Mini Blog Break

Beautiful rebloom

If you follow my blog you may have noticed I haven’t posted in a couple weeks. I’ve been pretty busy and am doing a little traveling, so I haven’t had tons of time to post. I just got back in town yesterday (went to my 15 year—YIKES—high school reunion in St. Louis, which was a lot of fun) and am leaving again this afternoon for a trip to southern Cali (where I might visit an orchid farm or two!).

Starting next week I should be back in the blogging business, and I have plenty to write about regarding my own orchids. For now, I leave you with this crappy iPhone pic of one of my big white Phals whose side shoot just bloomed yesterday! The blooms are quite a bit smaller than the first blooms off this spike, but that’s normal. They are still very lovely, and when I return from Cali I imagine at least a couple more of those buds will have opened.  🙂

Brooklyn Orchids Bloom & Spike Report

I totally missed my Orchid of the Week post last Friday, because I was hard at work on a freelance project. Whoops.

I also missed my Sunday morning orchid watering session yesterday, so I watered them this morning instead. And I discovered that a pretty bloom on one of my Phals opened up overnight!

Pink Phal in bloom
Love the white outline of this one

There are also lots of beautiful blooms on this orchid’s side shoot:

White Phal blooming
Delicate white and pink blooms

A couple weeks ago, I noticed what looked like not one, but two side shoots from this orchid’s growing spike:

Side shoots on an orchid spike
Hmm…could it be?

I thought the growths had that flattened-at-the-tip mitten shape that is characteristic of spikes, rather than the fuller shape of a bud. And I was right! Here’s what the spike and side shoots look like today—you can really see the difference between growing buds and side shoots in this pic (buds on top, shoots on bottom):

Two side shoots on a moth orchid spike
More blooms to come!!

Yet another one of my Phals is starting to grow a side shoot. It stopped blooming a month or so ago, so I cut the spike to try and force it to bloom again. Doing this really works! Here’s proof:

Side shoot on a cut orchid spike
New side shoot growth

A couple of my other Phals in spike have swelling buds, so I’m going to have lots of blooms in the near future. It’s so very exciting to see my patience paying off!!