Beauty on my Windowsill

Outside it's still winter - ice and snow everywhere you look - but in my kitchen, it feels like the tropics have come to Canada thanks to my faithful Phalaenopsis orchids. Probably the easiest of orchids to grow in the average home without much special care and knowledge, we have four of these beauties gracing our kitchen windowsill. They seem to like the eastern exposure and reward us for our rather marginal care by blooming several times a year - and each flower spray usually lasts for several months.

Here are a couple of pointers if you should decide to try growing one of these amazing plants yourself: about the only way I have found to kill them, and quickly, is by overwatering. They can last quite a while without water, but wet roots will rot quickly and the plant will die. I usually repot ours in fresh orchid medium every year or two and water when I think of it - let the water run right through the pot for a minute or so, then put the plant back in it's place - voila, orchid care done for another week.

If you are buying a plant from one of the many non-specialty shops that carry these orchids now, make sure the leaves are firm and bright, and repot as soon as you get it home, even if it is in full bloom. Many of these plants are shipped with spagnum moss wrapped tightly around the roots - often most of the roots have rotted before the plant even gets to the store. The flowers may still look lovely, but the leaves have begun to wilt due to the dead roots. Cut off all dead roots, repot in fresh growth medium, and resist the urge to water lots, and the plant may recover. We lost a couple before I learned about this, but the ones we have now have been healthy and blooming continually for several years, getting bigger and showier blooms, and more flower spikes, with each passing year.

On the art front, I finished a couple of ACEO's today. Here is one featuring my first ever cat, Trixie. She came to live with us as an inquisitive kitten when I was 16, and I lost her to kidney failure 14 years later. From the day she came to live with us until the day she died, I never knew her to be anything but affectionate and loving to anyone she met. The barest touch of a human hand was enough to set her purring so loudly she would sound like she was about to explode. She was a brilliant ambassador for her species, even people who didn't like cats found it hard to dislike Trixie.

Until next time,

Simone