Wednesday, June 02, 2010

Orchids

And now for a post with nothing to do with storytelling...

Most of my plants are outside for the summer. I'm a bit neglectful of them. They don't seem to mind. I keep the orchids inside so I can have flowers in the house. Two are blooming now, a third has sent out a shoot. These three are phalaenopsis orchids, while the other plant is a dendrobium. They're not fancy, just the kind you can get at the grocery store.

My mother had cattleya orchids when I was growing up. When I got my first phalaeonopsis, I asked her for advice. She suggested I put them in shallow trays of pebbles, but on clothespins so they would be raised above the pebbles. By keeping the pebbles wet, each orchid has its own microclimate. Once a week, I take them to the sink and run water through them. Otherwise I don't mess with them. They appreciate this and bloom for months on end. I had one that bloomed for 14 months straight.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Boy, your orchids lead the life of Riley! Next winter I'm going to try the orchid-in-the-sink approach, and see what mine do. They're all outside for the summer now, except for the big bowl of phalaenopsis; that one is blooming, and I want the blooms to last longer (they seem to go by quite quickly outside).