Culver City Succulent and Bromeliad Show 2019

Before I share some show pics, I'd like to mention that I finally met my favorite Ficus friend Kyle!!!  We've been online plant friends for nearly 20 years and a couple weeks ago we met at the LA Arboretum.  Scadoxus joined us and the three of us had a great time.  It was surreal meeting Kyle in person after having known him online for so many years.  One big difference is that he's so much funnier in person.  His humor is... subtle?  Not exactly sure how to describe it, but I love it.   

I'm so happy that Kyle is no longer on my list of plant friends that I'd love to actually meet in person.  Two people who are still on this list are Carlos in Brazil (flickr) and Erik in Australia (flickr).  Both of them joined the tropical plant lovers Facebook group that Kyle recently created!  Yay!!!  Now I'm two people closer to realizing my dream of all my plant friends being friends with each other.  I have this very bright idea that, the better connected my plant friends are to each other, the more awesome the outcome.  We can create a huge and incredibly dense network that will quickly capture all the best plants and plant ideas. 

With this in mind, my favorite thing about the show was that several of my plant friends got to meet each other for the first time!  For example, Monica and Sarah met, Dave and Ulysses met,  Rich and Steve met and so on.  Each meeting really deserves its own blog entry!

I enjoyed the show itself and took several pics of the show plants.  Unfortunately, I'm not happy with how many of the pics turned out (insert typical excuses here... ie poor lighting), but I figure that even a poor pic of a great plant is better than nothing.  Some of my motivation in sharing the pics is that I've got a plant friend, not going to mention any names, *cough* Allison *cough*, who doesn't think that bromeliads are so wonderful.  Yikes!  Unfortunately, she wasn't able to make it to the show, so figured it might be worthwhile to bring the show to her, and to you too! 

Cyrtanthus elatus x montanus

This wasn't in the show, it was in the sales area for $20.  Since Scadoxus loves bulbs, but wasn't at the show yet, I texted her a pic and asked if she wanted it.  She replied asking if it had a pretty flower.  Heh.  Steve ended up buying it and then later on when I searched my gmail for "Cyrtanthus" I learned that, not too long ago, Shawn had given me a small bulb of this species and I had given it to Scadoxus.  Sheesh.  There's actually a Cyrtanthus epiphyticus!  Yes, I already tried it epiphytically and sadly it didn't survive.  It was a long time ago though, so maybe it was before I started using the quality New Zealand Sphagnum moss for certain plants.  I haven't tried many bulbs epiphytically but so far the biggest winner by far is the pregnant onion (Albuca bracteata). 

Hydnophytum formicarum

This is a really cool epiphyte that has a big caudex that, in nature, provides a home for ants.  In this case we get a peak inside the caudex.  Exhibited by Laurel Woodley who I was lucky enough to chat with.  In 2013 I took a pic of the same plant at the same show.  She brings it inside during the winter.  I've been growing a related species, Myrmecodia beccarii, outside year around since 2012.  It is still small though because I have it on a small mount without much moss and it probably doesn't get as much water as it would like during the summer.  Maybe I should auction it off at the upcoming VGT plant share? 

Dave has been growing Myrmecodia platytyrea entirely outside (with protection from the rain) for a few years in Eagle Rock...

Maybe it's the biggest epiphytic ant plant in the Rubiaceae family that is growing outside year around in California?  Do you know of a bigger one?  If you're interested in learning more about this species I highly recommend checking out the ant-plant forum. 

Back to the show...

Sedum torulosum

Also exhibited by Laurel Woodley.  For a while I've really appreciated the "treelike" Sedums and Crassulas.  For example, check out Sedum dendroideum ‘Colossus’.  Do you see the picture of Myron Kimnach standing next to it??  Woah!!  Mine is around 3', I should really bring some cuttings to the plant share. 

Sinningia polyantha

Similar to the Sinningia piresiana growing on my tree, but much taller.  Yes, I sincerely do wish that I had learned about Gesneriads a whole lot earlier!

Aeonium Bing Thing

Aeonium Bing Thing = (tabuliforme ×  arboreum Zwartkop) × sedifolium.  This is a crazy cool cross made by John Trager.  A. sedifolium is super tiny!  I'm very glad that Nels Christianson decided to enter this plant into the show!  Remind me to ask him if he'd be willing to trade a cutting of it for something.  I'd also be happy to have some seeds of it, because I'd be very curious to see how much variation there would be among the seedlings. 

Peperomia Amigo Marcello

Woah!  Is this the right name??  I've been calling this Peperomia Elmer Lorenz for years, because that's who gave it to me, but he didn't know the name.  This Peperomia does great epiphytically. 

Euphorbia sp

Unreal!!  Wish that the pic was clearer!  Anybody know which species it is? 

Rebutia flavistyla

Exhibited by Christine Kaunitz.  I'd love to see this species growing and blooming on a tree! 

Pelargonium punctatum

This one stunned Fernando.  Heh.  Stunned me too!  This would look amazing on a tree!  He is actually growing Pelargonium tetragonum epiphytically.

Vriesea Strawberry

Dang, I'm so disappointed that my picture failed to capture the luminescent glow of this bromeliad!  :( 

Vriesea Strawberry

Closer pic. 

Billbergia Casa Blanca

Fun foliage!

Billbergia Mystic Torch

Billbergia Mystic Torch = (Pink Champagne x Arriba) x Domingos Martins.  More funner foliage? 

Epiphytically Enhanced Branch

Tillandsia albertiana, Maxillaria tenuifolia (?), Crassula (which one?), Ledebouria socialis, Hoya serpens, Rhipsalis... wow!!  Exhibited by James W Schumacher.  I'd sure like to make friends with this guy!!

Tillandsia duratii

This is the bigger variety.  The sequentially opening flowers are relatively large and very fragrant.  I think they smell kinda like grape kool-aid.  Everybody should grow this species.  Exhibited by ESSC member Rich Fleg! 

Tillandsia novakii

So so so so impressive!!!!   Several years ago I first saw this species at the Conservatory of Flowers and instantly loved it.  Fortunately, this one was exhibited by ESSC member Sarah de Heras, so hopefully there will be seeds available to spread around! 

Tillandsia novakii

I volunteered Ulysses to provide some scale.   Thanks bro, sorry about the bad pic!  :( 

Tillandsia sp

Also exhibited by Sarah de Heras.  Love it!  Hopefully she will place it next to the Tillandsia novakii so that the hummingbirds can cross-pollinate them. 

Tillandsia prodigiosa

Also exhibited by Sarah de Heras!  Not the best pic, and the spike isn't fully developed, but everybody should know about this Tillandsia.  Check out the Google Image search results for this species.  One sad thing about this species is that it is monocarpic!  Ugh.  Hopefully it will produce lots of seeds though. 

Scadoxus' haul box, it was the prettiest one that I ever did see!  I'll share the list later on. 

If you live in the Los Angeles area and love plants then be sure to join Village Green Thumbs!  And if you live outside of the LA area and love tropical plants, then be sure to join Tropical Plant Lovers!

Please Introduce Me To Awesome Plants!!

Last Saturday I went to the Los Angeles Fern and Exotic Plant Show with my friend Scadoxus.  Here are some of the plants that caught my attention...

Platycerium alcicorne type

Personally I have a penchant for pendant plants so I tend to prefer Playceriums that match my pendulous preference... such as certain varieties of Platycerium willinckii.  The Staghorn in the above picture is the least pendant Platy that I've ever seen.  It definitely caught my attention and I have to admit that I kinda like it.  

Hoya revolubilis - The Kunming Kina of Southern China

This is easily one of my top five favorite Hoyas.  The leaves are relatively succulent and it's a good epiphytic grower.  A while back I attached a piece of this and a piece of the somewhat similar, and far more common, Hoya shepherdii to a board covered in New Zealand Sphagnum moss.  Both Hoyas established fairly quickly but revolubilis won the competition by a mile.  The shepherdii was on its last leg when I took pity on it and moved the mount to the area that I water most frequently.  

The revolubilis in the photo is a very impressive specimen.  We all like impressive specimens... but... the Epiphyte Society of Southern California (ESSC) has a rule about specimens.  Members of the ESSC are allowed to have specimens as long as they have already shared cuttings with all the other members.  Share, then specimen.  This rule is beneficial in several different ways.  First, it helps the plant.  No plant wants to have all its eggs in too few baskets.  Plants are all about colonization (location diversification).  Second, it helps the grower hedge their bets.  We have all lost plants for all sorts of reasons so it's really good to have many backups (plant insurance).  Third, it helps us learn about our plants faster.  The members of the ESSC all live in somewhat different climates, and have thumbs that are different shades of green, and employ different growing techniques.  It is very informative and useful to see how the same plant performs in a wide range of conditions.  Lastly, we should regularly introduce each other to awesome plants.  

Camellia edithae

It's fuzzy!  At first glance I guessed that it was an epiphytic blueberry.  But I was wrong.  I'm generally not so interested in Camellias, although they might be a good host for some orchids.  In the case of this Camellia though I might be happy to have one.  

Tillandsia flabellata rubra

Hummingbirds love reddish Tillandsias and so do I!

Tillandsia Hybrid

I want this!  Even if it's monocarpic?  Well... I hate monocarpic plants.  But there might be one or two exceptions to this rule.  Due to illegible writing I'm not exactly sure about the name of this Tillandsia.  It's a hybrid and its name starts with a B.  

Lemmaphyllum microphyllum

This isn't the best picture of this enchanting and endearing little epiphytic fern from Japan.  As you can see, it's very happily growing in a terrarium.  The fern was put in there by the terrarium genius Don DeLano.  He's very knowledgeable about plants and he gives great talks at society meetings.  At the show I asked him if he's ever tried growing this fern outside.  He said that he had but it got killed when the temps dropped below freezing.  Given that it's from Japan I was somewhat surprised.  Turns out that he was growing it in a pot.  My guess is that, here in Southern California where it rains during the winter, epiphytic plants handle the winter cold better when they are mounted, because of the excellent drainage.   In my Cedar Tree Epiphytes blog entry I shared this photo of L. microphyllum growing over two stories high on my tree... 

Lemmaphyllum microphyllum

It's mounted on several very healthy handfuls of New Zealand Sphagnum moss.  When I mounted it I also included a few other plants such as a cutting of Columnea Elmer Lorenz.  The fern has done really well but, unlike Microgramma vacciniifolia, it doesn't seem to be able to "escape" its moss island/prison.  Even though L. microphyllum isn't an escape artist it is definitely one of my very favorite ferns.  Here's another favorite... 

Niphidium crassifolium

This epiphytic fern has very long fronds and does quite well outside here in SoCal.  Perhaps through no fault of its own I didn't manage to get it established on my Cedar tree, but I do have it growing on a tree fern and on a Pygmy Date Palm.  Microsorum punctatum is another strap-leaved epiphytic fern with somewhat shorter fronds which might be more drought tolerant.  I do have it growing on my Cedar tree.  

At the show I met ESSC member Gumbii for the first time.  He has a Youtube channel about plants.  While we, along with Scadoxus, were looking at the entries I mentioned that we really should do a video of them.  From my perspective even a quick video would be better than nothing.  Perhaps we could just highlight our 10 favorite plants in the show.  Or, I joked, we could criticize the 10 worst plants in the show.  Scadoxus chimed in that at one bromeliad society meeting some guy very badly criticized a plant that a member had brought in for others to appreciate.  When the critic asked whose plant it was, the owner didn't even want to admit that it was their plant.  Yikes!  

After the show Scadoxus and I drove to Fernando's garden in West Covina.  While on the way there I was telling her about how I had learned of some new terms for an idea that I've discussed with her many times before.  The idea, and one of its terms, is voting with donations.  I explained that this is most commonly associated with using donations to decide who will have to kiss a pig, or get pied in the face, or get dunked into a tank of water.  Sometimes zoos use this method to name an animal.  That's when Scadoxus said something like, "Oh yeah, San Diego Zoo does that.  Around 15 years ago I was there with my niece and we made a donation to help name a panda."  I responded, "What in the world?  Seriously?  We've been talking about this idea for so many years (maybe like two) and you're only now just sharing this information with me?!"  "You didn't ask me about it," she replied, "...better late than never."  Ugh.  

When we got to Fernando's place I started to carefully inspect his very impressive collection.  From the corner of my eye I spotted a small flash of color.  I looked more closely and saw what appeared to be a Pelargonium flower just randomly floating in mid-air...

Pelargonium tetragonum?

It was a nearly leafless pendulous Pelargonium that was growing epiphytically!  What?!  Have you heard of such a plant?  I sure hadn't.  So I asked Fernando about it and he said that he's had it for around a decade.  What?!  How come he hadn't introduced me to this plant?  Ugh.  

We've all failed, albeit unequally so, to introduce each other to awesome plants.  I personally feel like I've failed to introduce enough people to the epiphytic fern Aglamorpha coronans.  Here's my attempt to try and solve this problem...

It's so very neat that Aglamorpha coronans has wrapped itself nearly all the way around Fernando's palm tree!  The video really doesn't do this fern justice, but I hope that it's better than nothing.

There's actually another Aglamorpha species that's even more impressive than coronans... Aglaomorpha heraclea.  It has really huge fronds.  I tried to grow it once but it wasn't a fan of our winter.  While talking to Darla Harris, the president of the Texas Gulf Coast Fern Society, I mentioned that it would be really awesome if heraclea was crossed with coronans.  When the president of the Tree Fern Society, Dan Yansura, joined the conversation, I brought up a few other crosses that should be attempted...

Davallia canariensis x Davallia fejeensis
Nephrolepis pendula x Nephrolepis cordifolia

Not sure how compatible these species are, but ferns are relatively easy to grow from spore.  I've personally had good success simply sowing the spore directly on wet floral foam that's in a pot in a zip lock bag.  Darla hadn't heard of this method before.  Hopefully she'll give it a try.

Fernando had the largest Sinningia that I had ever personally seen... 

Please remind me to remind Scadoxus to remind Fernando to harvest the seeds.  The same goes for his Begonia thiemei.

Hopefully we should all agree that we need to do the best possible job of introducing each other to awesome plants.  Right now I'm thinking that this vital task can be most efficiently and effectively accomplished by using donation voting (DV).  Fortunately for us, there are already websites that can facilitate this.  For example...

https://www.360photocontest.com/

Organizations, like a local humane society, can create a contest for participants to submit and sort photos...

https://my.360photocontest.com/catwelfare2019calendarcontest/photos?order=Rank

Those photos are sorted by DV ($1 donation = 1 vote).  Here are a couple other similar websites...

https://www.gogophotocontest.com/
http://mulabula.com/

Members of various plant societies and forums could submit photos of their favorite plants and we could use DV to rank/sort/order/prioritize them.  Naturally in this case it wouldn't be possible to use our donations to criticize the worst plants.  Instead, we'd use our donations to help highlight the very best plants.  All the money raised would be spent to help promote the results.  We would essentially be pooling our money to introduce the most people to the most awesome plants in the least amount of time.

Economics For 5th Graders

This entry is primarily written for the students of Classtopia.

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Your teacher asked me to share with you some of my thoughts about economics, which you’re currently covering in school.  She knows that it’s my very favorite thing in the world.  Why do I love economics even more than I love epiphytes?  Well, it’s because epiphytes, and everything else that I love, all depend on economics.

Right now there are several Tillandsia aeranthos blooming at your school.  The reason why these epiphytes are beautifying your school is because you’ve cared for them, and also because I decided to share them with your teacher.  Where did mine come from?  They came from my tree where they had grown from wind-dispersed seeds, which came from plants that I had received from a friend.  Around a decade ago I drove up to Oregon and picked up a big collection of Tillandsias from my friend Dale.  He had a giant greenhouse primarily dedicated to orchids, but thanks to the really excellent air movement, the Tillandsias were taking over.  They were growing on the walls, floors, benches, pots… they were even growing on the orchids.  So I helped “weed” the Tillandsias and he let me have them.  I piled them in the back of my truck and drove them back home.  The Tillandsias, especially aeranthos, were happy in their new home and over the years I’ve shared, sold and traded the extras.

Where did Dale get his Tillandsia aeranthos from?  I don’t know.  Maybe he received them from a friend, or maybe he bought them, or maybe he traded for them.  But I do know that Tillandsia aeranthos originally came from Brazil.  This is where it is native to. 

How Tillandsia aeranthos traveled from the trees in Brazil to the trees at your school in California is an economic story.  It involves many people over the years deciding that it was worth it to spend their time growing this epiphyte.  Each new grower helped Tillandsia aeranthos, as a species, hedge its bets.  This economic story doesn’t end at your school.  Several of you already took some home… and perhaps a few of you have already shared some with other people.

What about your new school?  I’m guessing that it doesn’t already have any Tillandsia aeranthos... is this a problem?  You’ll have to decide whether it’s worth it to try and grow this epiphyte at your new school.  This decision depends on weighing the costs and the benefits.  On the one hand, you’ll have to take the time to water them, but on the other hand, they’ll help beautify the school and make it more interesting.  Plus, they’ll provide food for hummingbirds and shelter for other animals, which would make your school even more interesting. 

There are a few different types of cost… the most important type is known as opportunity cost.  All the time that you spend watering Tillandsia aeranthos is time that you can’t spend doing other things.  Because your time is limited, naturally you want to put it to its most beneficial uses.  The idea that society’s limited resources should be put to their most beneficial uses is known as Quiggin’s Implied Rule of Economics (QIRE).

Let’s say that you determine how much benefit that you’d personally gain from having Tillandsia aeranthos growing on trees at your new school.  What about all the other students and teachers?   According to QIRE, it matters how much benefit they would gain from this, but it’s not like you can read their minds.

Therefore, when it comes to economics, one of the most important things is the communication of benefit.  In order to maximize beneficial behavior, we need to inform others how much benefit we derive from their behavior.  There are two ways that we can express benefit… words and actions.  The main difference is that actions require a sacrifice, words do not.  Naturally we like to use words to communicate benefit but, because they don’t involve any sacrifice, they aren’t very reliable.

I’ll share an economics joke with you.  Two economists are walking along when they happen to end up in front of a Tesla showroom.  One economist points at a shiny new car and says, “I really want that!”  The other replies, “You’re lying”.  This joke is funny because if the one economist had truly wanted the car then he would have walked in and bought it.  Evidently, given that he didn’t do so, the (opportunity) cost was too high for him.  He had more beneficial uses of his limited money.

Here’s one of the most useful passages on the subject…

If a woman told us that she loved flowers, and we saw that she forgot to water them, we would not believe in her "love" for flowers.  Love is the active concern for the life and the growth of that which we love.  Where this active concern is lacking, there is no love. - Erich Fromm, The Art of Loving

It’s easy to say that we love something, or someone, but love can only be reliably quantified and expressed by sacrifice.  The more time that you're willing to spend growing and promoting Tillandsia aeranthos, the greater your love for it.

As an extra credit assignment you can visit Rainforest Flora.  They offer a wide selection of Tillandsias, so you might be as happy as a kid in a candy store.  Walk around the sales area and make a list of all the Tillandsias that match your preferences, and then compare it to the list of all the Tillandsias that you actually buy.  How different are the two lists?  The owners of the nursery might be interested to know all the Tillandsias that you like, but what they are truly interested to know is which Tillandsias you actually love.  The Tillandsias that you genuinely love are the ones that you are willing to spend your money on.  The owners would take this more reliable feedback and use it to try and improve their selection of Tillandsias.  If, for example, you and other customers buy more Tillandsia aeranthos hybrids, then the owners would spend more of their time creating more of them, and this would make the customers happier.  Everybody who visits Rainforest Flora has the freedom to use their money to help grade all the different products.  This is what makes it a market.

What would happen if you asked the owners to simply give you some Tillandsias for free?  Perhaps they might be willing to give you one or two, especially if you buy a dozen.  However, they’ll be much more inclined to give you free Tillandsias if you explain that they will be used to beautify your new school.  It will certainly help if you show them a blog entry that has pictures of the Tillandsia aeranthos that are now blooming on trees at your current school.  You’d inform the owners that you would also use the blog to document your mission to beautify your new school with Tillandsias.

The Tillandsias that are growing on trees at your school are a public good.  But the ones at your home are a private good.  The difference is the amount of people that can enjoy them.  Of course if your Tillandsias at home are in the front yard where everybody can see them, then they would also be a public good.  The same exact good, in this case a Tillandsia, can be a private good or a public good depending on where it is grown. 

Just like the owners of Rainforest Flora are naturally going to be more inclined to give Tillandsias away if they know that they are going to be used to beautify a school, the same is also true of the members of the La Ballona Valley Bromeliad Society. 

Last Fall the owner of Sunset Valley Orchids, Fred Clarke, was kind enough to donate a big box of orchids to help beautify your current school.  Future blog entries that document his orchids growing and blooming on trees at the school should recognize and acknowledge his generous contribution. 

People are happy to voluntarily contribute to beneficial causes… but our society doesn’t solely rely on donations to pay for public goods.  We primarily rely on taxes.  People are forced to pay taxes because the amount of money that people would donate to public goods would be significantly less than their true perception of their benefit.  It's certainly a problem when spending doesn't reliably communicate benefit.  Yet, everybody's taxes are spent by elected representatives.

Strange as it might seem, there’s no scientific evidence that it’s beneficial to allow elected representatives to spend everybody’s taxes.  It would theoretically be far more beneficial for each and every taxpayer to have the freedom to choose where their taxes go.  Since people wouldn't have the option to spend their taxes on private goods, their spending decisions would reliably communicate the amount of benefit that they received from public goods. Those of us who love botanical gardens, for example, would be able to allocate our taxes to them.  Of course, every school should be a botanical garden!

Unlike Rainforest Flora, our government is not a market.  Neither is Netflix.  Each month each subscriber pays $10 dollars and Netflix decides how to divide this money among all its shows and movies.  What would happen if, all else being equal, each and every subscriber was given the freedom to decide for themselves how they divide their money among the content?  What difference would it make if 100 million subscribers, each one with a unique set of preferences and knowledge, could use their money to help grade the content?  Would the supply of nature shows worsen, improve or stay the same if Netflix was a market?

The reason why people can reasonably disagree about the effectiveness of markets is because there’s a severe scarcity of scientific evidence.  Therefore, reasonable people should strongly agree that it’s imperative to scientifically test different economic systems.  Every experiment is essentially a product, so a better understanding of economics would mean more scientific progress… as well as a better supply of shows, epiphytes and everything else.

Education itself is a bundle of different products.  In school I remember wondering about the usefulness of these products.  Recently an economist by the name of Bryan Caplan wrote a controversial book arguing that many of these products are useless...

Anyone who scrutinizes modern schools with a mildly cynical eye witnesses piles of material students are laughably unlikely to use in adulthood. The fat emerges in kindergarten: history, social studies, art, music, foreign language. By high school, as we've seen, students spend at least half their time on fat. In college, many majors are made of fat: think history, communications, or "interdisciplinary studies." About 40% of graduates earn degrees in comically - or tragicomically - useless subjects. Even the hardest majors burn ample time on high theory and breadth requirements. - Bryan Caplan, The Case against Education

The people who disagree with Caplan's book, which is itself an educational product, inherently agree that educational products aren't equally beneficial.  In order to ensure that students learn the most beneficial things, everybody should have the freedom to use their money to help grade educational products.  This logically makes economics the most beneficial thing to learn.  But it wouldn't be beneficial for everybody to actually become an economist.  With this in mind, I’ll leave you with the most beneficial passage from the most beneficial book…

It is thus that the private interests and passions of individuals naturally dispose them to turn their stocks towards the employments which in ordinary cases are most advantageous to the society. But if from this natural preference they should turn too much of it towards those employments, the fall of profit in them and the rise of it in all others immediately dispose them to alter this faulty distribution. Without any intervention of law, therefore, the private interests and passions of men naturally lead them to divide and distribute the stock of every society among all the different employments carried on in it as nearly as possible in the proportion which is most agreeable to the interest of the whole society.  —  Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations 

Tillandsias - Seeds Dispersed By Wind

Here are some super exciting Tillandsia videos...

This Syzygium jambos is downwind of my Cedar tree.    Tillandsia volunteers make pruning a bit more interesting!

And here's a photo of my highest epiphyte...

This Tillandsia ionantha clump is over 3 stories high.  As you can see by the 1/4" polytube... it's watered via drip... twice a week at night during summer.   Other than the fairly infrequent winter rain... I get the feeling that it doesn't get any water on its leaves.  So I'm guessing that its roots can and do absorb moisture.

It's entertaining watching the hummingbirds go up and down my Cedar tree visiting the different plants in bloom... Tillandsias, Gesneriads, Echeverias and so on.  The tree is a vertical buffet for hummingbirds!

Video Of Orchids Blooming On Tree In Southern California

Description...

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Every tree should have at least one orchid growing on it!  Here in Southern California there are 1000s of different species of orchids that we can easily grow on our trees.  But unfortunately... for some reason the word still hasn't gotten out.  :(    So I figure that sharing a terrible video is better than not sharing any video!

A couple days ago I shot this video of some orchids and other epiphytes blooming on my Cedar tree here in Southern California.  I have enough orchids growing on my tree so that there's always at least one orchid in bloom.

Here's a listing of some of the epiphytes sorted by their appearance in the video...

Vanda tricolor/suavis about to bloom.  Can't recommend this orchid enough!  Hanging out with a Tillandsia ionontha in bloom.

Laelia anceps... not in bloom... and to the far right a Jumellea (arachnantha x comorensis) that wants to visit my neighbor.

A Dendrobium speciosum just finishing blooming.  Another must have orchid for SoCal.  A Tillandsia aeranthos is blooming next to it.  Also in that frame is a Dendrobium bigibbum with a seed pod on it.

Higher up... on the other side of a tree is a cute little Tolumnia in bloom with cheery yellow flowers.  Near the ladder is an Encyclia cordigera var rosea in spike.  It's going to have striking and long lasting flowers.

Next is a NOID Tillandsia surrounded by a NOID Crassula.

In the next frames ... towards the left is a sad Dendrobium speciosum.  I made a mistake of throwing too many succulents on top of it... now the new growths stays moist too long and rot.  It has put out a keiki on the drier side though so I think it will escape just fine.

Above and to the right of the D. speciosum is another Vanda tricolor/suavis.  The spike kind of went the wrong way but you can still appreciate the flowers.  Now we can scratch our heads together and wonder why we don't see these growing on every tree here in SoCal!

Higher up there's a couple seed pods on Brassavola Jiminy Cricket  (Rhyncholaelia (Brassavola) digbyana x Brassavola nodosa).

Next there's a Dendobium nobile type finishing blooming.  To the left of it is Dendrobium 'Easter Parade' (kingianum x (bigibbum x canaliculatum)) also finishing blooming.

Moving up the tree you see more Tillandsias and then a more showy type of D. nobile in bloom.  There's a happy Tillandsia heteromorpha keeping it company.

My neighbor's roof... some shaky footage... and then the delightful and wonderfully charming Kalanchoe uniflora.  Not an orchid but it is an epiphyte!  From Madagascar no less.

A terrible shot of Oncidium maculatum.  I was holding my phone above my head!  O. maculatum is nicely fragrant and I really should have attached it lower on the tree so other people wouldn't have to risk their necks to smell it.

Another Tillandsia aeranthos in bloom... followed by a not so great shot of a seed pod on Potinara Hoku Gem.

All these orchids are available locally (more or less) at the two very best orchid nurseries in the world...

http://www.sborchid.com/
http://www.andysorchids.com/

For a general overview of growing plants epiphytically...

http://epiecon.blogspot.com/2013/11/growing-plants-epiphytically-general.html

If you have any questions I'll be happy to try and answer them.  You can post them here or on facebook or flickr...

https://www.facebook.com/orchidssc
https://www.facebook.com/EpiphyteSociety
https://www.flickr.com/groups/orchidlandscape/discuss/

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If you haven't seen it already... here's the first video of my tree... Extreme Gardening.

For some big picture thinking... Carrying Model