Monday, February 19, 2007

My Orchid Collection



Orchids really are one of my favorite plants. I guess what I like about them is I have them all year long and can tend to them even when it's too cold outside to grow anything. You just never know when they will surprise you with some blooms. I have 10 in all, 9 Phalaenopsis and 1 Dendrobium Orchid. I have little nick names for all of them, depending on what their proper names are ( usually on the tag when the plant comes from the grower) . The one above though, I bought from a grower on ebay of all places, maybe 2 years ago. Its tag simply had a lot of numbers on it. So I call this Phalaenopsis simply "Woody" because I repotted it into a wooden planter.

The blooms you see above are from last year. Woody first spiked in March (a spike is the stem that the buds will form on) then on May 1st Woody started blooming and I had the above 4 beautiful palest purple and white blooms for 2 1/2 months. July 15th is when the first bud started closing up. This is why I love this species, they bloom for such a long time and it is a joy to have them around.

I was just watering Woody yesterday and noticed the beginnings of what could be a spike..(could also be an air borne root) although, I will know pretty soon. If it is a spike, in about 2 months time, I will be looking at those beautiful blooms above again.

To see a few more of my collection in bloom, visit the Sept archives (Sept 18th post)

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Orchids are breathtaking Ruth! Makes me eager for Spring even more..

Ruth Welter said...

Spring cannot come soon enough for me Alecia...thanks.

The Polka Dot Pixie said...

Oh how pretty!

Ruth Welter said...

Thanks Jenny..they are loads of fun to grow.

Marilyn said...

Ruth, your orchids are so pretty. It makes me want to try my hand at these beauties, but I really just don't have much of a green thumb.

Ruth Welter said...

Marilyn,

You really should give it a try, many of the varieties are not hard to care for at all. Try Phalaenopsis species, they are quite user friendly when it comes to care. Also, I highly recommend 2 books if you would like to delve into the Orchid world. Orchids For Dummies & Ortho's - All About Orchids. These have been a tremendous help to me.

Cheryl ~ ZanyMayd said...

Ruth

Your Photos are Beautiful.... I Love Your Orchids, I have 3 myself that I have rescued from my Aunt I care for (Alzheimers) 1 of them bloomed last year, after much TLC.... But I think My kitchen is too Cold for them now, I hope to see more blooms one day....

Thank you for brightening a gray day with your Pretty Pics.

cheryl
zanymayd

Ruth Welter said...

Thank you Cheryl. Hey, you have got to post photos of your Orchids on your blog sometime, I would really love to see them.