tolumniamatt, thanks!! arthurm, at least here in Southern California...when you go to a botanical garden...it's extremely rare to see orchids on trees. Most of the orchids can be seen growing in the display greenhouses. So I think it's largely a matter of people not knowing that so many orchids can be grown on trees here. If they were aware of this fact then I'm pretty sure there would be a big boost in orchid sales. That's a really great idea to tie some keikis to the trees at the golf course! The higher up you attach them the less likely it is that somebody will swipe them. But wouldn't you be surprised to see somebody standing on top of a golf cart trying to grab some orchids! Over in Miami, an orchid enthusiast attached some orchids on the trees in his local dog park...and I think they are still there. The most likely location near my house is a cemetery. I suppose I could attach some orchids on the trees there. But then I'd have to visit several times a week to water them during summer. It's not like they don't water enough...it's just that they don't water high enough. But maybe a few trees get hit pretty high up with sprinklers. Hmmm...actually...what if I set up a drip watering system with a big water bottle suspended from a branch?? I wonder what the slowest drip rate could be for a Laelia anceps during a typical summer day? I should experiment to find out. A cemetery is a perfect place for orchids though...in the sense that the prime real estate is all taken. That's why epiphytes are epiphytes in the first place! Yeah, you're right that you can't show your orchid at your society meeting if it's attached to a tree! Well...you can if it's a miniature orchid attached to a potted tree. In the future every bonsai will have at least one epiphyte attached to it. Epiphytes add plenty of interest and value to bonsais! Here's CB's photos sorted by popularity. Another awesome orchid photographer...orchid dude.

Hi Elmire, I've thought about this some too, and as I've looked through various pictures I've tried to define what I do and don't like. I tend to like flowers, period. What I like best probably depends on the distance I'm looking at the plant from. Up close, a frilly picotee edge is the greatest thing... but from a distance, a simple single flower probably has the greatest impact. I like big yellow centers and no visible centers, both. I like both singles and doubles, but overall I'd rather have more semi-doubles than anything else, and I like them even better if their petals have some waviness to them. A rose with a subtle color blend to a darker or lighter color on the edge appeals to me hugely... though if the entire yard were composed of those kinds of flowers, there would be too much competition between them. So just a few Mrs. Dudley Cross roses (or roses of those types), sitting perhaps right next to Duchesse De Brabant to help point out the sublime in Mrs. Dudley Cross. I have always liked roses, but less so the hybrid tea forms than their smell. The brief amount of time I had Belinda's Dream with the same form, though, I liked it plenty. It looks especially nice with roses of other forms in a vase. I liked the effects of the tiny Rose Rosette to add variety to a vase of flowers, too. Overall, if I had to name just one favorite flower form, I'd probably go with a rhododendron, especially those with a bit of a frilly and/or picotee edging to the individual flowers within the truss. I love rhododendrons, huge trusses and small ones both. Rhododendrons don't withstand drought well, however, so I wouldn't suggest getting started with them if you can't give them plenty of water during a drought. Oh, no, maybe I should have said the one favorite was a camellia, all kinds of camellias... And daffodils! The Ice Follies variety is pretty much a perfect flower. But peonies (of all kinds) can't be bested by any other flower! Oh, I forgot to say how wonderful the tiny-leaved karume azaleas look when they are covered in a blanket of tiny flowers. They make for spectacular arrangements in a vase too. I like flowers, period. In a mood to really look and appreciate, I can get excited with just a single bloom from a native woods violet. And at that moment, it seems that nothing could best the simple woods violet. I guess the real luxury is in having a good variety of flowering forms, and especially in having them at various times of the year, which roses and camellias are both good at. Though I do have one rhododendron that blooms a bit every fall. I can't think of any flowers I actually don't like, though irises are probably fairly low on the list. I have stronger opinions on garden design than on the flowers themselves. (I'm not into geometrical/formal gardens so much as very informal ones.) Mary

Well said, my patriotic friend! No matter the political climate we still live in the best country in the world. This is one weekend that is celebrated with much pride and reflection in my house every year. Celebrate safely! Rhonda

Tom crowley - hi. It is nice to see other local people. On most of the forums I visit on gardenweb, it's rare to find out li'ers. Terri - thanks for your enthusiasm. Your meet up plans sound good. I won't be able to do much this weekend coming up though. I'm so backed up with my yard work and my niece's birthday saturday and dinner at my father-in-law's Sunday. Of course if you all get together you must fill me in:-) I won't be going to the Hofstra show, but think it's a great idea to get together at a coffee house (Starbucks or something like that) to set up a couple of things for the next month or two. And then what we could do is make the schedule, email it to everyone and ask for responses on who can make what. I am free on April 15, Saturday. I'll email everyone separately and see if they want to meet on Saturday April 15. In the meantime, if you see this post and can make coffee on Saturday (afternoon ish?) please post here. Looking forward to meeting you all, Maureen