Little Flower Spike

I wrote a few weeks back about my one orchid that has not flowered in 4 years, and almost as if the orchid took offence to the post I put up about it, it started to send out a flower spike...

Its finally starting to look like a classic flower spike with the mitten shape as you can see below...

Flower Spike on the Right

So what did I do differently? I moved the orchid from the bathroom where it gets nice and humid, to the kitchen window, where it gets a bit more chilly. A friend of mine advised that a change in temperature or environment could cause it to flower. I did notice before this flower spike came out, that the orchid seemed to be growing new roots every week, so perhaps that is something I should watch for on this particular orchid...

Will post an update once the blooms have started to open. If memory serves me correctly, this orchid should be a beautiful purple/pink colour...

Little bits of Zim

My mom is proudly Zimbabwean and because of this, both my brother and I have an emotional bond to the beautiful country. The stories we have grown up with about the beautiful landscapes, wonderful people and the very interesting plants have fueled an interest for me, to try grow some of that beauty here, in South Africa.

My mom's birthday is in November and I want to give her back a little piece of home. I ordered some flame-lily seeds from Seeds for Africa, popped them in a tupperware and got them germinating.

Flame Lily seed, 28 days old.

My brother really enjoys the beauty of a bonsai, and while I was on my Zimbabwean plant mission, I decided to get a baobab tree going for him, which he can chose to bonsai when the seedling gets going.

I found the baobab seed fascinating, once the hard shell has been peeled off the seed, the germ inside resembles that of an embryo. This seed has since been planted into some potting soil and will hopefully soon sprout some leaves.

Baobab seed 2 days old

I will post some progress pictures as these 2 little seeds continue to grow into the fascinating plants that they are. Flame lily's grow their petals in the opposite direction to the stamens etc, and baobab's are known as the world's biggest succulents...