I grow numerous orchids, both epiphytic and terrestrial, as well as a large collection of sarracenias and a few nepenthes. The most successful orchid/cp combinations in my garden are bog gardens, and they are spectacular right now. I have Platanthera (aka. Habenaria) ciliaris in full bloom planted in combination with Sarracenias, VFT's, and Calopogon orchids. I'm still experimenting with Epipactus species, but they are not terribly vigorous here (lots of west coast plants tend to languish in our summer humidity.) Another successful bog companion, as noted in one of the posts above, is Spiranthes cernua. I'm also experimenting with Pogonia ophoglossoides (sp?), but it's taking a while to get established; it's pretty far south of its normal range here, so the heat may be a factor. I have tried cypripediums in bog environments before, but can't recommend that. I find that they need much better drainage to prevent fungal attack than do the CP's, and they're too expensive to risk. Bletillas are a possibility while in growth, but would need to be lifted and stored in a drier, cooler place during the winter - I've seen them sold as bog plants at a couple of local nurseries lately, but wouldn't count on their being perennial without decent winter drainage. As far as the epiphytic species go, I don't see why a combo of Nepenthes and Phals, for instance, wouldn't work, but I agree that it would just be easier to grow them separately. Weight becomes a consideration when you're dealing with plants which hang (I grow all of mine on mounts or suspended in pots or baskets), and you can always group them together for display purposes. Another issue is that epiphytic plants (which includes most of the orchids which are commonly available) need the excellent drainage afforded them by a container which will dry out to the core before being watered again; when you start combining plants in containers, you increase the volume of potting medium and likewise the time it takes for moisture in the center to evaporate. I like the idea of the bromeliad/nepenthes/orchid "tree"; I snagged the remains of a beautiful crepe myrtle from one of my neighbor's trash heap a couple of years ago with the notion of creating something like that, but so far it's just providing a climbing wall for squirrels behind my shed. The best laid plans...

"I do have a small plant of UCD Brn Trk,and one Small Bayernfeige From Gene.This is identical To Bayernfeige,in shape of leaf and fruit." Herman... 8/6/07 Are you saying that (you believe) UCD Brn Tky is V. Bayernfeige? When did you get the UCD BT? ....I've got a fig that I received from a friend of my wife. It was in her yard when she moved in (years ago) and it had produced (unprotected) for years (previous owners were the stereotypical little old Italian family who still, presumably after decades in this country, spoke with thick Italian accents). This year it has produced a single (still small and green) fig and I'm hoping to post a pic when (if) it ever ripens. I have a couple of shots here that I'll post, but I understand that id'ing figs is difficult ~Chills

Hi again everybody, sorry for the delay-- I thought I had email notifications set up, but apparently not. Anyway, there's no real reason for wanting to grow a plant in my car. I suppose I just would like to see a bit of green in the corner of my eye when I'm driving. Aside from that, I've got an interest in exotic plants, and I know I'd need something pretty exotic to survive in an environment like this. I suppose I could grow it on the console between the two front seats. The dash just seemed like the best place, far as plant-growing real estate is concerned inside an economy car from the early nineties. I guess it's just the appeal of something so unusual as seeing a plant living inside a car in Texas. What I'd really like is to find something flowering. As much as I tend to avoid growing flowers for flowers, I think it'd be really cool to have a single flower growing in, say, an old glass Mexican soda bottle in my car.

Here’s a status report, things didn’t go too well! I got the cactus mix and perlite and mixed about 3 to 1 (roughly). I put a few pebbles in the bottom of each pot. Problems began when I started to divide the root ball of the existing plant. The moment I picked up and started to gently pull it apart, the root ball pretty much disintegrated into dust, leaving many of the 2 or 3 foot long leaves with very small amount of stringy roots on the end. Plus, more of the long leaves were more damaged from the fall than I first thought. During the repotting process it would often “up-end” itself out of the pot and on to the ground due to the weight/leverage of the long leaves (I have to prop it up for now). Darn! But the good news there were two clumps of root ball that didn’t fall apart, that actually had several tender young shoots at the base (about 4 or 5 inches long each) and they don’t seem damaged in any way. That’s mostly all I could salvage to re-pot. Even though this project didn’t go that well, I actually enjoyed doing it and learned a few things. I’ve got 4 pieces in water to see if they will sprout roots, and I’ve got six pieces laid out overnight to “callous”, and I’ll stick them in soil tomorrow to see if they will root. Thanks to all for the support on this.