Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Winter Wednesday - Blooms and Winter

In certain places, flowers bloom, and people are happy. 
Here's why I am happy tonight:

For only the second time in my life, I have succeeded in getting an orchid plant to rebloom.

Right now there is only one bloom, and I am holding my breath.  It's been cold outside - lows in single numbers and highs in the teens cold - with wind - but we are shielding the plant, and another bud looks almost ready to open.

Meanwhile, baby, it is cold outside. In my house near Johnson City, New York, my spouse fixed a wonderful pot of turkey broth soup (turkey necks on sale) with veggies and some noodles, and a hint of hot pepper.  We are trying to beat a cold wave that has descended on us, like many other parts of the country.


Here's one photo I took back on January 13, before the cold hit, but I would be surprised if this brook was frozen over.  That's the kind of winter we've had.

Meanwhile, despite the cold, we have little snow cover here in the valley.  If you've heard of places in upstate New York that have received over two feet of snow recently - well, it wasn't us.


So, I end this Winter Wednesday with this little decoration I found in a restaurant. 

I don't want to walk in it, I don't want to shovel it, and I certainly don't want to travel in it.  But snow is necessary to our ecology here in New York and a little more snow this winter wouldn't hurt.  But no ice, please.

Just snow.

Have you accomplished something recently that you are proud of?

6 comments:

  1. That is a beautiful orchid. I grew up in the cold but live in San Diego now. It's not as warm as you might think but certainly no snow.I appreciate the weather so much, although some do prefer the change of seasons.
    Thanks for sharing!
    warm wishes,
    Cindy

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  2. Thank you for the compliment, Cindy. I've only been to San Diego once - a week in July, years ago. It certainly was pleasant that week - highs in the mid 70's. And the palm trees were so nice, too.

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  3. I love your blog. Now I want to know your secret to getting an orchid to bloom in the dead of winter. I have been nursing one that was in full bloom when I bought it. After it was done, I transplanted it and now it has 2 new leaves. Any tips on getting it to bloom besides watering and fertilizing?

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  4. Thank you for the compliment. Based on my past experience in killing orchids, I would say you've already done something right: transplanting. Giving the right amount of light is important - I found I wasn't doing this. And - patience. Mine took nearly a year to rebloom.

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  5. Congratulations. I wish you great success with the Orchid. They are so fragile. We are sharing the same arctic freeze you are. This mornings temperature is 1.4 degrees and headed nowhere. I am hoping for a light snow season but when it's this cold in January, we usually get a couple of back to back heavy snow storms in February. Not looking forward to it. Keeping my mind centered on the planting season and the herbs I will see return.

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  6. Hi,
    You stopped by my blog a few days ago. I wrote about my experience with an orchid. I don't know how much of an accomplishment it was, but my orchid did bloom a second time. I am not quite sure I did anything to make it happen. Perhaps because of their delicate looking appearance, we don't realize the strength they actually possess.

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