The Orchid

[Serena Duvet]

                            The Orchid

I spied it last night after dropping off a friend in a Venice alley.
As I slowly wound my way between the dumpsters the night
before trash pick up, there it was, perched on the top of the
trash cascading from the dumpster's crown, an orchid!

Could it really be what it appeared to be? I stopped the car
and jumped out to investigate. Yes, it was an elegant
Phalainopsis with a pair of delicate magenta blooms and
glossy, verdant leaves in a white ceramic pot, the mossy
nest in which it was rooted still moist. "Hey, don't worry,"
I told it, "I will care for you."  And now it's towering over all
the violets in the greenhouse window, over my kitchen sink.

[Katze]

Beautiful flower Serena ! How sweet of you to rescue it and bring it back to life !

Into Blue

[Serena Duvet]

Thank you both.  I will care for this plant and I hope that if it enjoys this eastern morning sun that it will bring forth more blossoms after these two fall.

[Serena Duvet]

Update on the orchid that I rescued from the dumpster:

It is doing fine.

I was told a long time ago to cut the stem down to about two inches when the orchid's blossoms

have fallen.  I didn't with this one.  It is getting new buds, though, on the two branches where the 

original magenta blossoms were.  This plant is happy in its new home!

[Serena Duvet]

Update, April 10th ~

Shown here, the Orchid in the dumpster on January 6th; it is thriving!  After being bare for a couple of months, it now has two new blossoms and a fresh new central leaf. It still lives by my kitchen sink.  Photographed outdoors by local artist/musician Eric Ahlberg