I did it!!!

Those of you who know me well, know that I am a lover of plants. I pride myself on getting most of my plants from the Used Plant Section of local grocery stores. Those of you not familiar with this section have probably passed it by numerous times without even noticing. It is usually a shopping cart filled with various types of post-holiday plants. Shamrocks in April, tulips in March, Mums in June...you get it. Well, my desire to rescue as many of these plants as possible extended to Orchids a few years back. I desperately wanted to successfully grow an orchid, but could not bring myself to fork over the big bucks to buy a big, pretty....live...one. So when I saw one in the Used Plant Section back then, I snatched it up! I read about how to take care of it, and did my best..........and it died. So sad. Next time I found one I did the same. Bought it, read about it, and successfully killed it. I think this has happened like four times. I was beginning to think that I had the opposite of a green thumb when it came to orchids.

I had just picked up what was to be my last go at bringing back a Used Orchid when my step mother-in-law found out about my love. Unbeknownst to me, Orchiding was a hobby of hers as well (I since have seen her house populated with beautiful orchids of all shapes and sizes), and offered some advice on how to properly care for one. I took her advice and tediously tended my new acquisition. It occupied a spot on my tiny kitchen window sill. One day, when I brought it down to water I hit myself in the eye with a shoot of new growth!!! I had no idea! I was so excited that not only had I not killed it (!), but it had thrived!

I have been patiently watching and waiting as bud, after bud, grew on that new stem shoot, and today I was rewarded! I bloom!! A real, live, orchid flower! On my plant! I didn't kill it!! I'm not sure there are sufficient exclamation points to describe how happy I am about this. I can't wait to see all the buds open up!

The full plant with the new shoot going to the right. Thats what I hit my head on.

The little shoot with some early buds.

The finished product! I worked so hard.......