Pure Yellow Cattleya Orchid

its beautiful but i had to smile because i thought it was a daffodil and i didnt associate daffodils with where you live!

very pleased it has bloomed for you!

How exciting for you Delonix..Its lovely...:>)

Exciting and beautiful.

Stickitoffee:

Thanks!

Daffodils grow very well here in San Diego. They tend to bloom in January. Daffodils don't need the cold period that tulips need.

Motinot:

Thanks! I'm so glad I brought it indoors before the bugs ate the flower. :>)

Klahanie:

Yes, I'm so excited and happy it's blooming. I just wish my purple Cattleya would bloom...as it hasn't bloomed in two years, also.

Thanks delonix I didn't know that, you learn something every day!

Yes, Daffodils for some reason don't the cold temps.

They're perfect to plant where there's lots of gophers, also. I think the bulbs are poisonous to gophers.

Gophers are a major problem in many areas of California.

thats one pest i dont think we have ~ gophers!!!

they are just a name that people use if you have to go running off to get loads of things for someone else ~ then you would be called a gopher ~ because you have to 'go for' it!!

We have the same slang meaning for gopher here, also.

You're so lucky you don't have gophers! Gophers are horrible, horrible pests!!! They do a lot of damage to a garden. They are very difficult to control and eradicate completely. I used to have so many when I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area (I never won the war on them).

I have many friends, including my father who are always battling gophers here in southern California. I'm so glad I don't have any in my yard. :>)

you need some of our cold weather to get rid of them!!

The cold weather doesn't bother them. They are in areas of California where it snows. Us Californians wish it was that easy! lol! :>)

Here's a little more information on the gopher:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botta's_pocket_gopher

sneaky little creature isnt it ~ stealing the plants by the root and pulling them down!

i dont think we need them over here ~ we have enough trouble with moles!

We have moles, too! :>(

Oh no! And groundhogs?

No groundhogs here in California. However, with that being said: mountain lions, bears, coyotes, bobcats, skunks and deer are very plentiful around the more rural areas. They even come into the urban areas, also. Many times a year Southern California schools are on lock-down because of mountain lion and bear sightings close to schools. The mountain lion and bear populations have really increased over the years. It's pretty amazing that in the early 70's the California mountain lion was hunted to almost extinctions and now the populations have exploded, especially in the urban areas boarding on rural areas throughout the state.

Coyotes are a problem everywhere in San Diego even in most urban areas. I see them in my neighborhood...this is why we have no feral cats. Small dogs are coyote food also. I have to watch my dog very carefully when I let him out at night.

its quite scary where you live.........i had no idea! the biggest we get here are the muntjacs! the only other pest is pigeons, some people have foxes, badgers and rabbits but compared with the wildlife near you ours are tame!

school on lock-down sounds really scary, do the children get used to it?

I've never seen a mountain lion or bear where I live, as it's too urban. However, not too far away there's many.

Last year the city of Glendale, which is pretty urban in the Los Angeles area had major problems with black bears. Typically, if a mountain lion, bear or bobcat is spotted by a school. It's usually put on lock-down. These schools are usually boarding open land.

Here's a mountain lion which was shot at a mall in Santa Monica Mall.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/05/22/11816964-mountain-lion-shot-killed-after-prowling-santa-monica-shopping-mall?lite

Here's a story about a black bear in Glendale...for some reason bear love Glendale neighborhood. It's happened many time before.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-black-bear-visits-glendale-neighborhood-tears-apart-bee-hives-20130325,0,653972.story

I saw a program about the black bears coming down into the town areas because they were hungry.

A bob cat? Are they big trouble too?

Yes, in years of drought it's more common for them to come into the more urban areas (the same goes for bobcats, foxes, coyotes, which are everywhere and mountain lions).

Most people know to make themselves look very big in case of a contact with mountain lions. This will usually scare them away (kids are of course more at risk). Bears are much more dangerous! They will attack...especially if they feel threatened. You actually have to play dead with bears. I would be very scared to that, though!

I don't think I would manage to do that very effectively! I can't sit still at the best of times! Do they train the children to take appropriate action?

Yes, I'm sure they do. I remember as a kid they taught us that.

Looks as if it is producing plenty of new pseudobulbs too.

Meanie:

No, it's not producing new pseudobulbs. I think my backyard is just too hot for Cattleyas. I need to move them into my shade structure in the front yard.

At the San Diego most Cattleyas are grown under very large Banyan trees. They seem to like it cooler and pretty shady.

I had several new pseudobulbs grow on my purple Cattleya last year...then they dried up in a big heat wave. So, no flowers this year again from my purple Cattleya, maybe next year.

This flower should last at least 4 or 5 weeks. During the very hot, dry weather over the last 5 days the flower is already starting to shrivel on this posted plant. :>(

Oh! And I thought that I struggled with them due to a lack of light............

Well, you have to take the difference in latitude into consideration.