Coming back inside this week. I thought you might enjoy seeing pictures of my favorite orchid at Ravenscourt. I bought this wonderful little orchid over a year ago from Another Place in Time nursery here in the Heights. I keep thinking it is called it Once Upon a Time… so usually people don’t know what I am talking about : ) They have a nice selection of orchids and other tropical houseplants. The tag says Dendrobium Micro Chip (aberrans x normanbyense).Doing a bit of research for those of you that might want to track down one of these lovely gems,  I found that is a primary hybrid of parents from the Latouria section of the genus Dendrobium: Dendrobium abberans and Dendrobium normanbyense. Recently Den. Normanbyense was granted species status. It was formerly known as Dendrobium atroviolaceum var. pygmy. Both of these species are from New Guinea and also found on the surrounding islands. They prefer the lower elevations where it is warmer and more humid.I have not had great luck with orchids until this little bushy plant came to live in my kitchen window. It gets bright indirect morning light. I keep it under a cloche during the winter because my kitchen is cold and drafty. This end of the kitchen is the old cooking shed and sometime in the last 110 years they closed in the breeze way and made a big  kitchen. I think a cooking shed is a good idea to keep the heat out of the rest of the house in the summer. Now that it is blooming it is being featured in our dining room. I like the way the blooms catch the light. Like most orchids it prefers warm moist air. When we have the heat or A/C on I give it a little mist of rainwater from a spray bottle. And of course it is rare in Houston to not have either the heat or the air on!I was so excited when it started to send out lots of new spikes just after Christmas. A few weeks ago it started to form buds and I have been watching it change each day. It is nearly in full bloom now. If it is like last year the blooms last for months. I love the little purple spots and the tiny little flowers. And when you look up into them you can see their tiny orchid faces! They have a sweet scent, almost fruity, but being near the kitchen they get over powered by all the cooking smells.The lovely woman at the shop potted it up, putting the plastic pot in a bigger clay pot and then surrounding it with moss. She told me to make sure it has good drainage and let it almost dry out until it starts blooming. Then I was to keep it moist. I am wondering if I should take it back to be re-potted when it is done blooming. I have not feed it any orchid food but I do put seaweed extract in the watering can now and again.

Happy Gardening!