The Blue Angels MCAS Miramar Airshow

There's something about military aircraft thundering by that never fails to impress me.  These are F/A-18 Hornets.  Perhaps it is the sheer speed and power of these planes or perhaps it is their ability to do amazing maneuvers in mid-air (including flying straight up and flying upside down!). Whatever the reason, these guys are pretty doggone amazing!

American Orchid Society Award at the San Diego International Orchid Fair

Zygopetalum New Era 'Windflower' HCC/AOS

Hummer of the Day!

Male Anna's Hummingbird, Calypte anna, in flight.

The Tobacco Hornworm - Manduca sexta

Tobacco Hornworm, Manduca sexta, feeding on tomato leaves.  The tobacco hornworm feeds on plants in the family Solanaceae, including tobacco, tomatoes and plants in the morning glory genus, Datura.  The tobacco hornworm is apparently able to isolate and store Nicotine ingested from its tobacco host (note that tomatoes also contain a nicotine alkaloid called tomatine) and excretes Nicotine, which is toxic to most animals, as a deterrent to predation.  The Tobacco hornworn may be distinguished from the Tomato Hornworn via the white diagonal stripes and red horn on the Tobacco hornworm versus the V-Shaped white markings and black horn on the Tomato hornworm.  This particular worm stripped a 3 foot tall tomato plant nearly bare of leaves in about a weeks time, before I finally found him holding tightly to a stem.

Turkey vulture - Cathartes aura meridionalis

Turkey vulture, Cathartes aura meridionalis, flying low at the San Diego Safari Park.  While they are occasionally seen in San Diego proper and all down the Baja, there seem to be a inordinately large number of them hanging out at the Safari Park.  I suspect that they are opportunistically feeding on left overs from the official zoo denizens.

Photo Safari

It was a bright sunny day and the baby animals were out in full force at the Safari Park...so what better time for a photo safari!

 Moi and one of the safer tigers

 Baby Giraffes

 Some wild black ibis hanging out in the pond

 Black rhino and calf

 Bongos in the water hole

 Baby Cheetah

 Leucistic Ellipsen Waterbuck Calf  and Mother

 Lion cub at play

 Pierre and the golden tiger

Snarly Sumatran Tiger

Coelogyne massangeana

Coelogyne massangeana, also known as Coelogyne tomentosa and Coelogyne dayana, is from the mountains of Malaysia, Sumatra, Borneo, and Java.  This one is blooming outdoors in San Diego.

Laelia pumila

Laelia pumila, a first bloom from a sib cross from Brazil.

Cattleya Chocolate Drop 'Kodama' AM AOS

Cattleya Chocolate Drop 'Kodama' AM AOS, a cross of C. aurantiaca X C guttata.  An old cross that still brightens up the room.

Stanhopea panamensis

This just opened today.  It was labled as Stanhopea panamensis.  This species is native to Panama where it frequents hot, wet, lowland forests.

Silver garden spider, Argiope argentata: a Beauty with a Bit of a Bite

Silver garden spider, Argiope argentata.  I spotted this beautiful, silvery spider sparkling in the bright Summer sun.  As it turns out, they pack a bit of a bite.  For most people, the painful bite will sting and itch for about an hour.  However, the bite can be more serious for kids and the elderly.  Their range extends from the Southern U.S. down to Argentina, with a preference for hot, dry climates.

Harrison McIntosh

Clay Sphere on Wood Block by Harrison McIntosh at the American Museum of Ceramic Art's opening celebrating Harrison McIntosh's 100th birthday!

Hummingbird in Flight

Male Anna's Hummingbird in flight, making a beeline for the feeder.

Ctsm Bella Vista's Sangria X Ctsm denticulatum 'SVO'

Ctsm Bella Vista's Sangria X Ctsm denticulatum 'SVO' at Fred Clarke's greenhouse.  It's always a lot of fun seeing what's in bloom at Fred's.

Anna's Hummingbird Waiting for a Berth at the Feeder

Male Anna's Hummingbird, Calypte anna, waiting for a berth at the feeder.  It's been a dry, dry year (i.e., no food in the sage scrub/wild) and the hummingbirds are at the feeder in record numbers.  I just put up a second feeder to handle some of overflow.

Anna's Hummingbird

Anna's Hummingbird, Calypte anna.  These lovely little birds are amazing acrobats, flying every which way at amazing speeds.  This one is darting backwards in reaction to the sound of my camera shutter opening.  They apparently have good hearing as well...

Cattleya Chloe X C Mrs Mahler 'Mem Fred Tompkins'

Cattleya Chloe X C Mrs Mahler 'Mem Fred Tompkins' is a cross I bought way back in the 80's.  It blooms on tall spikes with large heads of flowers (perhaps 8-10 flowers or so) with raspberry veining and raspberry spots.  Quite the charmer if you have the space.

Cattleya bicolor variety alba

Cattleya bicolor variety alba.  This is an albino variety of this familiar, normally red-lipped, Brazilian species, and, wow, what a beauty!

Dendrobium laevifolium

Dendrobium laevifolium, red form.  This is a native of the Southwest Pacific and New Guinea.

Sunset at Ocean Beach, California

Sunset at Ocean Beach, California.

Dendrochilum latifolium variety macranthum

Dendrochilum latifolium variety macranthum.  This is native to Luzon, Mindoro and Mindanao in the Philippines where it grows at around 1000 to 5000 feet.

Dendrochilum kopfii

Dendrochilum kopfii, is native to Mindanao, Philippines.  These grow moderately moist and warm.

Lc Issy 'SVO' HCC AOS x C Mrs Mahler 'Mem Fred Thompkins' AM AOS

Lc Issy 'SVO' HCC AOS x C Mrs Mahler 'Mem Fred Thompkins' AM AOS, a wonderfully glossy cross with waxy flowers borne on a sturdy, upright inflorescence.

Stanhopea embreei 'Ruth Marie Christian'

Stanhopea embreei 'Ruth Marie Christian'.  This clone has larger flowers than most embreei cultivars.  This species is native to Ecuador and Peru.

Stanhopea florida

Stanhopea florida is from Ecuador, Columbia and Peru on the Eastern slope of the Andes.  This one is the yellow form.  There is also a white form.

Cattleya violacea 'SVO Splash'

Cattleya violacea 'SVO Splash'.  These lovely little orchids need a decided rest from watering over the Winter, need water only roughly every three weeks during Winter.  This one is growing at Sunset Valley Orchids.

Cattleya bicolor

Cattleya bicolor grows wild in Brazilian central plateau.  There are multiple color varieties throughout its range.  This is a nice, clear green one.

Two Contrails are Better than One!

Two Contrails in the Setting Sun above San Diego, California, looking eerily like missile contrails... Every now and then we have those weird orange sunsets where you just have to reach for the camera. Probably due a fire or two somewhere nearby. These two contrails looked suspiciously like those I saw in the missile interceptor tests a few years back. I wondered, for just a little bit, if that was the last thing I would ever see...but no, they were just jet contrails, as far as I can tell.

Stanhopea wardii

Stanhopea wardii. These flowers were open for about two days and still going strong. The plant is just going gangbusters for flowers. Nothing rare but a whole lot of fun and generally undemanding and with a wonderfully sweet fragrance.  These will grow outside, in a shady spot, in Southern California.

Epiphyllum hookeri

Epiphyllum hookeri. These are normally night blooming but this one was still open and fresh when the morning sun came up! White flowers tend to be night bloomers, being white to be visible in dim light to night pollinators like moths and bats.

Myrmecophila exaltata 'Arnilicious'

Myrmecophila exaltata 'Arnilicious'.  Blue-lavender is the most common color form for this species.  This brownish-orange form is quite rare.  The branching flower spikes are around four feet long.

Cattleya loddigesii

Cattleya loddigesii.  These fairly tall orchids tend to be good growers with firm, fragrant lavender flowers.

Cattleya leopoldii (tigrina)

Cattleya leopoldii (tigrina).  These come in a variety of colors including brown with red blotches, red, cream colored and even green!  This is one of the cleaner brown colored ones.

Cattleya Mrs Mahler 'Fred Tomkins' AM/AOS

First bloom on Cattleya Mrs Mahler 'Fred Tomkins' AM/AOS. This is a hybrid of C. bicolor x C. guttata. An oldie, blooming for the first time for me on a small meristem. This was awarded way back in 1977. You would think someone would have remade this wonderful cross by now! Of course, the plants get kind of large...but, if you have space for a four foot tall plant, it's a beauty!

Blooming in the Orchid Greenhouse...

 Brassavola cebolleta

Cattleya bicolor variety grossii

Stanhopea stevensonii

Stanhopea stevensonii is native to Columbia where is grows in cool, montane habitats.  In cutivation, the flowers burrow out from the bottom of the baskets they grow in, and develop these beautiful, pendant flower spikes.

Epidendrum conopseum

Epidendrum conopseum, also known as Epidendrum magnoliae, is the most Northern growing epiphytic orchid in the Americas.  This is possible because of the warm ocean currents that flow up the Eastern seaboard of the United States.

Stanhopea deltoidea

Stanhopea deltoidea, a native of Peru and Bolivia, where is grows at around 4000-5500 feet.  This is blooming in the greenhouse.

Cattleya schofieldiana

Cattleya schofieldiana, a native of the coastal hills of Brazil, has tall, graceful pseudobulbs, each producing a few, large, gaudy flowers.  This one is blooming in the greenhouse.

Slc Teiko Nicholson x Cattleya aclandiae

Slc Teiko Nicholson x Cattleya aclandiae (blooming in the kitchen).  You can see the C. Chocolate drop influence in the sheen and the color and, if you look good, you'll see tiny red peppering (and of course the lip) from aclandiae.  The color combo really jumps out.  In addition, the Rojo influence gave it a good, strong, upright stem and nice flower arrangement.  Quite fragrant too!