Tropical Experiments






Plumeria



My brother and sister-in-law went to Hawaii on their honeymoon and brought back a Bamboo Orchid for me and a Plumeria for my parents. The plants started out as cuttings and have now prospered to their stage of growth, shown below in the following pictures. Although I have grown other types of orchids, I have never grown Bamboo Orchids. I have it in rich, good draining soil. They say to place them in filtered light, which is the type of lighting I have placed it in. This type should grow to 4 feet tall and will bear pink/white flowers. The plants flower year around with flowers that last one day. The flower spike puts off several flowers over time, which is probably how the plant blooms over longs periods of time. I can't wait to see it bloom!  Apparently they can be invasive in tropical areas as they can self sow in that type of environment. I don't think I will have to worry about that here in our Mediterranean climate.  It would probably do best inside, epecially when it gets chilly out, being that it doesn't tolerate frost.

The Plumeria, that is my parents, is being grown in a green house. As you can see it has already started blooming. It is doing very well and it smells unreal! These plants can also get to be pretty big. They require sun and moderate water. They are frost tender and need to be in warm conditions to bloom. Hopefully the green house will be a suitable environment for this plant. I will keep updating this post on the growth process of these two plants over the next year.





Arundina Bambusifolia (Bamboo Orchid)



Arundina Bambusifolia (Bamboo Orchid) This is what the flowers look like. I copied this picture from http://gardenexotica.com/bamboo_orchid_webpage.htm.