, energy and love? If one buys a house touted for its low-maintenance, a yard for it's plant-it-and-forget-it ability, wishes for mild, temperate children, looks for stress-less jobs, and well-adjusted friends--what has one actually chosen? The absence of care, time and love. There is no struggle, no righteous fight against nature’s elements or discordant events. Ones daily interactions are meaningless because all the struggle and all the desire to support, love and aid those interactions has been lobotomized, split away from reality, cleaved apart with aloof precision. This is not to say everyone should wish for a garden requiring of sweeping measures of care, or that it is some terrible thing to wish for mild-mannered--or at the very least, not ragingly monstrous--children. Rather, there should be some line one must establish, some point breached that makes us think, “yes, I should care about this; I should put care into this”. So much indifference and impassivity disassociates us from reality--messy, frustrating, trying, tiring reality, but also rewarding, giving, bountiful, harmonious, joyous reality. I, for one, choose to place my love and energy into my garden, my plants, and my roses. I deadhead roses because I know I’ll have a lovely second showing sooner rather than later. I thoughtfully prune to give my roses the opportunity to show their best features. I fill planters with colorful annuals, propping them out front so passer-byers might catch a glimpse into my reality, the things I choose to care for and put my love into. I plant roses that require some degree of love and attention, because the fragrance of a single rose fills me with harmony and peace. Frivolous? Perhaps. Meaningless? I think not. Who is to say what might bring another meaning? So, yes, I understand the thought that sometimes that which requires no attention elicits little wonder. Similarly to children vying for their parent’s attention, I was under the mistaken idea that striving for perfection would win my parents’ approval or attention. Rather it was the rebellious, drug and sex fueled antics of my siblings that so ensnared their attention. For good or ill, sometimes a little fuss and muss is necessary to truly appreciate something. What is appreciation without perspective?

You are welcome Tiger Fox. The Dutch growers and flowermarkets have used the forcing process for amaryllis to controll the market so tightly for fall and winter holidays seasons by incorporating it into the world distribution chain. This has been great for introducing some of the most beautiful hybrid flowers on Earth, but has almost reduced this fairly easy perrenial plant to an expensive annual. I would like more people in more regions to enjoy more scapes per bloomset; more flowers per scape; more bloomsets per season; very long seasons [4 to 6 months]. You will find many well known experts saying these techniques can't be done. They are correct. They can't do them. You can. Try it and enjoy. If it does not work for you, email me. I have failed in my instructions and need to improve my communications. Two of my most troubling failures have been with people who speak another language. In each case it was an assumption I made that they would know a specific step. I am about to try to help one of them with my techniques and some other difficulties they have. It is a wonderful personal challenge. Soon I expect to publish a guide to growing and blooming techniques only. No history or other background. Bill Warren