Some years ago, Renee's ( my wife ) grandfather found a piece of wood, something he liked to do. He would clean them and varnish them. This particular piece did not get finished. At some point it wound up at my mother-in-law's home. I lusted after it for YEARS after I got my first start in orchids.
One year she finally broke down and gave it to me for my birthday present.
By then I was not in orchids any longer and it was just an heirloom piece.
ZOOM to the future ( like now ).
A few months ago I got a new orchid that was in bud. Soon thereafter my mother passed away. When we got home I found that the flower had bloomed on the day she passed away. It was a cross that had not been named, I contacted the grower and got permission to name it myself.
Pot. Memoria Irene Feil
Now it gets good. One day we were digging through things and came across the piece of wood that had been found by Renee's grandfather and given to me by her mother. See where I am going with this.
Below is a pic of the wood piece.
This afternoon I merged all of these elements into the image of this orchid mounted on the heirloom piece.
Sorry, no blow by blow. I just wanted to get it done.
I pulled it out of semi-hydro this afternoon and was pleasantly surprised at how well the roots were doing. I was concerned because some of the roots on the surface had dried up. I only had to cut out about 15-20% of the roots.
I wanted to mount it lower and let it grow up the sides (it has new growths coming from both ends of the plant), but the root mass was too large and fit better in the pocket at the bottom of the wooden piece. See this thread for a better shot of the wood pre-mounting:
I put a couple of brass nails in the back and obtained a thin piece of copper wire. Next I places some sphag, then the plant and then packed some more sphag around the roots after strapping it in with the wire. I am hoping the existing and new roots that are emerging from the 3-4 new growths will attach and secure the plant to the wood.
Now I just need to find a place to put it where it will get enough light!! The one place I wanted to put it is too short and the leaves touch the lights.
I am thrilled.
Renee is thrilled.
I believe Renee's mom will be thrilled.
I think my mom might have been thrilled too (other than it would not have happened if she had not passed away).
Pot. Mem. Irene Feil... MOUNTED
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