I feared orchids for years, assuming they earned their “hothouse flower” nickname honestly. And after they drop their flowers, you can make most orchids bloom again: with a month of temperature fluctuations (10 degrees between day and night is ideal), regular fertilizer, and patience.
Photography by Mimi Giboin.
Lady’s Slipper Orchid
A similarly speckled Paphiopedilum Yi-Ying Twinkling Stars is $25 from Orchids. Care and Feeding: Low light, humid air, and bark to grow in will keep a Lady’s Slipper happy.
A Lady’s Slipper orchid gets its name from its lower pouch-like petal shaped like a slipper that attracts pollinators.
For a similar lacy-flowered orchid, an Oncidium spachelatum ‘Sunbeam’ is $25 from Odom’s Orchids. Care and Feeding: Preferring cooler temperatures at night, oncidiums are happy on a windowsill away from heating vents (if the sun is too bright, shield the plant with a gauzy fabric shade).
Oncidium Orchid
With ruffled petals, oncidiums typically bloom in shades of yellow, white, pink, or red.
With similar white and burgundy coloring, a Burgundy Miltonia Orchid in a five-inch ceramic cachepot is $84 from White Flower Farm. Care and Feeding: This orchid enjoys being misted daily; its flat-faced flowers earned it the nickname Pansy Orchid.
Pansy Orchid
Known for its lovely perfume, a Miltonia orchid is the one that smells like Hawaii. Close your eyes and hear gentle waves as they wash over the warm sand at your feet.
Moth Orchid
For a similar flower, a White Moth Orchid in a five-inch cachepot is $59 from White Flower Farm.
It is amazing, really, that Phalaenopsis orchids are sold at the supermarket, the big-box shop, and possibly even your gas station’s convenience store for a few dollars.
Sharry Baby Orchid
An oncidium, Sharry Baby has striking, speckled chocolate-colored petals; an Oncidium Sharry Baby in a 5 1/2-inch ceramic pot is $85 from White Flower Farm.
Design Tip: With flowering stalks that can reach dramatic lengths of up to four feet, ‘Sharry Baby’ has the same visual impact as a large-leafed houseplant.
A chocolate-colored Oncidium ‘Sharry Baby’ is $36.99 from Kawamoto Nursery via Amazon.
A hybrid descended from phaleanopsis, ‘Spirit’ has a lipstick-red center and will bloom for two months or more. Fertilize it every second time you water it with a half-strength dilute.
Spirit Orchid
Keep orchids in their plastic nursery pots, inside a larger decorative container. To water, lift out the plastic pot and water it with a room-temperature flow from the kitchen faucet.
On a windowsill with a western exposure (I lower the shades in the late afternoon when the sun gets too hot), I have (from left) a pink Doritaenopsis hybrid, a fragrant pansy orchid, a white moth orchid, a Sharry Baby, a Lady’s Slipper, and a yellow oncidium.
Finally, get more ideas on how to plant, grow, and care for various houseplants with our Houseplants: A Field Guide.