Converting family members to orchids
 

As some of you already know, some of my orchids stayed behind in France with the family when I moved to the Netherlands for my studies. My mom and sister were less than overjoyed to have to tend to orchids. Despite much neglect, the phals are thriving under their care, and they were overjoyed to see many spikes!

My big yellow Noid is in bloom again, I can't wait to go home in April to see it! The spike is so heavy that that the only way to keep the plant upright is by putting it in another pot.
My harequin phal started a spike, as did a mystery Noid I have. They broke the first spike on it when it was almost fully grown :(, but the phal decided to wake a dormant bud to respike, and started a brand new spike as well! I can't wait to see this one!

As a result, my mom is more tolerant of my orchid addiction. :biggrin: And wants me to promise to leave them in France for her. She'll be an orchid addict by the time I'm done with her!

Beautiful Camille!!
You're mommy will want more and more chids!!!

They really like your Mom and sister :-) despite the neglect before Christmas!
Beautiful yello chid in the first picture, I love yellows!

Great job addicting your family Camille! :rofl: I have been giving noids to friends to make more room for phrags I ordered. I hope to be a successful enabler just like you! :biggrin: Carol

That yellow one is beautiful! They all look so much healthier then my phals.

:cheer: :dance13: :cheer: Yay Camille!!

That yellow one is spectacular!! And what an enormous plant, holy cow!!! I am so happy for you - I know its not easy leaving orchids in the care of someone else...but at least your mom and sis now see how easy orchids can be!!! And this is a true testament to the phrase "orchids thrive on neglect"...I hope eric reads this thead!! LOL :goodjob:

Camille, you got them hooked! :cheer: I did the same thing, sort of. My brother-in-law would come here and notice my blooms, but say they were too much work. Last week he bought 2 Phals and said he is going to buy a couple more. :coverlaugh: I even offered to go shopping with him....you know, to help him choose only one or two. :evil:

Good job Kiki!

Excellent work Camille! I'm trying to do the same thing with my parents while I'm at college. I'm having limited success for now, but I think Mom is starting to catch the bug!:evil: Dad has grown a few orchids before but is one of those people that sees orchids as finicky things for rich people. I think he was put off by his failure with his last orchid, long before I ever got my first one. He's in charge of most of the plants while I'm gone, but I gave one to Mom that she really liked (wouldn't even let me take it to college :lol:) so she can get the hang of it. Meanwhile I'm plotting a group of purchases for the summer and I'm hoping to pass them off as "early birthday presents", and there's at least one on my list I know Mom won't be able to resist.......:muahaha:

That's awesome! I'm working on my sister. She loves bromeliads, but went gaga over my orchids when she visited. I'll get my Mom too. She thought orchids were all "floof" and fussy. Even though she's an avid gardener and has tons of houseplants, she was completely unaware of all the "non-floofy" orchids out there.

:rofl: Great strategy Evan! LOL My son did the same thing with me at your age. He dragged me kicking and screaming (ya right) to the orchid show and made me buy orchids for him and me. He of course "volunteered" to care for mine since I didn't know diddly about chids back then. When he moved out he told me I was on my own and that's how I found OB! The rest is history!

I have since passed the bug on to friends and some reluctant family members. I've given away divisions and some NOIDs. My mom keeps saying she doesn't have time. (She's in her 80's and retired for crying out loud) She has a pitiful little collection of Phals and a lone Den that are perpetually underwatered. Her outside Cyms on the other hand are quite a sight when in full bloom. She has one mini that sported 20 spikes last year I kid you not! It was gorgeous.

It's not easy getting family members into orchids, especially since they have limited interest in plants in general. The funny thing about the double spiking phal, is that my mom rescued that one from an abusive co-worker who was slowly killing it on her desk. Originally the plan was to nurse it back to health and then give it back. But now it's funny, mom is saying that the person doesn't really care about it, and the conditions in the office are not good (it was sitting next to a heater), and that maybe she should keep it. :coverlaugh:

My sister on the other hand, she loves the blooms, but really hates taking care of them. She's not a plant person, and not an outdoorsie person.

Once you see results like these, it's easy to get hooked! Good going Camille and just think...you'll always have your orchids in good hands while you're away, conquering the world!

:whistling:evil::coverlaugh:Thanks Terri, glad to hear a success story in a situation like mine. Oh Mom! When's the next garden show?

Camille, it can be hard getting family members into orchids even if they love gardening. My parents started me gardening before I could walk, and my dad studied landscape architecture in college, even though he went on to become an electrician, but I'm still cadjoling them into growing orchids. Even my brother who is graduating with degrees in metallurgy and material sciences (nothing AT ALL to do with plants, about as far as you can get from gardening) loves gardening.

Don't give up, they've had a taste and they're sure to want more!:evil:

I am a convert. My sister angie would drag me around orchid shows and orchid nuseries for a while, and about 2 years ago, she persuaded me to buy two phals for my office because the space looked too empty. She's a buyer and not a "let's take care of the plant" type of person. So, anyway, next thing you know, I'm running out of space for my orchids. I've since stopped buying phals and have moved on to the more exotic and species type orchids. 2 years and many orchid victims later, I'm officially an orchid nut. She, on the other hand, buys phals periodically, but isn't obsessed like I am. :) She infected me with her addiction and cured herself. :)

UPDATE
 

I went back home to France last week for a short break, and I finally got to see my yellow phal in person. Almost all of the buds opened, there are only a few left. That makes a total of 26 blooms/ buds on the spike! The side spike grew parallel to the main spike, which looks nice. Pretty good for a first reblooming!
The other two orchids I had posted are getting close to blooming too. One should be starting in a day or two.

http://inlinethumb27.webshots.com/42...600x600Q85.jpg

http://inlinethumb17.webshots.com/42...600x600Q85.jpg

Aaaaaaaw, so beautiful!
If it needs a foster home ... ROFLOL

Wow :yikes: that's a real stunner. What a wonderful load of flowers. :cheer:

Thats gorgeous Camille.
My daughter is turning 8 soon and I asked her what she wanted for her birthday. She asked for a pink or white Paphiopedilum. That makes me so happy. I love taking her to nurseries and shows. I love seeing the look on peoples faces as she starts pointing to orchids and naming them.

WOW!! What a bloomer! And a gorgeous soft yellow, too! Thanks for the update, Camille. I should really get my own yellow phal.

HA! Oh Beverly, sounds like your kid is on the right track! It's always funny to watch peoples' faces when someone starts spewing latin and names of cultivars, clones, etc.

Camille

That looks like a very healthy Phal. I think that is the key to introducing people to orchids. I am just about to give my daughter each a Bl. Richard Mueller hybrid, that grows very fast in S/H and bloom on every new lead.

Some of you may remember that I became interested in orchids when my husband got busy at work and asked me to care for his. Then he lost interest altogether and I WAS the orchid caregiver. :shock: Yikes. Well I do believe he has become interested again. He joined the local orchid society and went with me to the show. He bought over twice as many orchids as I did! Yep, he has swung back to the light side. :biggrin:Shopping with your spouse is great fun. :evil: Carol :dance:

My mom liked my plants from the get-go. She didn't mind seeing them peppered around my room, and she had a habit of smelling the fragrant blooms whenever she could. My younger sister was neutral; she neither disliked nor loved my plants (although she was interested in the ones with weird shapes). As for my dad, well, he's never really approved of the hobby. He'd rather I fix car motors for a hobby, and at one point, he threatened to destroy my plants because he disliked seeing his son grow flowers. Of course, I ignored him, and I bought more plants. :evil:

My mom helped me a lot with the hobby. She took care of my plants when I couldn't, and bought me a lot of the necessary supplies whenever possible. Nowadays, whenever she calls to say hi, she asks me which of my plants is in bloom. I'd send her pictures, but I don't have a camera. :biggrin:

Yeeeesh!:shock: I'm so grateful that BOTH of my parents like gardening and flowers. Good for you sticking with what you love despite any opposition!

Yeah, my mom definitely minds having all of my plants (orchids and other) around, but maybe that's because it's not so much a "peppering" as it is a heap, a greenhouse in every window and then some! :evil: