Our orchids are looking good at the moment. Above are two of the rescues from that batch I found in a neighbor's yard waste last year. (They're the sister plants to the one that so infatuated the bee -- which came around for a day or two but then decided to pursue a more giving partner.)
The one in front is looking good. The one behind it is very strange -- it's extremely robust in terms of leaves and roots, and it grew an impressive flower stalk, but then it dropped its flower buds. So I don't know what happened there.
Here are a few others that have flowers now.
The flowers on this one have been around for months and they're just about to wilt, which is why they look more textured.
Two more have flower stalks with buds so we should see blossoms from them soon!
They're beautiful, though orchids aren't my favourite flower and I never even try to grow them. My mum loved them and made me carry them as my wedding bouquet.
ReplyDeleteIt's a shame she didn't let you choose your own wedding bouquet!
DeleteI haven't grow orchid for years, yours look good.
ReplyDeleteThey are mostly foundlings from local trash cans.
DeleteA beautiful assortment of colours
ReplyDeleteWe do have a wide variety!
DeleteYou definitely have the touch with orchids! Do you feed them? If so what with?
ReplyDeleteI only have a small flowered white one out at the moment. My large white one flowered for over a year last time! Love the purple one.....never had. one that colour.
I have orchid food but I don't often use it. Maybe a couple of times a year. All I do is water them weekly and make sure they immediately drain well.
DeleteWhat a display. That would make me smile every day.
ReplyDeleteThey're nice to have around!
DeleteThe orchids look so elegant and beautiful!
ReplyDeleteThanks! These particular plants don't have very elegant origins. Most of them are from the trash!
DeleteThe orchids are lovely. I had some, years ago, with varied success. I don't like the long interval of dull floppy foliage between blossoming, and I think they knew it!
ReplyDeleteYeah, they do take a long time to re-energize for another round of blossoms, and gradually they lose their vitality.
DeleteOh my, what a full bloom you have in your first photo.
ReplyDeleteThose yellow ones are going gangbusters.
DeleteYou definitely have the touch when it comes to orchids. I'm still waiting on mine but even tho the leaves are nice and green, I get no blossoms.
ReplyDeleteBright indirect light and weekly waterings, making sure they drain completely. That's my recommendation! :)
DeleteWe had a friend in Miami who had an orchid farm in her backyard and made a pretty penny selling them.
ReplyDeleteWe have a couple in the sunroom and Carlos seems to have a way with them also.
I can't imagine farming them. I'm maxed out with the ones we have, and there are only about ten!
DeleteYour apartment is quite the showcase right now!
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure "showcase" is the word. Jungle, maybe? :)
DeleteAfter years of doing nothing, my orchids finally bloomed and then each quickly succumbed to the white fly or whatever nastiness I'd been trying to get rid of forever and I was heartless and set them outside where the monkey grass has probably eaten them up. Obviously, I cannot grow orchids.
ReplyDeleteYours are beautiful. I especially love that tumbling purple one.
If I lived in Florida I'd put them outside -- absolutely! At least in warm weather. And I'd spray 'em with water in dry weather.
DeleteI'm not jealous at all. Sigh. I can grow orchids to same my life, of course the cat doesn't help.
ReplyDeleteHa! Cats are not friendly to ANY houseplants. :)
DeleteSo gorgeous! Makes me wish I had more room for flowers in the house (we basically have two spaces where plants can thrive, & one of them is a bathtub).
ReplyDeleteHa! I love that your bathtub is a plant hostel. I know that's where Miss Pinky lives in the winter!
Deleteyou certainly have the touch with orchids. I'd like to have one but the only ones readily available are at the grocery store, forced to within an inch of their lives and in those tiny pots. my daughter gave me one of the little ones (available in three sizes) and it promptly died.
ReplyDeleteYeah, grocery store orchids are hit or miss. Sometimes they survive and sometimes they don't.
DeleteThese are gorgeous! Your ability to grow orchids is masterful. I'm impressed.
ReplyDeleteI think the key is that aside from weekly watering, and making sure they drain well, I basically leave them alone.
DeleteYour orchids are stunning! I think my little one overdid itself a year ago ... nothing this year!
ReplyDeleteThey often skip years -- sometimes even two or three years.
DeleteYou have a great variety of orchids. I can still find wild orchids here.
ReplyDeleteWild orchids are always fun. Sometimes they barely look like what we think of as orchids.
DeleteThey are all beautiful in their own ways. You seem to have the magic touch with your orchids. Imagine if the folks who threw them out could see them now!
ReplyDeleteThey might be surprised, but they might also be just as happy that they threw them out and didn't have to care for the plants while they were resting.
DeleteI'm not sure which I like best - either the purple or the yellow. They're all beautiful!
ReplyDeleteThat little purple one has been a very dependable bloomer. We've had it for years and it sends up one flower stalk after another.
DeleteThat deep purple one reminded me that my mother used to raise African Violets when I was a youngster. They must have wondered what they were doing in North Dakota!
ReplyDeleteOh, African violets! I haven't thought of those in years. It seems like they're less popular now than they used to be.
DeleteThese are spectacular, Steve. Can you do a post sometime about what orchids like, as yours are obviously very happy? I'm caring for a friend's orchid while she's out of town for several months, and have NO idea what I'm doing (or what kind it is). Or can you steer me to a good website? The only thing I have going for me is that it hasn't died yet (whew!) and is even making new leaves.
ReplyDeleteChris from Boise
All they need is regular, frequent watering (I water weekly) and they need the ability to drain completely. Also bright indirect light. Those are my only hints!
DeleteOurs do occasionally get bugs, like scale or mealybug, but I don't do anything special to fight them. I might dab the mealybugs with rubbing alcohol. I rinse them off in the shower now and then, too.
Oh, and clear pots are better than opaque pots, because the roots photosynthesize. I only learned this recently, which is why so many of ours have opaque pots.
DeleteSuper, thanks! I will consult with the owner of the plant and change a few things up.
DeleteYour orchids are beautiful. It's always amazing to me that they repeat flower. Mine always die. I'm done killing house plants, too much bad karma accumulating.
ReplyDeleteHa! Well, I think the karmic value of an orchid is probably pretty low, if that's any consolation. :)
DeleteEverytime that I see your orchids, I tell myself that I'm going to try my hand at them. They are awfully expensive, comparatively speaking, and I always talk myself out of them because I'm afraid that I will kill them.
ReplyDeleteI wish I could mail some to you! I think we've bought only three of the ten orchids we have right now. Most of them I found while walking, in trash bins or yard waste bags.
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