Some people pop champagne...

I popped  two bottles of  WOC 2011 seedlings !!!

 Renenthera Bella

Anthurium warocqueanum

1/1/2012 First Bloom Cattleya aclandiae

First bloom for 2012 as well as for this Cattleya aclandiae. A gift from Edward. I had the cutting tied to my shui-mei tree to keep it dry. Not bad for a first flowering....great timing too !

Wishing all a Happy 2012 ! 

 Cattleya aclandiae

Phalaenopsis Bellina

Another orchid that has been in the garden for a long time... this was one of the first bellinas that I bought.

Renanthera Hybrid DPREN 1

This was bought from Song Orchids last year, it's growing well with two new growth and flowers regularly. Loves goat dung !

Dendrobium Nindii

Dendrobium nindii, Family Orchidaceae, also known as the Blue Antler Orchid or Blue Orchid, is an epiphytic antler orchid.

 A very recent addition, very tall >2m in height and love strong sun. I had to get on a short ladder to take the photo.

Dendrobium Nindii

NOID Vanda hybrid

Bought this some time ago when Mandai Orchid Garden was having a closing sale. Second flowering but the plant is still looking stressed.

Take nothing but images and memories, leave nothing but footprints....

Couple of memorable shots....

Really old Cymbidium Orchid

Saw this really old Cymbidium Orchid  ...... according to the caretaker it has been growing on it's own without watering it or fertilizer.

The Caretaker

See you next year !

Gone galavanting again ....  Wishing all a Merry Christmas and Happy 2012 !

Daddel

Green exchange.... Alocasia macrorrhizos 'Variegata'

Saw this while visiting my friendly neighbourhood nursery ....   I traded a baby alocasia sting ray for it  :)

Alocasia macrorrhizos 'Variegata' 

Blooming again

These bloomed while I was away ....

Nature fights back !

Trees are now trying to look like soldiers !

Recycle....

Just don't turn them into food !

Reflections

Guess who I met ! ! !

Gone Galavanting !

Visitors

The ocassional visitors dropping by... captured with a 50mm 1.8 lens reverse mounted. Depth of field is not great but they make interesting images.

Dragonfly

 NOID insect

White Bird of Paradise (Strelitzia alba)

I thought they were traveller's palms when I bought them but they turn out to be White Bird of Paradise (Strelitzia alba) . These are now about 5M tall and still growing, flowers frequently unlike the the more frequently seen non alba version. I have kept a few of these non alba version as well and over the years they have never flowered...

Phalaenopsis Permata Rosmah Mansor( R447 )

I bought this orchid seedling from a nursery at sungei tengah. One of five that I bought that day, this one labelled 447 came out really nice. I think the original hybridizer of this orchid is Mr Robert Ang of Eucharist Orchids from Ipoh in Perak, Malaysia. The solid colour of this hybrid makes it outstanding.

Phalaenopsis hybrid 447

Tissue cultured plant bottles

Visited ecuagenera sales stall at the world orchid conference and ended up with two bottles of tissue cultured anthuriums the warocqueanum and the magnificum. Long shot but I am curious. Hopefully I can keep them alive long enough.....  at another vendor stall I also found a bottle of the specie orchid Renanthera bella, something I have been trying to find for a while  !

Tissue cultured anthurium magnificum 

Dendrobium parthenium

Nice flowers form this Dendrobium. Another old member of the collection this one is about to bloom again...

Dendrobium parthenium 

Cattaleya bowringiana

A nice free flowering blue cattaleya. I saw this for sale at the market florist and just had to buy it. Not bad for a twenty dollar purchase.

Cattaleya bowringiana

Phalaenopsis violacea alba

Another one of the first orchids that came to the garden when I started getting interested in orchids. I now have a few of these including an old "jungle specimen" bought years ago from WL.

Phalaenopsis violacea alba

Phalaenopsis hannover passion

Not uncommon but a nice one to have in the collection. Love the intense wild markings.

Phalaenopsis hannover passion

Phalaenopsis kung's princess DPKP 1

I hesitated because it was a long spike phal and I had not seen the actual bloom plus it was not exactly cheap but was assured it would be nice. After a few months of growing, the princess finally blossomed. The gamble paid off !

Phalaenopsis kung's princess 

 Yikes !!!

Update Phalaenopsis tetrapis var.speciosa

Second bloom opening up ...  colour holding fast and looking great !

Phalaenopsis tetrapis var.speciosa

Dendrobium prenticei

Another tiny specie orchid that is easy to grow and flower. This one's got itsy bitsy tiny yellow flowers.

Dendrobium prenticei

Phalaenopsis appendiculata DPA 1

A very small phalaenopsis specie orchid found naturally in Malaysia. Despite it's tiny size, it's popular among collectors and good specimens can command quite decent prices especially the alba form.

Phalaenopsis appendiculata

Ladybird

Not all visitors are pesky or destructive...  this ladybird came by one day and I had to take some nice portraits of it... in infrared they came out quite nicely.

The Ladybird

The Ladybird

Teerex X Vietnamica

This orchid is labelled as Teerex X Vietnamica , long spike and beautiful pastel pink coloured blooms. I waited weeks for this spike to come into bloom and before the third flower could open up ....

 The Culprit

Champaka Kunning

These are mostly used for tying my orchids and growing the hoya kerrii.  Blooms frequently and flowers are fragrant but doesn't last.

Champaka Kunning

Ascocenda prapin

Lightly coloured and dotted with tiny purple spots... this asco hybrid is both beautiful and elegant ! A Thai hybrid, it was created using Vanda lamellata and Ascocenda pralor.

Ascocenda prapin

Begonias

Browsing the nurseries at Thomson, I saw two pot of not so healthy plants left at the corner of one of the nurseries. They look weak but the leafs caught my eye. I didn't know what they were and have never seen anything like this before. I asked if they were for sale and paid $30 for both of them althought the owner could not tell me what they were. I was curious and tried googling with whatever description of the plant I could think of. The web pointed me to a local garden forum GCS where there is a group ov avid and knowledgable begonia growers. I have since found out that this is an angel leaf begonia and gone on to collect several more colourful specimens of this plant. Ang Mo Kio Nursery and Terrascapes are excellent places to source for begonias.