I grow orchids.
It’s not a hobby or anything. I’ve been given orchids as gifts, and have seen them at Trader Joe’s, picked them up because they were cheaper and nicer there, and given them to people as gifts… but, whatever, I have ended up with some – kind of fostering them for a friend – and so, I keep them alive… mostly.
They are interesting, orchids. They adjust to their environment. If they don’t, or something is not quite right, they begin to look a bit sick – the leaves turn yellow – or they just shrivel up. I always try to figure out why they are unhappy, when this happens. What do they need, or have too much of that is making them feel unwell? Not all of them are the same. Obviously, each one is a different variety, so they do have their own individual needs. What makes these different? Ah… quite the mystery, but nonetheless.
They can bloom for weeks, then the blooms begin to dry out. You can’t water them to keep the blooms alive. They have a life-cycle, like any other flowering plant. It’s according to their own clock as to when they bud, bloom, dry out, drop off, and the stem begins to dry out. Then, if we are lucky, and the plant is feeling good, it will do the same thing all over again… until it doesn’t.
They really don’t live forever in captivity. I’m not sure if these plants lived in their tropical native homes if they would just go on. Probably not. It’s a life cycle.
Nonetheless, they are gorgeous. They make the room cheery. And they adjust pretty well to living there, most of the time. But in captivity, they are dependent on us to make sure they are watered and not too much. They can adapt, but there are limits. Just like with us humans.
We humans are soft flexible forms, but we can break. Obviously. Adaptation is critical, but if we can’t adapt, we disintegrate or de-compensate…or both. In some ways we are actually like orchids. Think about it.
