[Junebug]

I've always had a fascination and respect for plants and pretty much anything made by mother nature. During my youth I fondly remember joyful experiences with my mother as she tended to her houseplants and other memories of tagging along behind my grandmother in WV while she tended to her hillside garden as I eagerly sampled her fresh picked tomatoes. As I grew into adulthood I found that I too enjoyed plant care. I had a robust vegetable garden, succulents, cactuses, 27 rose bushes, and several varieties of ferns.

One day my first husband brought home a curious looking plant with long leaves growing from a bulbish base with a beautiful magenta bloom arising from a single long stem. He said he thought it was an orchid and had found it growing wild on some neglected property alongside an old decayed wooden fence. At the time I knew nothing about the cultural needs of any Orchid. The poor things roots were exposed so I promptly submerged its roots in a bucket of water and planted it in potting soil a few days later. Needless to say, it never stood a chance. That experience stuck with me and it was years before I tried my hand at orchid growing again.

My next guinea pigs were a bareroot Angraecum which did pretty well and a Dend. Aggregatum which I promptly killed. Next was a dancing lady variety of Oncidium...never bloomed...then a lovely Catt received as a gift...then the divorce and a change of environment where my orchids didn't fare too well. Being determined I purchased a few more orchids...a bare root Rhycostylis Gigantea, a bare root Brassia Rex, and a gorgeous Loddigessi cross. With my nurturing care the Loddigessi suffered horribly, and then another change of residence.
Another year and a half went by and my remaining orchids were surviving, but not thriving and not one had never bloomed.

It was Mar 2004 when tragedy struck my life...a parent's worst nightmare...the death of a child (my 24 year old daughter). Feeling completely devastated and heart broken it was hard to face the prospect of a new day, but I knew I had to survive and be strong for the sake of my other children. Each day I had to make myself eat when I didn't feel like eating and force myself to go to work because the bills had to be paid. I recoginized that stress was taking it's toll on me and I began trying to think of some healthy options to redirect the serious path my life had taken. It was then that I began a regimen of long brisk walks and the renewed interest in the challenge of orchid growing. I promptly purchased a few more plants and became somewhat obsessed with their care. The next year of my life was devoted to my health, the health of my children, and to the care of my orchids. I guess you could say that Orchids helped to save my life.