Amaryllis Magical Touch

Amaryllis number 18 for the year is called Magical Touch.



Another new one, and it's lovely.  Deep raspberry red, with streaks and a white picotee edging.  Nice!

Mammillaria backebergiana first re-bloom

My Mammillaria backebergiana cactus is blooming, with beautiful fuchsia flowers. There are 25 buds so far and more developing!



I got this last March, at the tail end of its bloom cycle, with one of the horrible strawflowers hot-glued to the top. The real flowers are so much prettier than the fake ones.





You can see the spine damage caused when I peeled off the glue; the damaged areoles were in the very top center growth point when I got the plant. So it grew an inch in one year, and the damage is an inch down the sides now.

Greening
Sue Brady

Gray and brown and faded green,
Dirty snow piled in corners,
February wears on me.

March roars in and brings more snow
Then it melts and snows again,
Will springtime ever come?

Then… a shoot, a spear, a spike!
The exuberance of crocus
Begins to push out winter.

Daffodil and snowdrop,
Tulip, hyacinth, muscari,
The bulbs know spring is here.

Samba

Amaryllis Number 17 is another new one, and another mislabel.  It was supposed to be Ambiance, which is white with red streaking.  This is not Ambiance, it's Samba, which I actually think I like better.



It's very striking.  The flowers are very flat, and are carried in a tight cluster at the top of the scape.

And just for fun, here's a current picture of the amaryllis table....I mean dining table.  Oops!  :-)

Phalaenopsis, yay!

I have a Phal blooming now, and it's a rebloom!



This is Phal Liu's Triprince, which I got last June.  The original spikes lasted a few months, then I cut them off and it grew a nice new leaf over the winter.  A couple months ago I noticed a little nub forming, and it was a spike!

It's so gratifying when a new orchid reblooms in my care for the first time.

Micro-mini

My Lepanthopsis astrophora orchid is blooming again.  Actually, it's never really stopped since it first bloomed last March, though it did slow down a bit when it was really dark this winter.  But now the days are getting longer again, and it's blooming on two new spikes!



Despite its small size, this is an incredibly beautiful orchid.  Each flower is 1/8" tall, but so perfectly formed, and the color is an amazing glowing fuchsia-purple.

It takes my breath away.

Misty

Amaryllis number 16 is another new one this year, named Misty.



It's very pretty, with its pale pink flowers striped with rose and a green throat, and is mildly fragrant.  This variety is also unusually different from my other amaryllis, in that it is trumpet-shaped.  I like it!