My original plant. The offshoot came from a Keiki that grew on its old flower stalk.

2009 hasn’t been my most stellar gardening year. I’ve been distracted and neglectful of my garden, both indoors and out, especially since P-Day: August 30th – The Day Izi, The Puppy, Entered My Life. Garden wise, sad to say, it’s been all downhill since then. I’m amazed I still have a few plants that are alive.

Since P-Day I should dub myself the Intermittent Gardener, since I only notice my plants every now and then, while being dragged around by said puppy. I notice that they are thirsty. I notice that they are falling over. I notice they have strange bugs and holes in their leaves. I make a mental note to Do Something About It At The First Available Opportunity. Then I forget all about it, till the next time I pass by. And the cycle repeats. Sad, really.

“Forget the plants. You’ve got ME now, ” says Puppy Izi.

But, happily, plants are tough, even orchids. My two orchids, the original, and offshoot, sat outdoors till quite late in the fall and suffered a few pretty cold nights. Eventually I noticed them giving me pathetic looks. “You aren’t planning on leaving us out here for the winter, are you?” looks. By then they had been liberally chewed by snails and looked really quite miserable. On plant dating attractiveness scale, not even “average” would cover it. Not good looking plants. But they were still alive, so I scooped them up, found a spot to place them inside, after which, of course, I got right on the task of neglecting them in the warmth of my overheated apartment.
They were huddled together on a cold windowsill, and my sister, bless her eyes, noticed that the baby one, the one I wrote about here, actually had a flower bud on it! I’d been waiting for that flower bud for ages. Thought it was never going to happen. But happen it did! Yippee! I roared into action and got out the watering can and drainage pots. Now I could actually water them (yes, it’s something plants actually like, apparently) And the misting bottle got dusted off. They are in a perfect spot right now, close to the south facing window, but not freezing on the windowsill. They are on top of my TV. Warm and sunny.

I await the growth of the flower bud with interest.