Orchids

in full bloom

A year ago I bought an orchid because it was very pretty. The blooms lasted for quite awhile, then died off.  After the blooms die, you trim the stalk and wait for a new one to grow. At one point I hopped online to research the care and feeding of orchids since I wasn't sure how to care for it. I read that they can bloom twice (or was it three times? can't quite remember now...) a year and you should fertilize with special fertilizer. You shouldn't trim the "tentacles", as they are roots and it's fine for them to cascade over the side.

If you haven't guessed, I really don't know that much about plants, and I did the research almost a year ago and have forgotten a lot of it since.

A few months ago, I noticed a new stalk finally growing between the leaves. As it got longer, I trained it up one of the support sticks. It grew enough each day that I had to adjust the clip at the end of each day so the stalk would stay straight.

The first buds bloomed before Christmas and the final one bloomed just before we went to Disney.

Unfortunately, LMS didn't read the warning I read about leaving the roots alone, and decided to "help" and give them a trim. Luckily, she missed a couple of them, and now we're waiting to see how the plant responds to having its roots trimmed.

Why do I bring this up?

I am notorious for killing houseplants. I either water too much or too little and then they die. Keeping an orchid alive for more than a year and having it bloom again is a huge step for me!

Now we have to see if I can keep a garden alive this summer....