Wednesday, November 21, 2012

audrey 2 moves to melaque

About a year ago my landlady showed up at Casa Nanaimo with a rather sad-looking plant.

The gardener lashed it to the flamboyant tree with ropes -- like some Roman Easter ritual.  And there it sat.  Through the dry and rainy season. 

The only activity was a matrix of long white roots -- right out of a gothic film -- that girdled the tree.

I know this plot.  It was Little Shop of Horrors all over again.  One morning I anticipated a giant alien would be tied to the tree.

But I was wrong.  Instead, the plant started putting out columns of fresh green leaves during the summer rainy season.

Then one morning there was something new.  A thin spike.  That grew longer and longer.  When it was nearly five feet long, it started forming buds.

And there it sat for a couple of weeks.  Until I was greeted one day with delicate purple flowers.  Orchids.  Perfectly fit for a Lilliputian high school prom.



Unfortunately, that is when I headed north.  My landlady informs me that the display goes on. 

This year I will miss its best performance.  And, as long as the plant is not aware of my herbicide history with orchids, we may be able to coax a reprise next year.



13 comments:

John Calypso said...

Orchids are proof there is a God!

Laurie Matherne said...

Preach it, brother John!

Laurie Matherne said...

They sell them in the street in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. I need to slow down, buy one, and enjoy. I love gardening. And our weather is near perfect for most plants to thrive. Even impatients are impatient, and they grow in cracks in the sidewalk, in walls, etc.

Andean said...

Orchids are one of my favorite flowers. They grow like crazy in Florida. Here, a plant is extremely expensive, and it doesn't necessary do well unless in prime conditions.

jennifer rose said...

"we may be able to coax a reprise next year"


---Steve will be living in the same place next year?

Steve Cotton said...

Who knows. I may be living under a tombstone next year.

Steve Cotton said...

And who would have thought that orchids loved bondage?

Steve Cotton said...

And they require so little care. Other than spraying it with a bit of water in the dry season, no one did any tending of my prize.

Steve Cotton said...

Amen!

Andean said...

You may have nailed it, that may be one of the prime conditions it doesn't get to thrive here?

Debi Kuhn said...

Indeed, an orchid, those aren't roots, as orchids don't feed off the tree, they are just support.

the stock looks almost like a schumburgia, but the flower screams cattelya - I'm guessing cattleya bowringiana - lovely!

As the plant spreads you'll be able to split off old growth, and move it to a new place where new growth should occur!

Congratulations!

Steve Cotton said...

I am a proud papa.

Steve Cotton said...

I am sorry I missed the height of its showiness.