More New Houseplants

I have been in love with orchids for a long, long time. I think that they are so beautiful and exotic. After a trip to the Franklin Park Conservatory, I decided that I needed to grow some at home. But, after stopping in the gift shop, I realized that I needed to know what I was doing with the plants before I bought any...because they are expensive for house plants. Plus, I would be heartbroken if I killed one. (I also realize that the Franklin Park Conservatory sells a bunch of rare orchids...and that's probably why some of them cost *so* much.)

So, I checked a bunch of books about orchids out from the library a while ago, and read them all. I felt pretty sure that I could take care of some orchids, and that there were some areas in our house that would be good orchid environments.

But, one of the books also mentioned that I should never pay full price for an orchid plant. Because of the flower blooming cycles, there are always periods when the plant is bare between flowerings. During this time, the orchids are usually slashed dramatically in price.

(I've also read in several other places that you should never pay full price for a fully grown plant, when you can get a smaller plant for less, and just exercise patience. After all, plants do grow bigger. I can see this argument, but sometimes, we have still purchased larger plants for the immediate effect.)

So anyways, I decided to keep an eye out for clearance orchids. And, yesterday, I found two dendrobium hybrid orchids that had been marked down from $16.99 to $2.50 each! Of course, I bought them.


I can't tell if the flowers are going to be mostly white or mostly purple, and I am really excited about the surprise when it blooms again! Orchids grow and bloom mostly in the summer, with a rest period during the winter. I'm not sure exactly when they will bloom again, but I do know that after all the flower petals fall off the bloom stems here, I need to cut the bloom stems off, and then train the new bloom stem to grow next to the stake when it appears.



Also in the house plant clearance area at Home Depot last night were two Guzmania plants.


The peach colored one is called Bromeliad Guzmania "Rana," while the red-purple colored one is called Bromeliad Guzmania "Switch." Each of these plants cost me $2.50. I think it was a steal, considering that I didn't even know that I wanted this type of plant!


And, now I've learned a ton about this type of plant that I never knew. In fact, after it flowers, the plant dies. But, before dying, each plant produces two or three "pups" that can be repotted and grown individually. Then, after the "pups" mature, they bloom. Or, you can force them to bloom by putting a plastic bag over the plant with a ripe apple inside for 7 to 10 days.

Kevin kept asking me if the plants were going to die...he figured that must be the reason that they were on sale. I think that they are all very healthy, but that the brown spots on some of the leaves made it so that Home Depot had to mark them down. There is no reason that I can think of why these plants will die. They look healthy enough to me.

Now all I need are some phalaenopsis orchids and some assorted cacti, and I'll be happy as a bug in a rug!