Rebloom of Orchid

Here are some orchids that have rebloomed - thought this one would not bloom again this year for me.  This is really exciting.

Orchids in New York

Just returned from New York.  Great city, lovely places to dine, shop, etc.  I am happy to report that Phalaenopsis (pop corn orchids) are very prevalent.  Actually surprised that I do not see more varieties as I think people in New York would buy them fast.  Most of the colors you see are a beautiful white.
I decided to buy my friend one for the wonderful hospitality given to me.  I found a Phalanenopsis and paid, more that I pay in North Carolina or L.A., but what do you expect this is New York, everything is more expensive.  In fairness, this was beautiful.  I took it home to her with a lot of love and instructions for the care.  Watch out for the bugs, do not water it more than once a week.  Make sure the roots are not in the water.
The next day, her house-keeper came and was delighted to see the orchid.  I was really happy.  I came back the end of the day, and found the orchid broken in half, with most of the blooms on the broken stem, leaving one bloom on the main plant.  I was heart broken.  But what to do, this is life.  So we made the best of it, put the broken stem in a vase. I am hoping  that the beautiful orchid will give her blooms again.
I was just sorry, I did not take a before or after picture, but who knew.
More pictures to come.

Orchids in L.A.

Visiting my family in L.A. is always great.  I pushed orchids on all of them.  This has come back to bite me as I look and see the lovely orchids blooming without any extra care or work.
My sister Ethel has some beautiful Cymbidums that always seem to be in bloom and in vases in their house.
In questioning her as to what makes them so happy, the response was "ask the gardner".  The gardner told me, "he does not know just waters it once a week.
The moral to this story is when you live in perfect semi-tropical climate, you do have to do anything just enjoy the blooms.  Talk about being envious of that I AM.  I must tell you I do not have an envious bone in my body.  But this made envy raise its ugly head.
I am off on business to New York, will let you know what I find.

Lessons of Life

My entire family lives in L.A. so every opportunity I get I go.  One Christmas Season, we were visitng and was invited to my niece's frineds parent's house in pish pinsh, posh posh, Brentwood.  That area is beautiful, not far from Malibu or any of the other pish, posh areas of L.A. like Bel-Air, Beverly Hills, etc.
These lovely U.C.L.A. professors have this house up on a hill in Brentwood so I suggested, what could be better than to buy them a blooming Cym bidium, it was a lovely light green with toches of yellow.  I was so proud of my pick.
We were invited to tea, what do you expect from Professors, how totally sophicticated.  We gave them the Cymbidum which they graciously accepted.  After tea, they took us on a tour of their big, beautiful back yard, and to my embarrassment, the entire house was surrounded by Cymbidiums in every color you can imagine.
What did I expect, did I think I was the only one into orchids.  Lesson of life, find out what people like or want before buying them what they already have.

A Tree Grows in No. Carolina

Living in a home is different from Living in a rented space.  First of all, the responsibility of the house you own is yours.  Anything that needs done, you better make it happen, otherwise it will fall to disrepair.  Now, the outside of the house needs painting, we hired a painter, who became a memeber of the house hold.
I had (notice the word HAD) a dendrobium that refused to do anything the first couple of years.  I would speak sweetly, yell, do everthing to make it spike and grow, but it did nothing.  Suddenly, after many years, it started blooming and was beautiful.  In fact it became a tree which surprised all of us.  In fact, a friend who knows so much about orchids was amazed.  But back to my story.
So the painter started painting, now, mind you this is the Summer so all the orchids were outside.  We were lazy and did move the orchids from the wall of the house, thought it would be just fine.  The painter put a plastic cover over the orchids for protection.  I can tell you that was not enough.  The job was finished so I went to check on the orchids and to my surprise the tree in now the size of a small plant.  All the branches broke - I was heart broken - I am starting all over again to produce the tree. 
I am happy to report, I will have my first BlOOM from the disaster.  Once it blooms, I will take a picture and post it.  WishI had taken the picture of the tree.

Simply Orchids

Working in New York, I met my new assistant, (I still live in No. Carolina) and the subject got around to orchids.  She too, is an avid orchid aficionado. Well one day she called and said she was going to orders some orchids from an orchid farm, and would I like her to get me some different varities.  I jumped on the chance.  Orchid farms, I did not know there were so many all over the U.S.
The orchids came, they were beautiful, so many varities, and of course, I was $400.00 poorer.  It was well worth it.  Could not wait to see them bloom.  I still have many of the original orchids she sent.  (10 years) later.  I must confess, I am just as impatient when they spike to see them bloom.  It is the law of averages, when you want them to be in bloom, they become bashful.
My next adventure was to find more orchids farms, and I did.  I started dealing with the Santa Barbara Orchid Estate in Santa Barbara, California.  You should just see the way, they are shipped.  You would think it was the most valuable china in the world.  The orchids arrive in perfect condition.  My new project was to give out orchids as presents.

On The Road Again

As Export manager, my job took me not only to other countries, but I had to handle trade shows.  Now I am in Florida for a show  - where better to find orchids - My signature has been beautiful orchids to catch the eye of the buyer.
I found some beauties, placed them in a prominent place in the booth - this caught the attention of the buyers who stopped and said " what beautiful orchids" this opened up conversation, the next thing you know they are veiwing fabrics and expressing interest.  You have to keep a fine balance so that the orchids do not distract from the purpose of selling your products.
The show is over I am going to carry the orchids from Miami to Winston-Salem, No. Carolina.  Miami is a really busy airport, but the orchids are close to me.  As I was checking in, the gate attendant told me I could not take the orchids on board.  I was horrified, I was not going to let that stop me so I found a cute guy and convinced him to help me.  We got on together, with the orchids between us getting on as fast as possible, finding the seats and quickly putting each one under the seat. 
Happy to say, I was successful.  We traveled back to Winston-Salem with the orchids and my new best friend intow.  Jim greeted me at the airport, took the orchids from my new best friend, who by the way, I had invited to dinner.  Jim said "not surprised as you have never met a stranger in your life.
Unfortunately, these friendships do not last, but the orchids survived still giving me beautiful blooms.