Photography by Erin Boyle.
The orchid was a housewarming present from my grandmother. It came from a quaint flower shop down the street that is owned by a neighborhood family.
It was not only my orchid’s superior provenance, but also its satiny white blossoms webbed with a network of delicate fuchsia veins–a characteristic of some Moth Orchids (Phalaenopsis), as I quickly identified mine to be–that made it feel precious, an irreplaceable work of art.
Orchids are known to inspire obsessive behavior in their owners. In The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean, orchid hunters track rare varieties of the flower all over the globe with frank disregard for law and human life.
In consultation with several orchid-specific blogs and conversation forums, I’ve been using an organic brand of orchid food.
Of those not already doomed in the checkout line, most orchids (I wince as I write this) drown to death. Though the orchid is native to the tropics, its roots need to be well drained so no water pools at the bottom of the orchid pot.
Ice cubes melt slowly so the water has time to be fully absorbed by the roots. It was then that I realized our relationship wasn’t all about looks–it went deeper.
The marbled pink-and-white petals had grown fuller than ever so that each flower was nearly the size of my hand.
With these auspicious signs telling me I was on the right track, I started to get complacent until one day, I woke up to a dead blossom, and then another, and then another, until all the blossoms on one of my two stalks had perished.
The orchid was mocking my efforts, I felt. But the worst part about owning a sullen orchid was seeing the robust orchids growing in my dentist’s office, the lobby of a friend’s apartment building, and at a restaurant where I ate lunch.
Luckily, it turns out that the plants go through life cycles, and blossoms naturally drop to make room for new buds.
The past few weeks have brought a détente. Finally, get more ideas on how to plant, grow, and care for various houseplants with our Houseplants: A Field Guide.