Orchid Challenge

Lady Slipper 

For sometime I've thought about buying an orchid and wondered if it really is as difficult as "they" say. A month ago my Oak Ridge Garden club toured a local orchid greenhouse http://www.marriottorchids.com/. I caught the bug, but decided to refrain from purchasing the $500 ones and start off with a $14 one froma local "box" store, Home Depot.  

Box Store Orchid

So far so good, it's still in bloom which is actually the easy part; getting it to bloom the second year and following is the real kicker. 




Since my first purchase my orchid population has grown. I saw one in the sale basket at Lowe's Foods and then my sister Susan said I could "babysit" her orchids since she hadn't had luck getting them to re-bloom. I guess the challenge is on. They only bloom in the winter so I may have missed the blooming window for my newest editions but hopefully this time next year my sun room will be quite the place.

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