Excuse my enthusiasm, but I always get so very tickled when one of my rescued orchids does something! I've rescued a number of them over the years.....from a client who didn't like it once the blooms had fallen, from the grocery store at a throwaway price because it looked dead, even once from the side of the road, sitting next to a trash can! They, and other rescues, are all thriving now, though it takes them FOREVER to flower or even to put out a new leaf! So when something actually happens, I become ridiculously excited! Here's the latest activity...........a new leaf! And what looks like a flower bud! A slightly wider view so you can see both. I am still very much a novice in the orchid growing department, particularly because they aren't very forgiving plants in my experience, and can be finicky sometimes. So it's still a novelty to me that they respond well enough to my care to actually DO something, whether it's a new leaf or more flowers. As corny as it sounds, I feel like they're thanking me for rescuing them.
Novice or not, you have done a really great job at giving them all a second chance to live the life they were meant to have. And I too think they are thanking you for taking care of them.
From the other orchids you are tending to, and how well they are doing... I say this one will be just fine and reward you with beautiful blooms.
Ronni if I ever get another orchid (I murder them every time I have one) I'll know just who to come to for advice. I'll be expecting more pics when the flowers open or any more baby leaves appear. :-D
Thank you all, very much. It's very satisfying when one of my rescued, dying plants comes back, and then rewards me with new leaves and flowers. And eileen, a special thank you to you.....that means a great deal to me, coming from you, one of the people here that I look up to as a gardening mentor.
Ronni, you are the bomb!. I have never been one to molly coddle the orchid family. I eventually end up killing them because I forget about them since they are so vegetative...it is worse than watching the grass grow for me. You need a whole bucketful of seeds for this accomplishment.
Ronni, congrats!! I'd be excited too, so don't hold back. You've taken someone's failure and made it your success.
Good going, Ronni. I do my best to care for my orchids but I always end up killing them after a few years. *sigh*
Way to go, Ronni. I have an "old soldier" orchid that I got for my birthday a few years ago. It looks pitiful. I never know if it is going to send up a flower stem or not. I get the idea that it is slowly slipping through my fingers. I think that it is my own fault, as I am not wild about the plant...but it was a gift and as such, I am not at liberty to dispose of it. I am always happy to see folks have luck with them. I would like to see a piccy of your leaf-producing orchid when it flowers. There are some really terrific-looking orchids, but sadly mine isn't one of those. What does your orchid look like, BTW?
Sjoerd, I have no idea what my orchid looks like! If I remember correctly, that one was a grocery store rescue that I think I got for 99 cents because it was almost dead. So I have no idea what kind of flowers it puts out, there was no tag or picture. It lost a couple of leaves in the process of returning to health, which is why I am so excited about seeing a new one! The flower buds are an added bonus I was NOT expecting, perhaps at all, but certainly not at the same time as its first new leaf!
Ronni, I was talking to you but my finger slipped from the R to the T. That is funny. I never said that I was a good typist...