Last October, for my birthday, my friend Kate gave me a beautiful orchid that sustained its blooms all the way through February of this year! When the last bloom finally fell off I have to admit I was quite sad. Although my parents are constantly bringing orchids back to bloom I was convinced I could never be so lucky. Despite my bad attitude, I went ahead and cut off the stem below the last bloom, per my mother’s instructions, and near immediately a new stem extension started growing! Finally, a full 10 weeks later, my orchid is back in full bloom!

The first 4 blooms popped so fast! The photo below was taken before bed and the photo above was taken in the morning.

As you can see my new blooms are growing crazy, all over the place with one bloom backwards, but who cares?! I’m delighted to have flowers back, and may even love them more now that they arrived as a result of my care.

While my orchid botany skills are still rudimentary at best, I hope my success encourages you all to tend your plants with care and hopefully you will be rewarded with new blooms also!