zen and the art of orchid maintenance
A couple years ago, my mom bought me an orchid for my birthday. The blossoms lasted for several months before they drooped and dropped, one by one, until I was left with a pot of unimpressive waxy green leaves.
A new leaf sprouted. Then the old leaves started turning yellow and fell off. I repotted. I fertilized. I followed all of my father's orchid care instructions (for the record, he is the orchid king). When we moved to San Francisco, my cousin inherited the orchid in its terminal stage. Sierra provided palliative care and the orchid has since died.
Trader Joe's sells orchids for $9.99. I bought one last spring, with the expectation that it would not be a long-lived addition to my collection of house plants. So, once the blooms faded and the moss went mouldy, I didn't invest time and money to fertilize and repot it. I watered it less and moved it closer to the window.
I thought it would be dead when we got home from the holidays but, to my surprise, a new bloom spike had begun to emerge. I didn't get my hopes up for the plant actually re-blooming and I kept ignoring it, watering it minimally.
And now:
