I never have been one for tending to plants. Until recently, I have had only one houseplant for the past seven years and I can't remember any before that (of course, I can't remember the 1990's either). My Mom had a few orchids when I was a kid. Big, pea green plants with leathery leaves and shriveled bulbs (pseudobulbs, actually) that never had any flowers and never seemed to grow. So here I am with little (and that's being generous) experience with plants and a family history with orchids, which represents less than a green thumb, and I decide on Easter, 2007 to start growing orchids.
It started out simply. I bought a Harlequin Phalaenopsis (Phal. for short). It had fleshy, deep green leaves, a stem (known as a spike among Orchidists) and a cluster of white flowers at the top with abstract raspberry colored blotches on them. A psychedelic, floral ink blot test-what a great plant for the truly psychotic among us!
Well, it has been 4 mos. since that first purchase and I now have 16 orchids, 8 books about orchids, I belong to 2 online forums on Orchids, have made 2 trips out of town to the nearest orchid nursery, have 3 Excel spreadsheets and an Access Database to track my orchids' care and I've won a second place photography award online for one of my pictures of my orchids, of which I have many. Lisa
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