Yesterday I was given the opportunity to take home an orchid. A group (flock, school, gaggle?) of orchids had been in the restaurant since the owner won them all in a presumed Super Bowl bet, but they haven’t fared well in the smoky old building. I took home the last one. By studying its leaves and dried flowers, I identified my orchid as from the genus “phalaenopsis,” and I shall refer to her by the nickname of that type of orchid: the moth orchid.
Its like having a dog. I was reluctant to take her home because of the trouble I’ve had taking care of myself in life, never mind a pet. Recently however, I feel as though I’ve turned things around and I feel ready to take on additional care-taking responsibilities. My basement is hot and dry so I bought a water bowl with polished stones. The water in the bowl will slowly evaporate and increase the humidity for the moth orchid, which it will like. I also bought some orchid feed.
When the moth orchid next blooms, I may be able to identify her species by the markings on her flowers. It could be six months to a year until that happens, and I’m not worried about it. For now my goals for her are to get her leaves to stop splitting. My short term goal is to get myself more education for the best path forward. There are twice as many orchid types on earth as birds, and they have been around since birds were dinosaurs. Respect.
Baby Orchid Flower Good! Very good! Blooming Cambridge.
“The water in the bowl will slowly evaporate and increase the humidity for the moth orchid, which it will like. I also bought some orchid feed.” –your language/description reminds me of the middle-aged painter who used to be on t.v. he was a real chill dude with grey, curly hair, who’d say such like, “now let’s put a nice, fluffy cloud right about here. awww, there we go and now, let’s add some grass in this lower corner. let’s imagine that it’s golden at the top from all the beautiful sunlight…” you remind me of him! just don’t go coo-coo with your moth orchid. -see ya soon!
You are the Benevolent Mothra to the Orchid.