While winter may be looming over our shoulders, and leaves drop from trees, I've been experiencing something different within my room.  

-Sophronitis cernua, one of my miniature orchids, is going to be opening its first flower for me in a matter of days.  They're small, eye searing orange blooms that last for several months.  Hopefully I'll be able to arrange for some pollen donations to make some hybrids.

-Paphiopedilum 'Memoriam Barbara Duncan' is sending up a flower.  These are nearly black, and very slender.

-Nepenthes lavicola may be flowering.  It's hard to tell, but its growth has slowed down tremendously.  This is a huge deal, since this species is critically endangered.

And the big one

-Drosera cistiflora 'Red' seeds have germinated!  This is probably the rarest sundew in the world, in cultivation at least.  It's only known from 2 sites in South Africa and nowhere else in the world.  The red flower form is even rarer, so this is huge news!

That's pretty much what's been going on for me.