The First Orchids Ever

An Obsession Takes Root...

When I still wreaked tweener adventures at home in Bad Axe, Michigan, my parents received a Phalaenopsis as a gift. It included a thick, green worm. I wrote a letter to the gifting company about the hitchhiker, resulting in another Phalaenopsis arriving. My "first" two orchids died within weeks of arriving. I simply accepted that ephemeral beauty was the way of the orchid. Google still lie in the future and my ignorance continued for years.

My next orchid acquisition (left) occurred in 2009 while living in NYC. I still did not know that orchid ownership meant a lifetime of partnership and love. This orchid departed long ago with no imprint on my neurons and is only remembered by the grace of Photostream.

In 2011, Andre and I moved to West Los Angeles near the Sawtelle strip. Formerly a bastion of Japanese gardeners, our neighborhood still supported half a dozen nurseries- whole blocks chock full of growing and blossoming beauties. Our landlord, a retired Japanese gardener, lovingly planted our courtyard full of pomegranate, persimmon, satsuma tangerine, and apple tress as well as rose bushes, bird of paradise, and calla lilies. Doing morning dishes usually included entertainment by dive bombing shiny green/red hummingbirds feasting on bird of paradise. In this lush, vibrantly alive setting, the desire to nurture sprouting, blossoming greenery infected us.

Our collection began innocently on Andre's birthday as a surprise orchid. After enjoying and successfully caring for this starter orchid, we discovered that the flower shop half a block away put their out-of-bloom orchids out for $3-4 dollars! AND they would throw in free potting material if asked nicely! Who could resist? The siren call of Trader Joe's broad variety of gorgeous yet so affordable orchids rapidly multiplied our collection. Add in the temptation of the orchid booth at our local Saturday Farmer's Market next to the free hummus sample guy... We became addicts. The constant temperature, humidity, sunshine, and breeze in our little WLA home made orchid caring as easy as autopilot. Soon, we housed as many orchids as the number of months we lived in LA. Since we still cheesily celebrate our month-aversaries, we usually acquired them around the 24th of every month. We dubbed our collection"Love Orchids" (as in LoveKids/LoveChild). Each Love Orchid got a nickname, and we talked about their growth and progress as we would a child.

When I moved back to NYC in 2012, the 'Chids stayed with Andre in WLA for an extra year.  Feeling the void of the 'Chids (and perhaps of Andre), I got bid-happy at the GNYOS Annual Auction 2013 and came home with a new brood of 11. Andre moved back to NYC around the same time. Despite the daunting task of a cross country move, the last thing he scooped up on the way out of our WLA apartment was a backpack filled with our LA brood. He gave them severe haircuts and wrapped them in saran wrap, but they survived! And that's how the Bronx bathroom greenhouse came into being....

Our top floor apartment atop a hill blesses us with four tall South facing, not to mention Manhattan-with-Empire-State-Building facing, windows. A gentle cross-breeze perpetually cycles through, keeping temperatures 75-85F during the day and down to 65-75F at night in the summers. Humidity ranges in the 40-70%.  Fall provides the 55-65F nightly temperature drops perfect for setting blooms. Warm blooded Andre enjoys the chilly evening temps while I just snuggle closer to Andre and layer up. In the winter, we manage to keep similar conditions. Our top floor status gives us all the heat and our broken cast iron steam radiator spews humidity all day long. Throwing pots of water on top of the radiator adds to the moisture.

Thanks to Google, the luck of my digs, Andre, and my local orchid society, I haven't killed any 'Chids since 2011. Our brood currently numbers 35. Andre and I still celebrate month-averseries, so the size of our collection is dependent on the strength of our love!