"...so-called tropical orchids..." If I can quote myself and make a correction in the vagueness, I was refering only to the Bulbo/allies group! This is, maybe, also valid for the 'Rainy season and orchids' topic. As several have stated, so much depends upon your personal micro-climate, needs and level of care. (There is a lot of overlap in where these things come from.) Also, for me, much of the amount of success was dependent upon the actual size of the mounted orchid. A larger one is able to absorb more without problems. My first attemps at mounting orchids failed, several years ago. I had deflasked some Bulb.echinolabium seedlings and mounted them too soon. I couldn't keep up and lost all of them. Personally, I under water most things. So, I have to take that into account. Even during the summer, I have 50F temperature swings. I could see my breath last night and today the temps are in the 90'sF in the shade. We're supposed to get over 100F over the next few days. (At least the tomatoes will do better!) ;~) My many different methods do better at different times of the year and with the amount of free time to fuss over them. I just watered my outside mounts for the third time today. Most have sphag, but many do not! As the temps will drop accordingly, I won't water late. The only way that I was able to keep my, non-Pluero, s/h with sphag healthy this winter, was to do a major increase in the light, warmth and air circulation. Cold wet roots/media and stagnant air would have caused the death of many. I let the sphag get crispy at that time, as well. Now, they're sucking up water faster than I can keep up. Even my Pluero types do better with higher than recomended light levels. I had a burnt out bulb, in my palludarium, that I delayed replacing and lost a valued new growth on my Pleuro. pectinata. ;~( I have several that I grow usings my version of Bill Thoms methods. Like I said at the start, it helps to learn from the best! ;~) I use a non-draining tub/container with s/h pellets and a loose layer of sphag on top. It stays damp w/o being wet and the Bulbos are allowed to seek out what they need. I think that making many orchids work a little, for their needs, makes them stronger. It's like infrequent deep watering vs. constant shallow watering. ;~) My water is beyond soft, so I don't worry about mineral issues much! I just have take into account my conditions and care level. Since I love the look of mounted orchids, I mounted many of my species Bulbos, last summer. The amount of care and level of, hopefully benign, winter neglect also went up. It's just too difficult with my curent sub-standard conditions. I just do/try what works for me! This is a really great topic to bring up! To paraphrase an old joke, "If everyone liked the same thing, I be beating guys off Grandma with a stick"! ;~) Scott

Thanks all. Most of the credits go to my husband who prep the flower bed for me last year. The bed was raised a foot and half and he filled it up with top soil with peat moss. I believe the top soil have some composted manure added. Last Fall he shredded dry leaves and covered the whole bed with with. We're both new at gardening. So everything is guess work for us. In Spring I gave them a little Scott's rose food. I'm thinking about trying milorganite but I'm doing some research on that right now. Do you have any suggestion for good rose food? I do get yellow leaves, usually at the bottom. I usually pull them off and spray the plant just a little once a month. Also, some of my roses are slowly growing and no bloom. I got some tea roses that were impacted by the harsh winter and just woke up. Also, 5 bareroots from David Austins that I acquired at the end of April. Anything I can do to speed them up? This post was edited by Joopster on Tue, Jun 17, 14 at 9:52

Karl, I agree with you about Serendipity - it truly is always in bloom throughout the growing season. (My Les Sjulin rests a little more between blooms, but it gets some shade, which explains that). Like you, I got my Bucks from Great Lakes Roses and haven't had a virus problem. Most of my Buck roses in my zone 5 garden are grown in the lower garden, where cold and frost settles and winds howl all winter. Other 'tough Bucks'' for me are Prairie Sunrise, Quietness, Malegaena, Paloma Blanca, Golden Unicorn, Carefree Beauty, Folksinger, Joseph Lamb, & Prairie Song. Some of them have to be severely pruned in the spring but they always come back nicely. I have had some Bucks struggle, but I'm never sure if it's the actual rose, or the rooted cutting of that rose that is weak, or perhaps where it was planted. Ownroots do take longer to get established, and are more vulnerable to problems when young.

Hi Ken, Thanks very much for the reply. I think it's obvious, but I'll stress for the record that this is very much a learning period for me. I have no real history with working with plants so much of what may seem obvious to some (re-potting while a plant is in flower) is very much a case of "didn't even know to ask" for me. It's very much trial and error. I'm just trying to be cautions enough so that the "errors" don't completely kill the plants! To answer your first question, yes, this plant was in flower when I bought it in Early Oct and stayed in flower more or less all that month. I found and attached a photo of the plant from Oct 6 which was shortly after I bought it. I have no idea whether or not it's normal in Z9. I just bought it because I liked the leaf/flower size and blossom color and am filling in blanks as I go. I noticed the same thing that you pointed out, that the lower branches which were shaded by the uppers were less damaged. That is part of what lead me to believe this was the result of too much sun. I'm glad to hear I might at least me figuring out how to tell a little bit about what is happening with these plants. So my next challenge is to monitor the water for this Azalea without going overboard. I've read that Azaleas do not like too much water, but also can't handle completely drying out. In your experience, is it better to water a potted Azalea and err on the side of doing it less frequently with more water, or water more frequently with less water at a time? I've also read that the Azalea wants to go dormant over winter so I should cut back on the water about now. Does that sound correct? At any rate, if this one comes back in the spring I'll be very happy. Trimming isn't an issue. My eventual hope is that I'll eventually be using this one for a bonsai so there will be plenty of pruning and shaping, but I want to get used to caring for it as-is first.