I wonder where the flowers iz?

In theory, spring has sprung here in Michigan, even if I did have to shovel the driveway last week. The tulip bulbs I planted last fall have managed to poke through the layers of mulch and snow, so I should get some pretty flowers by the end of the month. I am impatient, though. I want warmer weather now! I want pretty colors now! Good thing I have my orchids.


When we moved back from England, I thought I might try growing orchids. The Spousal Unit even installed a very nice greenhouse window over the kitchen sink, so I could keep them (mostly) out of the reach of silly kitties, who like to nibble on greenery and knock pots over. I have about half a dozen orchids, both cattleyas and phalaenopses, which are usually the easiest to grow. I call the one on the left "Old Faithful." It was the first orchid I bought, and I got it at a Sam's Club at least five years ago. Every year without fail it reblooms, sending up a spike that has at least a dozen flowers on it. For the last couple of years, Old Faithful has sent up a second spike, either at the same time or later, during the summer. Not bad for a non-fancy phalaenopsis I bought on a whim.

I haven't had as good luck with getting my cattleyas to rebloom, or even survive. I bought one the year after I got OF, and it didn't do anything but collect kitty bites until last spring, when it finally gave me lovely, delicate, bright-orange blossoms. Another one I bought shrivelled up and died. :-( But I keep watering and being patient, in the hopes I'll get more blossoms someday.

I've had better luck with this other phalaenopsis, which I'm pretty sure I bought at an orchid show. I love to go to orchid shows, although I have to restrain myself from buying more plants when I don't have any space left in my greenhouse window. Even though I forgot to repot this one last summer, and it's a little cramped in its current home, it has favored me with flowers this spring. It sent up a spike even before Old Faithful, and the spike split in two, so I'll get double the blossoms. On mornings like today, when I get up and it's still dark and freezing outside, I like the reminder that growing season is coming, and soon enough I'll be complaining about all the pruning and weeding and planting I'll have to do!