I was away for a good three weeks. During that time care was spotty, in the hands of a friend I think angrily or maybe just impatiently sprayed jets of water at my babies, dislodging not a few. I was home then for a short five days and then back north to see my kids in Boston. My fingers were crossed for the orchids’ self maintenance. My hopes were not high.
Yesterday I sprayed and spritzed but somehow time felt short. Why couldn’t I do more than glance at each orchid? Maybe it was the many epiphytes that had fallen to the ground. A sudden downdraft during last Friday’s thunderstorm or my slightly rough friend?
Today a closer look revealed these wonders. One. Sobralia sporting three new vegetative shoots. I think she will be fine. Two. Encyclia tampensis with 5, 6, 7 spikes. Yes this is Tampa Bay but still. A nice promise if the lubber grasshoppers don’t find the spikes first. Three. Bulbophyllum fascinator. Doing something weird from several of the pseudobulbs. It’s not vegetative because I’ve seen that before. Maybe it’s what my friend said us “impossible,” making a Bulbophyllum bloom. Well. She jealously cursed me last fall, in her doe voice, “gosh I hope we don’t get a frost.” Get the picture?
Also a vigorously spiking Tolumnia sylvestris, which came to me last July in spike and ready to bloom. A nice message, now almost a year later, that things are going right.
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