The Art of Growing Orchids

It’s Not as Hard as You Think

Some of my orchids. (all photos by me)

The first orchid in my life wasn’t mine, actually. It was a gift, to my then-boyfriend (later husband, later still ex-husband). It sat in his living room looking very pretty and elegant. Eventually it lost its flowers.

A while after that, it died. He was mystified.

Orchids are very fussy, we thought. Sensitive. Hard to keep alive.

My first orchid, after we were married, was also a gift. (I wonder what proportion of the orchid market is plants bought for other people?) I was told how to take care of it, though, and I followed the instructions. Eventually, it too lost its flowers, but after that it put up another spike and flowered again.

It bloomed several more times, on a very irregular schedule. I couldn’t predict when it would spike again, or even how long the blooms would last.

Later, years later, it too died.

Orchids like a lot of light — but not a lot of direct sunlight, which will scorch their leaves.

Orchids like a lot of moisture — they’re tropical plants, many of them — but they don’t want to be…