Hello. You can call me Jenny, someone who loves nature and flowers but was never really into them/gardening until I came upon this forum when I was given a trio of orchids as a Valentines Day gift this year. My boyfriend despises of ANY kind of flowers and doesn't want to get me any because he says they die. He had a huge debate with coworkers and was doing some research and was told that orchids can last 40 years so he decided to make a purchase. Last year he even put together a basket of glass roses for me (which I wasn't too happy with)
So he asks me what I'm going to name my orchids and I'm thinking... "What? He must want me to name them so I'll be attached to them and will care for them better."
I still have not came up with "names" for them but we got into a argument and I felt bad that night and I started googling everything about orchids and just developed a sudden attachment to them. My dog of 15 years had to be put down in January and it was really one of the hardest decisions of my life. I feel like I have this gardening hobby because it takes my mind off things. Plants are living things too, anyone can just throw away a wilted orchid but one who really took the time to appreciate a orchid and cares about it will do their best to revive it and that's when it all began...
My first post was in the Identification section where I asked about my 3 orchids. I knew that 2 of them were Phal's and found out the other one was a Dendrobium. Cool name. I thought it was special cause it was different from the others.
A couple hours later, plus a crap ton of research in my history tab... I suddenly fell in love with orchids. I felt like I needed to buy all these extra things for my orchids so I could care for them and keep them alive.
I randomly came upon an ad advertising that there was a orchid expo that weekend in my city. I had to go.
I found a friend to go with, and boy did I have so much fun there. I got to see orchids from all around the world, even one that was imported from China that was $3000! I now have a total of 7 orchids at home (plus one that I gave my mom that I'm caring for now)
So far... So good. They seem to be doing well, and I really hope they stay well. I'm a little iffy about keeping orchids since San Francisco is pretty cold.
Lately I've started getting into succulents and terrariums, and I love how I can pot everything myself.
I feel like my house is like a jungle now with all this green!
Love walking into the house, it smells different.
Yesterday, I spent a couple hours learning about repotting and dividing amaryllis bulbs.
I got a amaryllis from a teacher of mine and it's been well over 16 years and the flowers are still magnificent when they bloom.
I'm so glad to have stumbled upon this forum and be a part of it, everyone seems extremely helpful and friendly. ^_^ It's nice to see how many orchid enthusiasts there are out there!
Here are some pics of my greens!