If you want to learn the meaning of patience, buy an Orchid

Once upon a time - May 2004 to be precise, my thoughtful and charming husband purchased an orchid for mothers day for his lovely wife. This was completely my own cockamamie scheme. For some reason, I was up for the exotic orchid challenge. I love houseplants. I have no less than 20, which are in various stages of growth and neglect. People say I have a green thumb. I just know when to water them - houseplants are amazingly forgiving. Give them water and sunshine and they will grow with little complaint. For some reason, I decided I needed advanced indoor gardening practice and desired to conquer the exquisite orchid. Nothing too rare, just a standard fare Phalaenopsis - which is what is often sold at local floral shoppes. Thus begins ones initiation with the Orchid, it's not too finicky or fussy- A beginners bloom.

So I proudly displayed my orchid and eventually the blooms whithered and fell. An orchid is an unusual flower, because it does not grow in a soil. In the wild, it attaches to the roots or trunk of grand amazonian jungle trees. The household orchid is planted in something that looks like bark mulch.

I quickly learned that my orchid was getting all the wrong something...the leaves were rotting and falling off, they were getting soft and brownish. After some emergency research, I learned that it was not getting the proper light, along with some overzealous watering. Eventually I changed the bark, and realized that my inexperience resulted in a serious case of root rot.

The orchid was tenderly reposited in my kitchen nursery. I place plants on the sill near my sink - these are plants that need the more TLC, and because of their strategic location, get the most attention. For almost 2 years, I watered my orchid once a week, and sprayed the leaves and top roots every day. Every day. For 2 years. The first thing I noticed, about 2 months into the orchid rescue mission was that it developed a root! Then a leaf! Then another root! Then another leaf! I dilagently continued to spray it every day.

Then one day, sometime around Christmas (2005) a new growth appeared. Could it be? Could it really be? A flower spike?! I offered it some fertilizer and continues to watch. For 2 months I have observed this flower spike grow longer and longer and then it developed three buds. I watched for week after week as these buds grew more rotund and plump...until last night. The succulent edges of petals uncurled. I have been anticipating this event for 2 years.
Here is a picture of my orchid last night. Notice that it started to bloom in the middle of a snow storm...
I wondered, given how long I watched the flower spike develop, and how long the buds developed - how long it would take the flower to open up.