Thursday, December 11, 2008

Orchids for Christmas


The weather has turned cold outside, so we're staying indoors with the orchids. I took a chilly trip by small plane to the northern village of Southend this past week. It was -42 degrees C there and the heaters in the plane were not working on the trip there or back! The brand new Sorel boots didn't even keep my feet warm. Next time, the outfit will see the addition of snowpants and three pairs of wool socks. My head was toasty, however. I've found that multiple hats/hoods over the ipod earbuds enhance the audio quality in a loud plane, resulting in a less-than-attractive appearance. But who cares? This is the north, where high fashion means having a fancy snowmobiling suit.

A yellow phalaenopsis has been blooming for a couple months now:

It has a second spike coming up at the left, so we'll have flowers for several more months.

Dendrobium nobile "Angel Smile" is blooming again, with its lilac-scented white blooms lightly edged in pink.

I have many of these orchids to give away, as this plant often produces little plant-lets along its stems and I pot most of them up to grow into bigger plants. Does anyone want to trade?

How many of you are giving live plants/bulbs for Christmas? I love the idea of giving amaryllis or other bulbs for forcing in the winter. Even if the person is a non-gardener, the colors will be appreciated. Also, there is no clutter left over because when they are done flowering, you can just toss it in the compost. I've decided against giving narcissus though, since I think they stink. My alternative favourite: food gifts.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Beautiful blooms Gardenista and your plants look so healthy. Congratulations on having them flower at this time, you must be overjoyed.

Amy said...

"This is the north, where high fashion means having a fancy snowmobiling suit."

...and where summer is referred to as bad snowmobiling weather!

Your orchids are so beautiful. I'm seeing a lot of orchids lately and wishing I had one too.

I can't imagine a plane without heat in that kind of weather! It went to -42C the first winter my family moved here, but has never been that cold since. "Cold" is an understatement for sure!

Amy

Anonymous said...

Indoor bulbs are fine but I agree with you about Narcissus - some have a suffocatingly sweet smell - Hyacinths are another culprit. Fine if you have air flow but I find being trapped in a room with them is not a comfortable experience!

Gardenista said...

Ha! Yeah, that's exactly true about the snowmobiling. I cringe every spring when the testosterone-laden folks attempt to cross open water by claiming that ridiculous speeds will keep them on the upper side of the ice, skipping across the segments of ice. We're keeping our snowmobile on land till January.

Flowers to Chandigarh said...

This is so very beautiful....Thank you for letting us be a part it.