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05.24.11 / It Bloomed!

My orchid bloomed!

You may recall me surprisingly discovering that my orchid had not died a few weeks ago, despite the fact that I possess a black thumb with a long standing reputation for leaving wilted, brown and puny plants in its path of destruction.  I was astonished to find new buds sprouting from my dormant orchid.  I had thought it was dead and even went as far to dress it up with some DIY tissue paper flowers.  But something kept me adding 3 ice cubes weekly to the pot and, lo and behold, my bare plant bloomed this past week!

I didn’t add any fertilizer or transfer it to another pot.  I kept it in a spot that receives lots of indirect sunlight.  I’m amazed at how nature can produce these perfectly symmetrical and dainty-looking flowers.

Right now, I have the orchid in my sunroom.  I did remove the tissue paper flowers {don’t need them anymore!}, trim back the bloomless stem and restake it so that it supports the new blooms better.  If I remember correctly, I had blooms all through the summer months last year.  Not too bad for a flower that I originally purchased from my local grocery store for less than $20 about a year ago.

Are you admiring any new blooms popping up inside or outside your home?  Isn’t nature fantastic?!

images:  Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

16 Comments

24.May.2011

It’s beautiful! This gives me hope for mine.

24.May.2011

Kelly – I’m pretty sure if I can do it, then a mouse could keep an orchid alive. That is, of course, if he could carry 3 ice cubes to the pot once a week. ;)

24.May.2011

so funny I just posted few weeks ago about how my orchid is still alive too!! I also have been putting ice cubes to keep it alive rather then water! :)

Yvonne

24.May.2011

so pretty! we were at the Franklin Park Conservatory this weekend, and saw so many beautiful orchids, but I’ve been too chicken to get another after my last one died of overattention…I may have to try again now!

our roses are in full bloom, a side benefit of all of this blasted rain! of course, so are the dandelions, but we’ll focus on the positive today :)

24.May.2011

I am falling more and more in love with hydrangeas. We have all different kinds around our yard. It’s incredible the detail the Lord makes! And hydrangeas make for great dried flower arrangements by spraying some hairspray on them. I’ve had flowers on my kitchen table since last August!

24.May.2011

I know this is so off-topic, but can you tell me the source for the green and white pillow in the last picture?

24.May.2011

Beautiful! Congrats on keeping it alive. :)

24.May.2011

Peggy – Pillows are never off-topic at H*T!!! The pillow cover is actually one of a pair that I purchased on Etsy for $20. That’s $20 for the pair. They hail from Marie’s Cosy Cushions. Love them and the Etsy shop they came from!

The orchid on my desk at work has recently started growing a bloom stem. I am ecstatic! I got it for free from the natural food store down the street just over a year ago, because it had already bloomed and they are harder to sell. And now it’s growing, and I can’t WAIT to see what it looks like.

24.May.2011

Aww man! I gave up on mine. I had no idea it would have come back. Orchids are my favorite indoor plant. I guess that means I will just have to get another one and have faith that after it dies, it will come back! :) So glad you posted on this.

24.May.2011

Oh great! It looks beautiful!

24.May.2011

That orchid didn’t just bloom… it exploded! It’s just stunning! I’m (im)patiently waiting for my gardenia to bloom. It’s been taunting me with a huge bud for over a month now. I’m like a little kid and run out each morning to see if she’s cracked yet. I can almost smell it now.

24.May.2011

This gives me hope that my poor little one will bloom again too!

26.May.2011

Sorry, but what is the 3 ice cube thing? I CANNOT get mine to re-flower and I am usually good with living things. Ummm….why can’t I hear the kids? Wonder what they are up to?!

26.May.2011

ChaCha – That’s too funny about the kids! Hehe. So apparently orchids don’t like to be drenched in water once a week. They prefer a slower watering. The tag on the orchid I bought said to just place 3 ice cubes in the pot once a week and let them melt. That’s what I’ve been doing for a year now and it seems to work. How long has your orchid been dormant? Mine was dormant for almost 8 months!! We had a very dark and dreary winter/spring…maybe that had something to do with it??

28.May.2011

Ha ha ha, I guess if you’d give it some water every once in a while it wouldn’t have caught you by surprise!! Just teasing you..!! :o)