My Orchids

A year ago July when I had the cantaloupe size infected mass removed along with a hysterectomy & appendectomy, my niece gave me my first Orchid. 

Phalaenopsis orchid my niece got me 

It's one of those 'just add Ice' Orchids,

has grown a new leaf since it finished blooming in december.

 it took me a year to finally accept that I was good at growing Orchids, because it thrived even with me feeding it ice. I have now expanded my Orchid collection to 4 different kinds, I first got more from lowes clearance rack, in sad conditions, one the store had potted directly in a no drainage container that I have outside in the shade hanging upside down to prevent root rot,

only phal not doing well, I cut the bloom off.

 & help it grow roots. Others gotten simply after they bloomed from a local garden center, or when small before blooming known as lowes bag babies.

Cattleya Orchid

 I learned what to plant the orchids so their roots can breathe & not to over water. 

I have 6 phalaenopsis or moth orchid, 3 paphiopedilums or lady slippers, 3 Cattleyas, & one Oncidium. 2 are currently in bloom & yes i'm wanting to try and cross pollinate them

Named phal I crossed with itself

..ok, so growing the seeds will be a challenge, but I crossed my first named phalaenopsis with itself...two pods are forming. the lady slipper I'll wait on so I can enjoy the flower longer.

Oncidium Orchid

I'm looking forward to lot's of blooms next year as I got most of my orchids after they finished blooming.    
My latest Orchid is a Lady Slipper in bloom- It's beautiful a green purply color!

blooming lady slipper

 I'll wait to try & cross it, letting the named phal grow pods, & figure out how to germinate the seeds(not easy from what I've found out.) 

Paphiopedilum lady slipper

I'm also working on a drawing with orchids in it, only it's going slow as I haven't felt good lately & my vision has been a bit blurry.  

 I have my orchids on tall shelves hoping my 2 cats do not try to eat them, some plants I've noticed they like to try & chew on,

Phals & Oncidium

 so far so good with them leaving the orchids alone, although I recently traded some of my scilla & muscari bulbs for a walking Iris which I had to put outside for now, good thing it's summertime here. the cats uprooted the irises when I first potted them up. come winter I guess the walking Irises will live in the bathroom out of reach of the cats.