It's a Bloomin' Success!

My orchid blooming on the bureau in my bedroom.
(That's an authentic Charleston sweetgrass basket it's
in that I've had forever!)

Last summer, my mom gave me an orchid she had bought one day while at Lowe's or the grocery store or somewhere like that. It was nothing fancy, but I love orchids and have several of them I've not killed yet been cultivating for a few years. This one re-bloomed suddenly right after the first of the year and I was so excited! I had previously been cutting the bloom stalk down to about 1-2 inches from the base after the flowers all dropped (in compliance with the recommendation of something I read online). One day last fall, I was looking at some orchid food at Kroger and the florist there asked if I grow orchids. I told her I was great at growing green leaves, but they never seemed to re-bloom. She said the trick to reblooming is leaving the flower stalk intact (just cutting it down a tad bit just below where the lowest bloom had grown) after the last flower expires. Typically, orchids don't grow a new bloom stalk for each blooming.....they simply generate new blooms from the existing stalks. And all this time I was cutting down the stalk that might have been full of awaiting blooms. I think I've got it figured out now, so I'm really hoping to have 3 blooming orchids in 2011!

Another photo of the orchid and it's lovely
reflection in the mirror. (Yes, I do have horse show ribbons 
lining the walls of my bedroom. Where else would I put them?)