A Love Hate Relationship

I love orchids. Yet we seem to have a bit of a love-hate relationship. My first one I received from Josh way back in our dating years...we jokingly called it our "love" orchid. When it comes to flowers, I like to think of myself as someone with a green thumb. For the most part, thanks to my gardening mother, I have learned the fine art of nuturing plants and am always awestruck by the beauty of flowers. Well...apparently those skills stop when it comes to orchids. I did everything in my power to make that little "love" orchid bloom. I took it to a Molbacks specialist, I bought special blossom encouraging fertilizer, I set it in a special tray so that it would have humidity...6 years later it had more leaves then it knew what to do with but never once did it bloom.



Orchid number two came from my mother-in-law two Christmases ago. She bought it with flowers as she knew that my hopes for the orchid Josh gave me were failing. At the time I was living with Casey who has successfully nurtured an orchid to reproduce flowers multiple times. I mirrored what she did, placing my orchid in the same window sill, watering my orchid when she did. Yet again...nothing but leaves...so it joined my "love" orchid on the leaf growing shelf.

For our anniversary this year, Josh surprised me with a new orchid as I had finally given in to despair and threw our first orchid away. This one came with blossoms! It was beautiful and I was hopeful since I knew that this one had the capability of producing flowers. I was careful to not over water it and marveled at the intense colors and delicate beauty of the flowers. Yet once again my efforts failed as a few months into my new orchid the flowers withered and the leaves started dying. (I did manage to save it from complete death, as it now sits in the window sill with two little leaves and my hopes that one day it will bloom again.)



Now we are present day. A new orchid from my dear brother, complete with 8 of the most beautiful white flowers and three promising buds. I am hopeful, or perhaps in denial, that this time will be different...that even once these flowers fade it will one day bloom again. However, just in case my orchid caring skills fail me once again I have documented the beauty of these delicate flowers. Oh little orchids, your beauty inspires me to keep trying even in the face of total defeat.