So much to record!

Here we go again!  Almost everything is growing, some like CRAZY!  I was watering sp. aff. vitellina this morning and I counted at least ten new growth points AND peduncles are starting to bud!  Check out these two closeups of new growth...this first one is on an established vine:

 

...and this one is right down in the heart of the plant, out of the oldest growth!

Can you see the two ants by the upper growth?  This is the second year in a row I've had a good number of ants in the GH.  As long as they stay out of the house, I really don't have a problem with them...

Pubicalyx 'Philippean Black' is growing well, with lots of dark new growth.  But here's something weird.  I apparently cut the cutting when I got it and rooted them both, but one had little short stout leaves that looking nothing like the others.  Since I don't really remember specifically doing that, I thought maybe I had put a cutting of something else in with my PB, but when that other cutting started growing, it was obvious it WAS a PB cutting!  Check it out, and notice the short, stout leaves in the background:

  

You can't always explain nature.

I took some cuttings of rigida last year and put them in hydroton.  They rooted quickly, and they've finally started growing.  Two nice vines came out of the hydroton, so I think this will turn into a really cool plant:

 Flowers opened on UT-039, thankfully before the heat of the weekend...

So pretty!  I didn't detect any fragrance.  But this morning, I woke up to the pottsii in my bedroom with an umbel open. I smelled it last night, but it really got my attention about 6 a.m. this morning!!...

Such a SWEET smell.  I got up and went out to water since it's supposed to get so hot...

And it did.  Now it's Sunday and it feels even hotter than yesterday.  Much more humid.  It's only 9:00 and I've been out in the GH and out back and the sweat is pouring off of me.  Decided to come in and sit under the fan to cool off awhile.  Here's what I got done...

I put a couple rooted cuttings of vanuatuensis back in with the smaller pot that I plan to keep.  The bigger pot is on the back porch.  It looked a little... well, ehh... this spring, so I took some cuttings and put it out back early.  It's doing fine and even growing.  Plan to sell it off this fall at the C&S multi-club auction.  I'll keep the smaller pot.  It's one of those Hoyas I find less than thrilling, but the yellow flowers are outstanding, so it's worth growing - BUT ONLY ONE!

I had taken down 'Jennifer' last night to water and it was still over the sink this a.m.  When I examined it, three of the stems have super-thin leaves.  Uh-oh...  I know what THAT means!  So I cut those off and ended up with 4 pots of cuttings.  Those I can get a pretty penny for in the fall!  I'll put a couple back in with the mother plant to balance out the pot, but I'll sell the other two.

Oh, and I didn't get a lot posted yesterday as I had intended because I worked on my database.  It's been a chore to get it put back together after losing it.  Well, when I set it up initially, I didn't have the presence of mind to set it up as a numbered list.  (Side-note: I lost my Excel program when I reloaded after the virus incident, so I had to set it up in Word...)  So yesterday, I must have spent 3 hours re-doing it (it wasn't an easy fix...), and then checking my old list for species I wasn't sure I still had.  I think I FINALLY have it all up to date!  And if it is correct, I have 163 species right now, so I really still need to hone it down some more, if I can!

One of my Epiphyllums decided to bloom, and thankfully, it stayed open long enough for me to get some photos:

 

 It was truly beautiful!  It's my largest Epi, and this was the only bud (so far).  The one that usually goes out on the front porch is staying in the GH this summer, and it is budding up and blooming, so maybe that won't affect the blooming.  

I also combined two pots of variegated macrophylla, and I'm going to figure out someplace to hang it out front.  Jan contacted me today about getting some of my wide-leaf macrophylla, so I think it's a good time to whack up my extra one and make cuttings to sell this fall.  I get a pretty penny for those!

An observation... I have to admit that I'm enjoying the time with my plants more this spring than ever before.  I've always worked... back when I worked a real 40/45 hour week, I had to make time for my plants, but I was still pretty young back then and I didn't have near as many...  The last 21 years, being a co-owner of the business, I didn't really have to work that many hours a week.  I worked 4 days, 4 hours a day, then a long day on Saturday, maybe 11 or 12 hours.  So >30 hours a week, maybe.  There were weeks when we had two jobs, or an extra big job, where I might put in 36-45 hours, but that wasn't typical.  And then there were weeks in the "down" months where I might only work 15 hours a week.  But there was so much more stress involved.  Making every brides day PERFECT, and in the "down" months, worrying about paying bills.  Stress...  Now, I'm working 25 hours a week, totally stress free, and this gives frees up my mind to enjoy this hobby on my days off.  It feels SOOO good!  I am seeing so much I didn't have the time to see before, or I was so stressed about the business that I couldn't enjoy it.  Life is good!  And on that note, I'm done for tonight!