Oncidium croesus Orchid

I knew I obtained this miniature orchid some time ago but was surprised to find it was bought five years ago. It has taken until this year for it to finally produce some flowers. As I appear to have found the right conditions for growth it should now flower every year.





This orchid is a native species to Brazil, growing at elevations of 400 to 600 metres above sea level.

Pitcher Pollen

The second flower on the pitcher plant has now fully opened.



In the process a couple of the strands bearing pollen fell off. I placed them under my LCD microscope to try taking some closer shots.

The ruler (cm / mm markings) shows how small they are:


The resolution is reasonable, though as expected, the depth of field in shallow:



Those tiny grains of pollen are really minute.



In case you don't remember the LCD microscope I use .......





It works from 5V, has a memory card which can store photographs and video and connects to a PC / laptop so the card content can be copied across.

An Open Pitcher

It has taken nine days but the flower on the Pitcher plant has gone from this



to this



Three of the petals fell off to expose the inside of the flower and its bright yellow pollen. What was fascinating to me was the part which looks like an upside down umbrella. The petals which fell off appear to have been 'guarding' the gap until it was fully ripe.



From the angle of the second new photo you can see this 'umbrella' is growing from the centre of the flower. I guess it leaves a gap just large enough for whatever insect pollinates it in the wild.

A Pretty Pitcher

No - my spelling hasn't gone haywire. A pleasant surprise this morning when I was about to water my Pitcher plants.



I almost missed it as it was facing away from me ...



... a large red flower. I don't think it is fully open as yet but I just had to photograph it. In fact there are two flowers, the other hasn't started opening yet.

Pocket Love

It is all much of a muchness hereabouts at the moment but one new flower is catching my eye. One of my small orchid plants is showing flowers, on last years growth! The plant is a Dendrobium hybrid - Pocket Love:





It is also forming lots of flower buds on the new growth which should give a lovely display in a month or so.

Unusual Lithops

When I set up the large propagator I added to my small collection of Lithops plants. They are often called Living Stones or Living Pebbles as that is what they usually look like.



When I saw this much more unusual one I couldn't resist buying it:



I had no idea whether it would have a recognisable flower or when it would show any. Yesterday I noticed a small speck of yellow. Today, while the Sunlight was blazing through I saw ...



A closer look:



Its first flower. All of 15mm across. It looks likely there is at least one more to open very soon. That helped to make up for a fraught day yesterday when, as a result of a burst water main locally, there was no tap water all day.

Light Stacking

In the past I have taken macro photos using a technique called focus stacking where several shots are taken at different focus points. Those are added together in a focus stacking program. This time I though I would try something a bit different.

Orchid flowers on a window sill indoors taken while mainly lit from the back with daylight through the window:



The same set up but with added flash lighting from the camera:



The result when they are added together in Helicon Focus then tweaked a little in Affinity Photo:



Light Stacking? That's what I call it anyway. Photos taken with a Canon G5X, tripod mounted.

Orange Macro

A second small cactus plant has started to flower. A lovely orange colour.



Just the subject for taking a series of focus stacked macro shots:



Built up from 42 shots at slightly varying focus distances using Helicon Focus software.

Macro Session

I felt just in the right mood to take a few macro shots this morning. First I chose the subject - a small flowering cactus plant:



Found a space to set up my home brew set-up for taking a series of focus stacked photos:



The Canon M5 fitted with Canon 18-150mm zoom lens and added a Raynox DCR-150 macro lens. Each stacked macro photo is made from 40 - 50 individual shots and processed in Helicon Focus software. The results ....









The flower is about 17mm across.

Red Bottle Brushes

The Callistemon (bottle brush plant) may be somewhat straggly in growth



but the unusual brilliant red flowers make up for it



Even though it is not a native British plant it attracts a lot of bees.
I wonder what bottle brush honey tastes like.
This coming Autumn I will try to cultivate some cuttings.

Tiny Flower - macro

This may not be the world's smallest flower but it is the smallest I have.

The plant:
Adromischus cooperi



produces a disproportionately long flower stem



with tiny flowers which open gradually along the stem



Just the subject for some macro focus stacking.

The M5 fitted with a Raynox MSN-202 25 diopter macro conversion lens



The result of 35 focus stacked photos processed with Helicon Focus



The set up used was described HERE.

Brush That Bottle

The second set of flowers have finally opened on my Callistemon plant



I have always been fascinated by the way they develop.
Growing right on the branch and part way along it.
Bottle Brush is a very apt name for it.

Callistemon

As we came back from our mid morning walk I spotted this flash of red:



The first flowers on my Callistemon, bottle brush, plant starting to open.

Hibiscus

The Hibiscus bush is at about its best at the moment, or was before last night's thunder storm soaked all the flowers. It has been a bit of a relief as it produced very few flowers last year and looked dead in the Spring.





Lots of bees visiting but so far no butterflies.





A bit of slow motion video.
As usual it may need 'forcing' to show in HD



All photos and video taken with an iPhone 6s

Timelapse - Sundew Flowers

The finished timelapse video of my Sundew plant flowering:



If the video looks a bit blurry YouTube may have chosen to show it at 480p
In that case click the cog wheel at the bottom and then Quality.
Choose a better quality, up to 1080p depending on the speed of your internet connection.

Title scene made in HitFilm 2 Express
Stills compiled to video with TLDF
Final video made with iMovie
Soundtrack found on Wikimedia Commons.

Sundew Timelapse - Early Test Sample

Five days ago I started taking a flash photo of the Sundew flower stems every 15 minutes. The idea being to make a timelapse video. Here is a test video made from the 473 photos taken so far:



The video was made at 30fps and then slowed down 50%
I had to adjust the camera view a few times as the stems are still growing in height.
You may need to force YouTube to show in HD.
Click on the little wheel at the bottom and choose HD

Whoa. It's Not Spring Yet

I just spied one of the tiny flowers opening on the Corkscrew Hazel bush. It's a bit on the early side to say the least. The catkins haven't started to open up yet:



It looks like a couple of weeks ahead with temperatures hovering around 0C while the weather system brings cold air from Siberia. Snow warnings have already been issued for next Tuesday on this coast.

The Grand Opening

No. Not a shop or a pub or visitor centre but the first of my Cymbidium orchids to flower for a couple of years. What a difference a day makes.

Yesterday:



This morning:



It may gain a little more colour as it matures but this smaller variety is nearly all green.

The flower spike on the larger Cymbidium continues to progress:



Also I was pleased to spot a bud appearing on the tender Australian Kangaroo Paw (Anigozanthos) plant. Great to have managed to get this one through its second Winter in the unheated conservatory as they are often treated as (expensive) annuals in this country:



It will be put outside again once we are past any chance of early morning frosts.

Succulently Yellow

Nothing to do with food or eating.
A couple of my succulents have flowered for the first time, both have yellow flowers:

Faucaria Tigrina:


Faucaria Britteniae:


They are native to South Africa and grow in the propagator along with the Lithops (living stones)