What A Befitting Start ..

To our Saturday, and the weekend. I got up on Saturday morning, was letting Molly outside, getting her fed, grabbing coffee and all that kind of fun stuff. I looked down at our breakfast table and saw our photo album from our wedding still sitting there. I was going to grab the album and move it to a different location so I remembered to put it away.
That’s when I noticed something ..

I noticed Molly‘s little face.. staring back at me through the chair (upper left-hand corner of the photo). She’s such a cutie pie. My eyes refocused and I looked at the orchid sitting in the middle of the table. I’m always looking at the orchids waiting for something new to develop, and some thing had. I noticed that pepper sympathy orchid was again spiking!

A tiny little bloom spike is beginning to push through the side of the orchid plant just above the leaf node. This is so exciting because the current blooms have yet to fall. I’m sure they will soon, but it won’t be long until it’s blooming again and that’s pretty awesome.

Right now you have to look pretty close for the spike, but it’s quite visible. Below is a better picture. You can see the little glove shaped bloom spike pushing up through the leaf material almost directly in line with how the leaves protrude out from the center stem of the plant. The roots, on the other hand, grow out perpendicular to the leaf growth pattern, more on the sides of the plant.

Here it is visible. The new bloom spike is emerging on the left, above the leaf, while the root is emerging toward the right, on the side of the stem.

I call it the sides of the plant because the leaves tend to grow in an alternate pattern on the same plane, in a fan shape rather than a circular pattern.

You can see the fan pattern very well in this photo below.

The Phalaenopsis orchid, like the one I have here, is considered a monopodial orchid. Monopodial’s also include the Vanda type orchids, but I do not own any of those. These types of orchids grow leaves off of each side from a central vertical stem. I believe, and don’t quote me on this, that you can expect one or two new leaves every year. I look for New flower spikes to occur just above the old spikes, in the next intersecting leaf node, or 2 or 3 leaves down from the newest leaves. I think that’s a good rule of thumb when keeping an eye out for new flower spikes.

Remembering Pepper..

The ironic thing about Pepper's Sympathy Orchid.. blooming again, is that we met with the couple who gifted us this white Orchid, last night for dinner. We hadn’t seen them in a few months so it was nice to catch up. They are great friends of ours who are always there for us, so that makes this orchid all that more special. They knew how much we loved orchids, and how much pepper enjoyed investigating them and how that was a special part of our lives.

I can not predict the future of anything.. regardless, I am loving that this orchid is doing so well. I can’t make any promises that it will continue its stellar growth streak, but will do my best to keep both her alive and peppers memory going. I think about Pepper every day end it still hurts having lost him. We keep his ashes, a photo with poem, and a little imprint of his paw close by. I wish I could hold his little face in my hands again, but just being able to see it every day, even though only in a photograph, helps get me to the next.

When the original flowers fell from the white orchid, peppers sympathy orchid, we gathered them up and placed them in with his ashes. In a weird way it helped me move on a little bit more than I had already. Some people may think that is a bit strange, but we all have our ways of dealing with loss and sadness. I don't think there is a right or wrong way of doing that, unless it involves hurting one's self or others.

This post was not meant to be about how I feel today.. and about the loss of Pepper, however sometimes when we write that’s the way things go; Not scripted, not false reality, but rather a real moment in time as it’s unfolding. I really really really really really really really really really really really miss my buddy boy.

It was nice to get together with our friends.. last night and talk about this very thing. They have suffered more than one loss as well and understand the feelings and emotions that come along with such an experience. Having a close friend who understands the pain you’re going through is priceless. Not that I wish others feel the same as we do, but it’s nice to sit and talk about it, realize it happened, know others can understand the pain, and move on…

We spoke briefly about the loss of our pets, then enjoyed our company together knowing that there’s still a lot of life left to live.

The pets (our children) we have lost, will always remain in our hearts and never be forgotten.

Did I say that I am really looking forward to watching that new bloom spike develop?!

Yup.. I SURE AM

Thank you for swinging by my blog and checking out the post. Have a great day!

All words, pictures and art pieces are the sole property of B D Miller Gallery, unless otherwise noted and credited, and are not to be reproduced or copied without the prior written consent of B D Miller Gallery.

The Orchid Lovers Community!

Love Orchids? Consider joining our community. We look forward to seeing you there!!!

The Orchid Lovers Community

A place for people who Love Orchids!