Springtime means orchid time at my house

Here in Florida we are blessed with wonderful weather year round, but once springtime arrives, so do the longer days of sunlight. For orchids, that means only one thing. Time to start blooming again.

Of course, Mickey helps LOL!



Here is a picture of some of the beautiful examples of what nature can give us. They are from my garden last year. I have already enjoyed the Dendrobium Nobile this year (the small purple flowers with the dark purple eye on the lower right in this pic) and can not wait for the others to add their beauty.

As with all avid polymer clay lovers, this all means one more thing to attempt. Quite a while ago, I had learned from a tutorial by Penni Jo Couch how to use a distressed wood background for my creations. This deep purple Cattleya is one I did with that background and backed with a magnet so I could bring my orchids into my kitchen all year round.

 Many of my plants are mounted on tree bark, as with this Vanda. It is very easy to get them to flourish this way, since orchid roots LOVE to spread out all over, like delicate fingers reaching out to you.



Then I received a lesson from Cindy Lietz on Faux Wood Veneer, which seemed to give the background a more natural look. Here is the latest recreation of one of my blooms on that lighter wood background, complete with its delicate fingers.

I seem to have a fascination with all flowers, not only orchids, and am contemplating adding more species to my "forever blooming" collection. Could  the reason be because my middle name is Rose?