This is a fun thread! Thanks for sharing all of these beautiful & unusual flowers! I will add some, just for fun. These have all been shared from people on this forum, I believe.

An Episcia...noid

Noid Hoya

Both are lovely Sueok! Is the hoya a curly leaf? Can't really see the leaves. I love Episcia Noid or Named! Rosie

No, the leaves aren't curly on this one. It's a baby plant, about 1 year old, so I was surprised to see it bloom.

I'm thinking you may be the one who sent me a Queen Victoria sue. If so, thanks again. It bloomed and grew like crazy until I cut it back. Now Rosie has rhizomes to try too.

That's great, aviolet! It's fun to share! Yours looks beautiful! Love the orchids & gloxinia! I knew a lady who started gloxinia from seed. Teeny tiny seed! Yours is gorgeous!

Oh! From the pix the photo looks like a miniature. I looked up miniature hoya and ohhh there are so many I would love to grow! I love hoya. Especially the minis!(sigh,,,,and a lot of other plants!)

aviolet6 so far my Kohleria Queen Victoria tubers seem ok. Well, they are still in their little pot and I am impatiently waiting for them to sprout! lol That is a beautiful pix of your plant. I hope mine does as well. Thanks again for the trade!!!

I remember back in the 60's I had a glox (actually several of them) and I tried to get them to set seed. They did and then I grew them!!!! I haven't had a glox in years. Maybe 50 years or more! I would take a leaf, lay it on a small hill of damp soil, put a little slit in a couple of the veins and in time little tiny tubers would form! Oh the thrill of it! I still remember that!!!!

I had so much fun playing with plants back then. I would haunt my library for information (no computers back then) and the only copy machines were pencil and paper! And I wrote down all the info I thought I needed. That is how I learned!!! Loved it. Learned a lot! (tripping down Memory Lane again!) Rosie

PS. The pix of the orchid I posted is still blooming! Imagine that!

Someone else did the hard work growMing the gloxIndia. I received it in a recent trade with buds. Lucky me! But now that I know it will bloom here I might have to try some from seed eventually.

You can propagate from a leaf also! Rosie

Well, I'd still have to somehow acquire leaves from plants with different colored blooms. Don't need 5 or 10 just like this one!

Oh I agree! BUT,,,,,you could at least practice so you can have some trading power! lol If I am not mistaken there is a category for Gloxinia. Well,,,,maybe not, I looked and didn't see any. Maybe under houseplants??? Rosie

Thanks, I will probably take a few leaves before it goes dormant as I'm not real confident it will come back for me. I've not had good experiences with other dormant plants.

Treat the glox like a strep! I am sure if you google gloxinia propagation you will find lots of info! Good luck and let us know what happens! Thanks! Rosie

Ceropegia linearis var debilis

Alocasia Poly

A few more

Ahhhh Paul thanks for posting new life in a tired thread! I think everyone is outside still! Wonderful pix! Rosie

Ok, I am going to post a really off topic pix here! This tree was dead for years, and someone with a sense of humor saw opportunity and took it! I took this pix and glad I did,,,,,shortly afterward they took the tree down. But it always makes me smile when I look at it! Rosie

Time to resurrect this thread.

This is an old hybrid ... first registered in 1967, if I am recalling correctly. It remains, in my opinion, one of the very best catt hybrids ever made.

Slc. Jewelbox 'Dark Waters'

Not sure why it is blooming so early. Normally this one blooms in February.

Beautiful color Paul! I don't grow many orchids, and have no success with Catt's, but I sure can appreciate their beauty! Rosie

Catts tend to be pretty forgiving plants. One requirement for most, however, is very bright light.

Here is a micro mini orchid that is less commonly seen ....

For a sense of scale ... the leaves of this plant are roughly 1 inch tall or less. The plant is full grown

Sheese Paul,,,where do you get these wonderful teensy eensy beautiful babies???? I am jealous!!!! Rosie

I attend orchids shows ..... :-D

hmmm,,,,,is that a thinly veiled hint I should attend the Orchid Show at Mi. State where they have the AV Sale???? Rosie

Would I do something like that? (need an innocently smiling emoji right now ...)

Like this one, Paul? That's you to a T. No enabling here, LOL.

(Oh, go on, Rosie - GO! If you buy a new teeny tiny, how much room will it take?)

I love this thread! I found gloxinia a little back!

I love gloxinia. it reminds me my father. He was growing gloxinia in a very smal area under a stair in the house with neon. When a gloxinia was flowering he would let us enter in his ''marvel land'' and admire it. He also had african violet. With my children's eyes my father was a magician.

He gave me his love for flowers.

He is the first one I want to show my flowers. Every time he comes home he does his ''tour'' to my violets.

Here are my amarylis. I love them. They are my Christmas's Flower. They are almost as important to me than my christmas tree. This year I bought a new one withe and red ( I usually have only the red lion one)

They give a wow!!! effect ( daughter 's dixit) to my the living room.

Paul, your flowers are very impressive! I love red flowers , and your Jewelbox 'Dark Waters' is very very pretty You make nice pictures!

Marianne

Thank you, Marianne. :-)

Dark Waters is probably my favorite catt. Hard to capture the fiery reds of its flowers. The satiny sheen of the petals refracts and reflects light enough to make accurate color rendition difficult.

Paul, which everblooming mini orchids are easy to grow? I had Platestele reflexa once on bark under natural light. Accidentally sent it into decline when I mixed up the water and vinegar sprayers (vinegar sprayer wasn't mine). The only orchids I tend now are Phalaenopsis. The blooms last a long time, but plants stay out of bloom between cycles. One of my favorite attributes of Saintpaulias is that they can bloom multiple times per year.

AnneCecilia! How can you say that!!!! Only a little space? Well, hmm,,,maybe I can find a suitable space, just a little one, for a teensy eensy little orchid like Paul's! I would love to have it!!!! Ok,,,,I am busted,,,,,you know me too well. I just may go to the Orchid Show in Ann Arbor. Ok, Paul,,,,,relying on you to let me know when it is!!!!!

Marianne your amaryllis is beautiful! I would love to see the flower on the new one you just bought! Rosie

"Rosie1949(4a to 5b/SE Mi)

I just may go to the Orchid Show in Ann Arbor. Ok, Paul,,,,,relying on you to let me know when it is!!!!!"

Actually, m'dear, your best bet of finding a wide selections of wee ones from which to choose would be the February show in East Lansing or the show in Madison Hts (believe that one is the last weekend of March). The AA show is a puny one and as a result has fewer vendors -- particularly the ones that bring micro mini orchids.

Thanks Paul!!!! I will have to investigate those! Rosie

OT,,,,,,,,Ok, resurrecting this thread for a moment.,,,,,,,,I was lucky enough to find a prepackaged spring bulb that I have wanted for years---a purple Bletilla!!!! I posted it here because I think Paul may be able to guide me with it. It was already sprouted so I planted it in a small hanging basket pot and put it outside. Our nite temps are around 40F. I thought it would be ok. I do want to eventually put it in open ground when it is warm enough but I don't think it will survive our winter. My question is should I dig it up and store it??? Or dig it up and pot it and grow it in my window?

Anyone have any advice on this??? I don't want to lose this it has not been offered in YEARS and it was not inexpensive.........Rosie

Rosie, you'll never keep it. I have lost them here every 4-5 years. They (at least for me), tend to come up too early and then killed by frost (bye bye). I'd recommend heavy mulch if you try it, otherwise, it's easy by pot, keep it cool and dryish during the winter.

Btw, they're easy to mail order ;)

Thanks dbarron,,,,,but if I dig it up and keep it cool and dry (like I store my caladium bulbs??) then it will be dormant and live to see another spring???? That would be fine with me. Or can I dig it, pot it, and put it on the windowsill to actually keep growing during the winter??? Rosie

No, it's an orchid, you can't dry store it...it's not a bulb. Hmm, but it would respond to the same culture as caladium....so maybe? (ie slightly moistened media)

It's be easier to just keep in pot imo in a cool room.

I've grown these little buggers outside for years, and lost them all at least three times. I finally noticed some coming up yesterday, thought I lost them again (last year I did lose 80-90% due to early emergence then freezing weather). They multiply pretty fast and are impressive when you have about 30 blossoms on a stalk and more than ten stalks in a clump.

It is a tuber then? Because it is not just roots. This one had "horns" (my word for new growth like a pointy thing! lol) and that is why I thought it was a corm, tuber, bulb or something like those.

Years ago (somewhere in the 1970s) I had one and (because of ignorance) thought it was a houseplant and just grew it on the windowsill like normal. Lasted a loooong time. Then someone told me I should plant it outdoors in open ground. hmmmm,,,,,that is what I get for listening to someone without doing my due diligence!

Anyway, this one was $6 for one small sprouted tuber, corm or whatever it is. It is potted as I said and so far not breaking the top of the soil.

I just need to figure out ahead of time how to handle it. It won't survive our winter in open ground, so I need info on what to do,

So far it seems I just dig it up, repot with fresh soil and a bath, and grow it on the windowsill? Rosie

I believe rhizome might be correct with regards to orchids, a creeping stem. Umm, dig it up ? is it in the ground now?

I'm lazy, I just store things like that (like tuberous begonias) in pot dry over winter in a cool room. I might once or twice during winter give it a bit of water (or even a soak if drying out fast due to heating).

Along about Feb, it'll be ready to grow again.

dbarron, I just bought it last week and because it had growth horns started I planted it in a pot and put it on the protected side porch.

I just want to know what to do about it in the fall because I will probably put it in open ground when it is warm enough. Rosie

There are folks who do overwinter them outside even in MI, though I have only tried them once decades ago at my folks' place up north. My understanding is that they may need to be well mulched as Dbarron mentioned. It is indeed a tuber and Bletilla striata is supposed hardy to zone 5/6. You can try growing it potted, Rosie. If you can provide a chilly indoor winter rest it should be fine. I would not allow it to go bone dry in the winter, I think. I'd aim for lightly/barely moist over the winter if the foliage dies down.

ok so no open ground, grow it as a "house plant" that needs a semi rest in a cool but sunny place in the winter? I can do that.

I don't want to test it to come back in open ground until it produces enough to divide so I can take some in and leave some outside during the winter.

Thanks everyone! NOW,,,,,,I want to find a white one!!!! lol Rosie

What a GREAT idea for a thread! Currently the only two non-av plants that are blooming is a moth orchid that has been blooming solid for about 10 months, and an unidentified episcia. :) No pics of them, but I totally get what you said at the very beginning where people say "Oh yea, that's nice."

I have two large windows full of plants, and people walk in and go "Oh you have a green thumb!" And then change the subject - and I'm like, "OK, never mind I won't tell you about them! They are all different and amazing and have a story, but that's ok. Let's talk about the hardwood." LOL. So nice to have a group of people who appreciate the diversity and amazing therapeutic qualities of houseplants.

OK, I decided to take pics and post anyhow. LOL.

My husband gave me this moth orchid about 9 years ago! It's still going strong. :)

and can someone tell me what's wrong with this orchid? Seriously, this bloom is as big as my thumbnail. LOL. I did replant this plant before I saw the bloom stalk... maybe somehow that damaged it?

If you bought it in bloom, were the flowers big???? It reminds me of one that blooms in a big spray but with little flowers.

Yeah wasn't it great of Paul to invent this OT thread for the forum??? I do love it! Rosie

It is a tuber then? Because it is not just roots. This one had "horns" and that is why I thought it was a corm, tuber, bulb or something like those.
Royal Online

HU-494623468, Why did you re post something I just wrote in the above paragraph??? Rosie

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Since this thread has already exceeded 100 posts and since it is a different year, it occurred to me twould be best to start a new thread. So a link to the new thread is here:

OT: non-AV blooms 2019

Good idea Paul ! See you there! Rosie