Wednesday, June 13, 2007

I don't have as green a thumb as this post implies

Blondie asked me to post a photo of my orchids so these are for her. I didn't go on a wonderful and exciting odyssey to acquire them as she did for her beautiful orchids. I wish I had. But mine were on sale for $9.99 at the grocery store on a table next to the potatoes. I've never been able to keep moth orchids alive past their bloom but these seem to be doing ok and one of them has started sprouting a new leaf after its bloom finished. I'm sure they have a cool Latin name I can't spell or pronounce but I'm too lazy to look for it so if you know it, feel free to enlighten me.

This one has been blooming for over a month and a half now.



This one had big,beautiful white blooms that lasted about two months. I just cut the stem a few days ago. I was concerned about it for a little while because when I brought it home, the leaves began to turn a little spongy and had a few black, crusty spots that I picked off with some tweezers. But about a week ago I noticed a new leaf that looks healthy so I gave it a little friend to keep it company since it had no more flowers.


While I'm at it, I've also been growing tomatoes on my patio that I refuse to share with anyone since there aren't that many.

I haven't been around the past couple days so it'll take me a while to get caught up with my blog-visiting. Hope everyone is having a good week.

*I just realized that I accidentally had the picture size set to small and now I'm too lazy to go back and fix each one so sorry if it's hard to see.

11 comments:

super des said...

I have an orchid plant. It was beautiful blooming flowers when I brought it home, then they fell off and have never come back. That was a year ago. The plant itself is perfectly healthy - it just doesn't bloom.

I'm jealous of yours. And your tomatoes.

LittlePea said...

Don't worry about the bloom. It will. I think they only do that once a year-there's a special fertilizer you can get that costs an arm and leg. It could also be over fertilized and needs a rest. If this is the case just give it some more time and eventually you'll see a shoot come up.

super des said...

I give it orchid food once a week. Like I said, the leaves and everything are healthy. There's no reason for the lack of flowers, especially since they fell off practically the second it entered my house.

Whiskeymarie said...

I have never tried orchids- they intimidate me.
I can totally rock any plants outside, but I seem to kill the indoor ones at an alarming rate.

Alas, with our growing season I won't see tomatoes until probably August. Yours look delicious (sheesh, that sounded dirty...)

Hel said...

I love moth orchids.

And I love your poetic turn of phrase:
"But mine were on sale for $9.99 at the grocery store on a table next to the potatoes."

It made me laugh.

Blondie said...

YEAH!! So pretty!!!!! I do know that those are phalynopsis (I might have spelled that wrong), but I'm not sure what kind. Good pea!

Super Des--it might be your temperatures. Some orchids need it to get super cold at night in order to start the blooms. Maybe crank up the AC for a few days and see what happens. :) Not that I would know because I'm NOT an expert...

Oh, and I joined www.orchidboard.com --Super nice people.

Spoon of life said...

I think you're doing a great job...:)

M.

Unknown said...

I don’t have a green thumb either; however, I am able to grow roses. So, I usually have a sore thumb from the rose thorns.

flutter said...

ooooh the tomatoes look fabulous!

ellie bee said...

I love orchids...what other flower can you buy for 12-20 dollars and have it look great for 2 months? I consider them investments! And when they die (and with me, they will, no doubt about it) I don't feel guilty--I pass them on to a friend that loves to nurture them back so everyone wins!

Asian Butterfly said...

Hi, you did very well for having kept the blossoms for over a month. This first time I got orchids was from my wedding. 4 in total and yes, I killed them! So sad. Too much water and not enough light. Glad it didn't turn out to be a life trend for me.

Sounds like you have a pretty good instinct with plants!