Orchidacae

Last Christmas I got to pick out a plant as a gift from my Aunt, and I chose an orchid. It was in bloom when we bought it , and still is. Orchids generally bloom about once a year, or just whenever they feel like it, but for some reason this amazing orchid that I have has been in bloom non stop since I got it (which was a year ago). As soon as the last flower on it dies, within one day another flower will bloom, and then a few more. It generally has three flowers in bloom at all times, and I think this is its fourth cycle of flowers.



This summer while I was driving home from Quebec, we stopped at an orchid nursery. The large greenhouse was in a couple's backyard, and the neighbours thought they were selling pot, so they had an open house. It was amazing to see the variety of orchids they had there, and the amount of care they put into them. Some varieties have to be soaked in water every day, and the plants don't bloom until they are over 20 years old. I saw one black lady slipper type orchid that is a hybrid between paph. macabre and paph. wardii, or 'black mask' and 'smooth chocolate.' I honestly thought it was the most sinister looking flower I had ever seen, but my Mom started talking about how cool it was. It was pretty incredible looking, and of all the orchids we saw it appealed to me the most. We bought one that hadn't yet bloomed, and it might be a couple years before it does, I don't really know. When it does bloom, I will post pictures.