Josie, a neighbor's West Highland White Terrier, on the front steps. I took this picture.

I saw the flower and couldn't resist buying it! It's a hybrid between Paphiopedilum "Fred's Wonder" and Paphiopedilum "Presidential Moon" which are themselves hybrids of hybrids.

I bought it from Emerald City Orchids in Tacoma, Washington.

I repotted a Phaelenopsis into fresh bark about a week ago. It's a small plant and evidently doesn't weigh very much, because as the roots are growing, they're pushing the stem of the plant up out of the pot. The tops of the roots are emerging above the bark, too. I realize now I could have pinned it in place while the roots restablished, but too late for that.

Should I repot it again, reburying the roots and pinning it down? Or should I just let it go and not worry about it? I'm inclined towards the latter; after all, new roots grow from up the stem and their tops are inherently exposed above the potting media. So that makes me think it's probably not a big deal for it to be up out of the pot a bit.

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/518987

I've been getting into orchids lately and reading a lot about them. I have a few, but thought it would be fun to get some more to learn about how to care for them best.

I posted on my local buy nothing group (a neighborhood facebook group where people give away stuff they don't want anymore). I asked if anyone would give me an old orchid that wasn't flowering and said I'd return it if I could get it to bloom again. Well, I had to cut the post off after 18 hours because so many people responded!

The picture shows the first 7 plants I received, but not the 4 I already owned or the 3 more I picked up the next day! I assigned each one a number so I can keep track of whose is whose.

Most were in pretty good shape, just dusty and a few dehydrated. I looked them all over and gave them a wipe down and a watering if they needed it and assessed their needs. One needed to be repotted right away, I think it had been kept too wet and it had a lot of rotten roots. I'll repot a few of the others in the next few days. Otherwise they're off and growing around my house! I'm excited to see how it turns out.

I've been getting into orchids lately and reading a lot about them. I have a few, but thought it would be fun to get some more to learn about how to care for them best.

I posted on my local buy nothing group (a neighborhood facebook group where people give away stuff they don't want anymore). I asked if anyone would give me an old orchid that wasn't flowering and said I'd return it if I could get it to bloom again. Well, I had to cut the post off after 18 hours because so many people responded!

The picture shows the first 7 plants I received, but not the 4 I already owned or the 3 more I picked up the next day! I assigned each one a number so I can keep track of whose is whose.

Most were in pretty good shape, just dusty and a few dehydrated. I looked them all over and gave them a wipe down and a watering if they needed it and assessed their needs. One needed to be repotted right away, I think it had been kept too wet and it had a lot of rotten roots. I'll repot a few of the others in the next few days. Otherwise they're off and growing around my house! I'm excited to see how it turns out.

So excited to see a new spike emerging!

Maybe this is a good problem to have, but shopping is more of a chore for me than something fun to do. I'm also a pretty frugal person. For those reasons, it's pretty hard for me to make big purchases, like furniture or even nicer clothing.

I go to the store, I look at the options and none of them seem exactly perfect, I think about how I could just keep the money for something else, I go home without buying anything. Then it takes a long time before I get up the energy to try again. But once I actually buy the thing, I'm happy and wish I had gotten it sooner.

As an example, I moved about nine months ago and need a couple of arm chairs for my new place. I've gone to a few stores, but every time the same pattern repeats itself, and I don't buy anything. It's been months! I'm sure I'll be happy once I have the chairs though.

I don't have trouble spending money at restaurants or on experiences -- those things are fun to me, so I don't mind spending the money. So, how do I get myself to make big purchases when I don't find shopping fun?