Folia and Flora

As a gardener, it is always a joy harvesting homegrown produce. And today I proudly present to you the first bell pepper of the season. Drum roll please...

Well okay, it is a bit wonky-shaped.

All right, and it's a bit small.

Hee hee, it looks funky no matter how you look at it. But I grew it myself, so I'm proud of it. So there!

And how is this for an odd orchid? According to the tag (as I do not believe that this particular orchid has ever bloomed for me before) it is an Epidendrum cochleatum X self orchid. A quick Google search shows that the new name for this orchid is Encyclia cochleatum. This orchid is the national flower of Belize and is called the Black Orchid as well as the Octopus Orchid.

What I can tell you is that this is a difficult orchid to photograph as the flower proper is about the size of a dime. Gotta love those orchids.