Penny in a Fountain

I love flowers and gardens and have even tried my hand at gardening vegetables. At my house we had an adorable little courtyard but realised that making it my project would require a lot of time and financial investment. When picking up my food shopping I’d usually buy a (cheap!) bouquet of tulips to add some colour to my room and smell yummy! (Mine were usually from Lidl since this was the least walking distance to my house!! – only £2 for a pretty bunch).

Whilst on a recent outing to Tesco with my housemate (because as students a visit to Asda or large supermarket is an excursion we get rather excited about) I discovered a jungle of orchids congregating in the fruit and vegetable aisle. The colours and beautiful delicate shapes of the flower petals attracted me like a moth to a flame, or a dog to a squirrel…. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T0C7eSmaLg

Originally I was admiring the petite of the selection, only £5! But after much deliberating I decided to take home a larger, taller white Moth Orchid (it had more buds ready to bloom). I thought I would share my advice for taking care of them and show you how pretty they are for any room!

Here’s my Phalaenopsis Orchid proudly sat in my room. Usually I have it snugly placed upon my desk, but placed it near the window for good light!

Some tips on care:

1. Water only once a week during winter but more frequently during the time they are flowering – keep in mind orchids can die from over watering and should not sit in water.
2. They are very happy in centrally heated rooms – as they are from the humid environment of the rainforest.
3. Keep in good sunlight during the winter to encourage flowering but out of direct sunlight during the summer.

I recommend finding expert advice such as this website I used here.

To make up for the less than impressive photograph from my room, I took some more in my garden at my parents house

 

 

Floating Flowerheads

This is such a simple and great idea for the poor flowerheads that might drop off or in my case accidently have a premature life on the orchid after travelling on my lap in the car….

I didn’t want to just throw the flowers away, so instead remembered a trip I had made to Lamu, Kenya where I had seen stone bowls of freshly picked flowerheads floating in water for ‘dipping’ your feet after a walk on the beach.

This is my recreation but more suitable for admiring rather than washing!

Tags: bedroom decoration, flowers, grocery shopping, houseplants, inexpensive, inspiration, interior, moth orchid, orchid care, Phalaenopsis, plants, quality, student, student house, summer