So why am I here and why have I decided to blog about flowers? That's a question that has a multi-faceted answer!
Ever since I was a child, I have been around some form of house plants. Both of my parents had a lot of house plants while I was growing up. I think my mom had way more than my dad though when I look back at the number of plants that they had over the years. My dad loved ferns, he would buy hanging baskets every year and hang out on the porch. He also had a knack for having massive Tradescantia zebrina plants (more commonly known as "inch plants").
My dad also had a fondness for cacti; that of which I never really picked up. I remember he had a massive Prickly Pear cactus and me trying to put it in a bigger pot using his welding gloves and kitchen tongs.
My mom had all sorts of plants. I remember her having a Ficus elastica (more commonly known as a Rubber plant), Schefflera's, massive aloe plants, snake plants, some cacti and massive monstera deliciosa plants. She had a lot more of different types of house plants, the ones mentioned above are the ones that stick out in my memory. The place I grew up in, had a built on living room that had many windows. Basically 2 of the walls were side by side windows, so it was the perfect environment to have a LOT of plants in. I remember sitting on the floor watching something from the big C band satellite while my mom tended to her plants and her occasionally asking me to help clean the leaves with q-tips. Over the years her plant collection dwindled down and when she passed, the only plants that were living were her Monstera plant, a Snake plant and two Prickly Pear cactus plants. If I had to guess, those plants are at least 30 years old if not older. The Monstera and Snake plant, I brought home and split those into separate plants and the are thriving! The Prickly Pear cacti are still up at the place where she lived, out on the porch and surviving on their own. I had tried finding homes for the cacti but couldn't find any interest. One friend suggested taking them out and dumping them in the woods which I thought would have been a bad idea considering I tend to go out tromping in the woods from time to time and that would have been quite painful to step on or kick the cacti without even paying attention.
When it comes to orchids, I had tried to grow them off and on over the years and failed due to one thing or another. I've always thought they were beautiful plants, I just never really understood what it really took to care for them or provide them the right environment to grow. A couple of years ago, someone I knew at the time was gifted a Phalaenopsis orchid that was in full bloom. As flowers do, the flowers eventually wilted and fell off leaving bare stems and green leaves. One day I saw that they were going to throw the plant away, so I spoke up and said that it wasn't dead yet. They gave me the orchid to keep. When I brought that orchid home, I repotted it and gave it a proper water and within a couple of months, it graced me with its beautiful blooms once again. With this orchid, I started researching the proper care and needs and eventually purchased another Phalaenopsis orchid, then another one and another one and through all of that, I found a passion for growing and taking care of orchids.
I'll admit, I have lost some orchids. With growing orchids, you can never be too sure of what their stasis is. One can assume that the plant is healthy and happy, only for it to have the leaves fall off and wither away even after giving it the best care possible. Some orchids you get may look happy and healthy, but underneath the beautiful leaves and flowers, the roots are plagued with some sort of fungus/disease, improper watering (whether it be over or under watered) which causes root rot.
Collecting and growing orchids has been a bit of a roller coaster at times, but through it all, it has built my confidence and knowledge skills enough to expand out to other species of orchids outside of the standard grocery store Phalaenopsis orchids.
My first branch off from Phalaenopsis orchids came this past April (April 2024) on a trip I made to Florida. One the way back through, I stopped at a shop in Orlando and picked up two fragrant orchids of two differing species. I had heard of fragrant orchids but never had experienced them before. I was in such awe at the beautiful shapes of the flowers and how differently they smelled. I was so happy to have purchased them!!
This past September, I attended my first Orchid Show in Raleigh North Carolina. I really didn't know what to expect as this was my first ever flower show that I had attended. When we walked in the door to the exhibit room, there were SO many different types of orchids in such beautiful displays and the room just smelled SO amazing! I met so many people and talked about the orchids I had at home, saw the tiniest orchid I had ever seen in my entire life and ended up leaving the orchid show with 3 different orchids of my own. I have since reached out to my local orchid society and plan to go to the next meeting in November.
So this brings me to one of my other hobbies. I am an active member of an organization called the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) and have been since 2014. The SCA is an inclusive community pursuing research and re-creation of pre-seventeenth century skills, arts, combat and culture. "The lives of participants are enriched as we gain knowledge of history through activities, demonstrations, and events." In plain terms, the way I describe the SCA to people is that it's like the Renaissance festival, just more real and accurate.
Ever since I joined the SCA, I have been service oriented. I have helped out at events, built websites for different events as well as built websites and maintain(ed) them for local and other larger groups. Most of my service has been "behind the curtains" so to speak. I tend to absorb things like a sponge and have always been in search of knowledge. In the past I have entered in what's called Arts & Sciences competitions and have won a few times. Mostly on a much smaller scale than what I'm about to embark on.
Recently, I got the idea to do research on orchids through the ages and have decided to see where it takes me. I have reached out to a couple of different groups in the SCA to see if anyone has done research on orchids either in this manner or in general and so far, it seems no one has done research on this topic. With this in mind, I decided to create a website as well as this blog to compile my research, share my observations and my love of orchids with others who are so inclined to read or join me on this journey. I'll probably share things related to my houseplants or my bees along the way as well, I hope you won't mind 😊
Until next time!
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