[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Whooa, folks. These are my collection of pictures over about 6 years, starting when I borrowed my sons digital camera, and then got my own. They are not all in bloom at the same time. That would be nice tho, wouldn't it. The Cym. Thethys 'Black Magic' is a very early shot, and that particular plant was trashed because I was pretty sure it had virus. However, I am keeping the picture on my site, because I replaced the plant with one from the Santa Barbara Orchid Estates (SBOE), where they keep it in stock, for you Cym lovers, and where I originally got my first plant. Now I've been told that the color in the picture is not quite the right red, maybe it should be a little darker and more wine colored. Kept the Black Magic and others in my cold frame all last summer, and I think it was a little too stuffy in there, and did not have a decent flowering, atleast not good enough to photograph with my better camera.

I almost lost the Gastrochilus when my GH over heated this last winter, but is is finally starting to grow pretty good, just not as large a plant as I had. Lost all the multiple growths except for one. I have it, and most everything else, in my own mix of 2 parts small perlite to 1 part coursely sifted Canadian peat, with a little oyster shell thrown in to keep the PH at around the 6 range. Peat goes down to about 3.5 to 4 without it. If anyone wants to try my mix, youll need about 2 cups of oyster shell per cubic foot, and the mix gets pressed into the pot VERY firmly. I like to use disposable gloves and kind of feel the roots as I work the mix between them.