It’s been a while since my last post. Even though I’ve been making and doing things, I thought I had nothing to post about. Yesterday I took images of what I’ve been doing in Cora’s garden. I’m sharing my progress with you.

The bougainvillea seems to like what I’m doing and has been happily blooming.

I’ve been trying to rescue Mom’s anthuriums and orchid plants. Mom rarely spends time out in her garden anymore. She has a fear of falling since her fall at the beginning of 2019. I’ve been tending the garden since, mostly watering, raking, and weeding.

Giving It a Try

The anthuriums and orchids are badly in need of repotting. I recently decided to dive in and try my hand at it. I couldn’t make it much worst. I researched what potting media was needed and mixed up a batch for the anthuriums. (Lucky for me, I discovered I could use the same mix for the orchids. Whew!)

My game plan with the anthuriums is to get them back into decent shape and rehome them to a cooler climate at a friend’s house. I started with the ones that looked the worst—giving me a chance to learn the process. Mom is no help, as her explanation makes no sense to me as an amateur gardener. She just wanted me to try and see what would happen on my own. Here’s a couple that I think I saved.

Little leaves and shoots have appeared from these leafless transplants. I knew they had some life left in them as their roots were still green. The bigger green leaves you see in the picture are my pakalana plant which is trying to take over the anthurium patch. I think I transplanted about eight plants. Half of them look like they are starting to come back. As for the other half, I’m waiting to see if something will happen. My Auntie M (the Anthurium Whisper) said to give them time.

Keikis

I can’t say Mom’s orchids are in better shape than her anthuriums. Most of her orchids have grown out of their pot size. A big clue is the plant crawling to the edge of the pot and the stems have died back.

I remember my dad making these cement pots that the orchids are in.

Several of the dendrobiums have keikis (little ones). I read that this happens when the plant is stressed. There is no doubt that several of these plants are stress.

I read this from an article from Better-GroOrchidBlog

“If an orchid is dying, asexually producing a keiki may be its best chance at passing on its genes.

Because keikis are produced asexually, without pollination, each keiki is genetically identical to its mother plant. Once mature, they’ll have the same flowers as the mother plant.”

This orchid is definitely dying. There are several keikis on it and I’m waiting for their roots to get long enough to plant.

Mom’s orchids maybe old and bit neglected but a few of them still produce beautiful blooms.

Flowers now and soon to be.

I’ve been busy repotting and cleaning up the orchids that have outgrown their pot and planting any keikis that are ready to go. In all of this repotting madness, I do not know any of the names or have visual clues as to what color type of flowers will appear. If there were once markers in the plants, they have long gone with the elements.

Wish my repotted plants luck, I hope I can get them to bloom.