Lovelies as always, Lindsey. Happy Birthday! The Elizabeth Ann has some elegant shadings on her petals that appeal to me.
My cage growing area with something like a dozen different species is divided into micro-climates like Ursula's greenhouse, too. Top tier of sun lovers shades the ones lower down that don't take so much direct sun. I solved the over-watering problems by mounting more than half of my plants on cork, and one end of the cage with mounts gets misted every day (if it doesn't rain, like today). The cattleyas that need lots of sun and not so much water are at the far end and get hosed down every 4 or 5 days. In the height of summer when there's way too much rain for them, I move them in over the patio table where the screen is covered with plastic so I can control the water.
All my Vandas get hosed down every day, usually twice for the little ones outside the cage if I walk by. They get misted in the mornings by the automatic system, too. They'll be moving to the hoop house for the winter once I get the jungle hacked back enough for more sun. The cage actually gets more sun in the winter, thankfully, because of the lower sun angle.
New little delight today, Tolumnia Jairak Flyer has been keeping company all summer in the basket with my David Sander, and seems to be happy. Such nice flowers on tiny plants. Nobody told them that Tols are supposed to bloom in the spring, I guess. I'm crediting the change in weather we had a couple of weeks ago. (back to summer oppression now, though) One other little Tol has a spike starting up, too.
Last spike opening on Punakea, it has been just gorgeous for over a month now. In the last picture you can see the covered part of my cage area over the table. The older spike on this plant is fading elegantly to delicate pink shades now.
