My Orchid Garden

Hausermann’s Summer Sale: 20% off Orchids!

August 3, 2010 3 Comments

I was looking at orchid porn photos yesterday evening because I was bored and still nursing a cold. To make myself feel better, I went to one of my favorite online stores: Orchids by Hausermann, and immediately discovered that they are running a summer sale on orchids—all orders are 20% off between July 18 and August 15!

So…you can see where this is headed. The orchid addiction is bad enough at full price—especially on Hausermann’s, which has some pretty good prices to begin with. But a 20% discount? I’m hopeless. Here are the four orchids that I ordered, with photos from Hausermann’s website:

1. Huntleya heteroclita – originally $7.99, $6.39 with discount. This one might have to make the next edition of Unfortunate Orchid Names. I’d never heard of Huntleya before, and after doing some research I discovered it’s in the same subtribe as Zygopetalum, which is one of my favorite types of orchids. No wonder I was immediately attracted to this one.

2. Encyclia cochleata – originally $10, $8 with discount. This orchid was my very first Orchid of the Week selection. I REALLY hope I can get this one to bloom. The flowers are so incredibly unique and adorable!

3. Phalaenopsis hieroglyphica ‘Egyptian Lore’ x self – originally $10, $8 with discount

4. Phalaenopsis violacea (Malaysia x var. Borneo) – originally $15, $12 with discount. I chose this variety as Orchid of the Week recently.

Guess what? I felt better after placing my orchid order. 😛 Now I wait on pins and needles for my shipment to arrive. If you’ve got an orchid itch that needs to be scratched, make sure you take advantage of Hausermann’s summer sale ASAP*!

*I just want to note that I write about Hausermann’s simply because I like the site. I don’t have any sort of deal with them whatsoever. Even with the FTC blog regulations it can be hard to tell who is in bed with whom, so I wanted to make that clear. 🙂

My Orchid Garden

I think I can, I think I can…

July 27, 2010 4 Comments

I came home from my nerd vacation yesterday afternoon fully expecting to find that The Orchid That Won’t Die had finally given up the ghost. Before I left for San Diego, its big leaf had started to shrivel a bit and curl up around the edges, so I assumed it was truly on its way out. As soon as I got home from the airport, I entered my orchid room and saw that the leaf had shriveled further and started turning yellow:

Then I took a closer look and realized that the orchid is GROWING A NEW LEAF!!

Orchid's new leaf! — New leaf growing! Amazing!!

Not only is it amazing that the orchid is growing a new leaf, I think there may be a new root starting to swell from the root base — you can see a small green pimply-looking thing in this photo:

new orchid root? — Could it possibly be a new root??

If this orchid is actually recovering I might have to declare myself the Orchid Rescue Master. I just can’t believe that this plant has started to sprout a new leaf when it doesn’t even have any roots to soak up nutrients! Unreal. Orchids are just chock full of surprises!

My Orchid Garden

Lots of New Orchid Growth!

July 10, 2010 No Comments

I was checking out my orchids this morning and I discovered that my Iwanagara Appleblossom is already starting to put out two new roots, which is super exciting because the plant was left with only three decent roots after I cut away the bad ones. Knowing the state of the orchid’s roots, I was a little unsure whether I’d be able to nurse it to health, but things are already starting to look up:

New roots on Iwanagara Appleblossom — New roots on my Iwanagara Appleblossom

As I mentioned yesterday, there is a whole lot of new growth going on with my orchids, and I’m so thrilled that, of course, I have to share some pics here! Click on each photo to see a larger version.

Tolumnia root growth — Lots of new root action on my Tolumnia

New shoot on Dendrobium Eama Queen — New shoot on my Dendrobium Eama Queen

New shoot & roots on NOID Dendrobium — New shoot & lots of roots on my NOID Dendrobium

New stalk growing on a NOID lady slipper

New leaf on lady slipper orchid — New leaf on my lady slipper “Wizard of Oz” seedling

New leaf on blooming Phal — New leaf on my blooming NOID phal

Great things are happening! It makes me so happy!

My Orchid Garden

Post-Move Update: Orchids Lost, Orchids Gained

July 9, 2010 10 Comments

I finally got my internet connection set up, nearly two weeks after moving into my new place. You know that that means: back to blogging! Because I’ve been away from the computer for awhile, this is gonna be a pretty epic post.

My orchids all did well on moving day, which was two weeks ago as of tomorrow. I packed the plants in several boxes but left the tops open; my boyfriend and I moved them ourselves in a U-Haul van along with his saltwater fish and corals, which he placed temporarily in giant buckets of water. This cargo was too precious to allow our movers to handle.

My Orchid Garden

Update on The Orchid That Won’t Die

June 12, 2010 4 Comments

It’s been three weeks since I last posted an update about the orchid that won’t die. Amazingly, this poor little orchid is still hanging in there! I took a few pics this morning so that I could share them here:

Orchid is hanging in there — Still kickin’

The leaves look slightly more wrinkled than before, but overall it’s basically in the same place it was three weeks ago. Except for its stub of a stem, which has turned brown and looks a little rotten:

Brown orchid stem — This can’t bode well

At least the stem isn’t molding like it had started to when I was trying to sphag-n-bag. Currently I have this orchid in a kind of modified sphag-n-bag setup with a plastic baggie tented over it. I tore the baggie down the side and made sort of a teepee to allow air flow:

What am I doing to keep this orchid “alive”? Each morning, I check the moisture level of the sphagnum moss in the pot and if it feels dry, I mist it, taking care not to get water in the plant’s crown. The last thing I want right now is crown rot. I also lightly mist the inside of the baggie to help increase the humidity around the plant. Even with no roots and that rotting stem nubbin, this system seems to allow the plant take in enough water to maintain its current state.

I just can’t believe this orchid hasn’t died yet. The orchid’s health clearly hasn’t improved and it has no signs of putting out new roots, but somehow I still have hope. More updates to come…

My Orchid Garden

Uh-Oh…Another New Orchid!

June 2, 2010 6 Comments

Trader Joe's Zygopetalum — My 22nd Orchid

My fridge has been sorely lacking in nutritious fare, so this morning I made a trip to the Manhattan Trader Joe’s to pick up some cheap & tasty groceries. Here’s where you may ask, “But you live in Brooklyn—why are you grocery shopping in Manhattan?” My answer is that once a week I volunteer with a cat rescue organization inside the Union Square Petco, so I find myself just a few blocks away from TJs. I find that shopping there at midday during the week isn’t nearly as much of a shit show as, say, after work hours. Also, you just can’t beat their prices.

The past few times I’ve shopped at TJ’s (both at the Manhattan and Brooklyn locations) they didn’t have any orchids, so I didn’t expect to see any today; this was strictly a grocery trip. Or so I thought.

Lo and behold, as soon as I entered the front door I saw lots of blooming orchids: Phalaenopsis, Dendrobiums, and a couple Zygopetalums. A Zygo in bloom is unbelievably hard for me to resist, with its green, brown, and purple flowers and its amazing scent.