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We went to the Orchid Show at the Missouri Botanical Gardens today. Jon, Trinity, Grandma, Grandpa,(also known as Jon’s parents), and me. It’s always amazing to see the orchids. They are so beautiful. Some are even scented, which is something I wouldn’t have known a few years back.
We have a solarium at the house. It would be a greenhouse, but I wanted it more for the comfort and enjoyment of the people rather than the plants, so it’s a solarium. Less glass, more wood, less heat and humidity. So, not everything will grow there, but orchids will, or at least the right kind of orchids will.
The ones that do the best for us are the Phalaenopsis, moth orchids. They are some of the easiest to grow for beginers. The hardest for us have been the Paphiopedilum, lady slipper orchids. They have all died on us no matter where we put them. So no more of them, though I love them. I actually averted my eyes at the show today, so I wouldn’t be tempted. They are too lovely to bring home knowing they are going to eventually die, and never re-bloom. Jon bought a Cymbidium last year at the show, just to see how it would do. It did well, and has re-bloomed for us. So we got two more today. We also got some more Phalaenopsis, since they seem to really like the solarium and the kitchen windowsill.
We have one area of the solarium that is too hot and sunny for any of the other orchids, so we bought one Laeliocattleya, to see if it will grow there. If it does well, we’ll get more. If it doesn’t do well, we won’t. It’s a lovely orange one called, Trick or Treat. I couldn’t resist it.
One of the Cymbidium smells like chocolate, though Trinity thought it smelled more like vanilla. There was a small orchid that I cannot remember what it was, but it smelled like grape Kool-Aid. I regret passing it up now. But I was trying to be good, and it was a kind that I don’t believe we’ve tried to grow before. Only one new variety a year, otherwise you get overwhelmed, or have a high plant death count. The Laeliocattleya was our new try for the year. We’ll see how it goes.
Oh, and just in case you’re wondering, I got up early and did my pages on the Merry book.