My nephew, Cody stopped by last year to give us an orchid plant. He said he really couldn't take care of it at their apartment and he knew grandma liked orchids. She does and has loved watching the flowers bloom.
It was just a small pot with a few orchid leaves and I was dubious about whether it would produce any flowers.
What a surprise when it produced not one, but TWO spikes of buds! When they started to bloom I sent them back to him so they could enjoy it.
And yes, they bloomed a long time. When some of the early blooms started to die, the spike sent out more buds!!!
I could not believe how long that spike of orchids continued to bloom, even after the early flowers died and fell off.
And then... in June, the orchid plant sent up another spike!!!
Wow! I was figuring on seeing orchid blooms till the end of the year.
And then early last month...!!!
A bulbul stopped by and decided to eat just that teeny little tip. And without that little tip, it looks like the rest of the spike will not produce any buds. What the heck!!!
Sigh...
Well, with your luck, it will revive and regrow and produce yet more blooms.
ReplyDeleteDo these plants only do one blooming or do they rebloom? Wow, what a plant.
ReplyDeleteIt had a good run. Will it run again, I wonder.
ReplyDeleteMy MIL used to be given old orchids from funerals and would spend her summers reviving them and watching them bloom. But she gave that up a couple years back. I never had the ability to do anything but kill them evidently.
ReplyDeleteI have had no luck getting my orchid to bloom it has very healthy leaves and roots -Christine cmlk79.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteWhen my mom died in March, my lovely neighbor Sunnie (she is Hawaiian--from Kauai) brought me an orchid. I did everything possible to keep it alive but it died a few months later. Part of the problem was that I had to keep it away from the cat so it probably wasn't getting enough light.
ReplyDeleteOne of my daughter's guy friends gave her a large orchid plant when we lived in Illinois. I kept it alive for years and years and it never bloomed. Then I gave it to one of Tiffany's friends who ended up becoming a florist and she got it to bloom in a year.
DeleteI had to look up what a bulbul is. And why would it eat an orchid tip? You have the right climate for orchids. I bet that plant will send up more shoots to bloom.
ReplyDeleteOh those Bulbul birds! Grrrrr! They eat buds and new shoots and drive me nuts. I did find a baby one that fell out of its nest and was in a dilemma - to just discard it or help it. We fed it rice gruel and kept it warm and it eventually flew back to wherever it needed to go. I did tell it to stay away from my orchids.
ReplyDeleteThe thing about those bulbuls is that they seem to just like the buds. They don't eat the actual orchid. At least the doves, mynahs, pigeons don't eat orchid buds.
DeleteThat orchid provided a lot of pleasure, including that bird, I guess. :-(
ReplyDeleteWe like orchids but they're hard to grow here.
ReplyDeleteI think just your mother's presence is felt by that wonderful orchid. She must talk to it when she ventures out with you. Linda in Kansas
ReplyDeleteCan you put a fishnet "sock" over the buds to keep the evil bulbles away? Linda in Kansas
ReplyDeleteWhat a pretty orchid! And even if you never saw another bloom it's been amazing, to me anyway.
ReplyDeleteit sure was pretty during its hay-day. i love orchids but the can be a little finicky!!
ReplyDeleteI have never seen someone with such a knack for orchids! I have a feeling he'll be back to do an encore
ReplyDeleteIt's funny, I forgot you can keep them outside! Our plants are dying off for winter. Spring will come, though.
ReplyDelete