Shirley, I make all my own baskets. I line them with coco coir, and fill them up with lava rock and a little river rock. I hardly use bark on any of my orchids, too many to be repotting every couple of years. I usually water them every 8 to 10 days...less in winter...~Charm

Arnold Schwarzenegger's anabolic steroids! No actually I repotted the mother plant earlier this year and this piece got accidentally dislodged. It really has 4 bpulbs and probably had already set the inflorescence. This is the routine appearance of this plant's flowers. Notice that it has brand new roots at the base of the closest bulb. Should make a new growth and bloom next year. Nick

Congrats! One of my favorites! At a show I attended a couple years back, Oakhill came with about 2 dozen in bloom. People were snatching them up before Greg could even get them unloaded. LOL I'd love to own one but they require too much vertical space for what I have available. : (

Glad you're having finger sandwiches, cheese and fruit. My girlfriend has a party each Christmas which features nothing but sweets. I like a little sweet stuff now and then, but this is replete w/ chocolate fountain, chocolate martinis, cosmopolitans and trays of marvelous pastries. Nothing savory at all! It gives me a headache to think of it even now. My strategy the last couple of years is to eat before I go, and nibble on something seriously divine and maybe grab a strawberry or two from the chocolate fountain set-up. If there was just a little tray of sandwiches, I'd be happy.