So tonight I thought I'd go visit the local orchid club meeting (Illowa) and see what I could learn.
Everyone was very friendly and there were many orchids blooming that had been brought in to admire. They also had a raffle, with 5 Cattleyas - 3 big ones, and two small ones. I bought 6 tickets and put them all in for the unknown hybrid of the little ones. They also had a door prize Dendrobium "Emma- Burana White." Well, the nice man who won the door prize decided that I should have it since I didn't have any orchids yet... I thanked him and then picked his brain for "how do I not kill this plant". I then proceeded to win my little cattleya! I'm looking forward to seeing it bloom, because nobody knows what it will look like! He said that they will both like living outside in the spring/summer once it warms up a bit, but they'll have to wait until June.
I'll post photos when I get some - its dark at the moment. The Den is in bloom. I was worried that I hurt it when I was searching for parking spots - I was looking down a row and forgot that there is a massive pot hole. I wonder if its a sign that I have a problem, when my car went "BANG" as it hit the pothole... and my first thought was "OMG what if that broke the flower stalk on my new orchid!?"
(I still plan to order a lepanthes from Andy's orchids...
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