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We are having the first string of evenings with temperatures above 60 F, so it's time for many of my orchids to begin their summer vacations. I anticipate a few nights where I'll need to bring them inside due to an odd cold front or excessive rain, but the air and sun feel like it's time to start the summering process. I'll wait until it heats up before moving the Phals., but my Oncidiums, Brassavolas, and Cattleyas are in the shade house.
A lot of orchids love to be outside during the Midwest summer. The 12-16 weeks of extreme heat and humidity boosts their growth and sets the stage for their Fall and Winter flower extravaganza. At our last meeting, the fabulous leader of our Society's Beginner Group reviewed some important points about moving plants outdoors. I'm making a few modifications this year based on her suggestions and my experiences last summer.
1) First, I'm adding shade cloth on the West-facing side. I can still see last year's burn marks on my Miltassia and I'm determined to avoid a repeat scenario. On the plus side, the natural light and longer days is turning the Miltassia's leaves a lovely shade of light green.
2) I'm also making an extra effort to secure the pots to the structure instead of waiting until they blow over. I discovered last summer that a lot of my plants resent being knocked off the bench, out of their potting media, and onto wet grass. I don't know why the wildly chaotic winds and storms caught me off guard last season, especially considering that I've lived in the land of Oz, Dorothy, and Toto for almost a decade.
3) I'm going to rely less on the bench & racks and I'm going to do more mounting and hanging of the orchids. This is especially important for my Brassavolas. They had a rough 2010 summer and it took me a long time to figure out how to make them happy. B. cuculatta and B. Little Stars were healthy and carefree, but their friends (B. subulifolia, B. tuberculata, and B. nodosa) had birds or mice gnaw on their pseudobulbs, had sun-fried root, were over-watered, and generally muddled through.
For me, the secret was taking them out of their pots and mounting them on wood or cork. I did this to my Rl. David Sander (Rhy. digbyana x B. cucullata) last August and it made a massive and joyous recovery. I reasoned that the others desired liberation from their clay pots, too, and followed suit. They now require more frequent watering (spraying 1-3 times a day), but it prompts me to visit them more often and I feel like I have a better sense of their needs. One of our esteemed Orchid Society members grows his B. nodosa in South-facing sun with no shading whatsoever. I saw it last year on the Grower's Tour. It looked awesome! The trick, however, is to ease the Brassavolas into a full-sun mood, and creating that mood is a careful process that travels far into June.
4) Finally, I'm going to take better care in easing the plants into their new environment. I've been putting the large Catts outside on nice days for the past month. At first, I put them out for a few hours in the morning or afternoon. Eventually they stayed out all day when warm and partly cloudy. Now, they're getting a lot more sun.
Although the official start of summer is about six weeks away, the summering process is Now. Some plants will thrive and others will face unexpected challenges. I hope for a little luck, good watering decisions, and -- of course -- careful guidance from the four kitties.
Trixie mentioned that I was an official "red neck" this morning. I was shocked and incredulous -- not because of the term's association with Southern stereotypes -- because I religiously apply sunscreen during my garden time. So, I balked until she provided the photographic evidence.
Likewise, I wanted to believe that I provided good shade for my smaller catt hybrids, but the truth was much more harsh. One plant in particular has had a bad reaction to summertime. It first started with some black blotches on a fresh leaf tip, then the entire tip turned black and dry. I razored off the dead part and put the plant in shadier spot, and yet the leaf die-back continues.
I've made peace with my inexperience and have taken the plant indoors for rehab. The kitties are going to look after it. Me? I'm going to escalate my sunscreen usage because the Midwest summer is no joke.
There's been crazy business at the Cats and Catts house! I haven't had a chance to post in the last two weeks, but it's not for lack of orchid and cat activity. The kitties had a dog visitor from Alaska for a few days. Nicki (below) kept the cats on their toes. When they weren't hiding under the bed, they were walking around with puffy tails, all suspicious or jumping into the lap of our guest who was allergic (Griffin was the main culprit, naturally).
Then, we entertained guests from Florida and Iowa. So, I've been hanging out with friends and family and/or spending time in the garden. I'm slowly acquiring the weed-hating mentality of Michael Pollan's grandfather. I have a number of new irises and daylilies I acquired last year from a gardening-guru friend, and I'm trying to give those plants the best possible shot at greatness.
The orchids have been demanding, too. The longer, hotter days have required more watering sessions. I've already sunburned one mini-catt and I probably put more at risk. So, I moved ahead with plans to build a shade house. My brother-in-law drove down from Iowa for the occasion and led the design and construction effort. We built the structure (see below) in about two and a half days. I promise to follow up with a step-by-step description, but I still need to paint it and landscape the perimeter.
Also, the Cats and Catts Video crew is working on a how-to video for the shade house and we're finishing the Large-Flowered Cattleya educational video series. We're looking ahead to do a series on the Brazilian Laelias drawn from Chadwick and Chadwick's book and the recent article in Orchids magazine, but we promise more kitties and frogs in the coming weeks.
