Gardening
Related: About this forumUnidentified plants.
[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]Hello, garden experts! I've got pictures of 2 plants to show you and hope you can help me identify them. I have to post TinyURL links because for some reason the https links from my Dropbox won't show up as photos in this post.
The 1st plant, , was found in a plastic cup (which it is still in until I figure out what it is) and has dark green, succulent leaves. The long dried stem may presumably have been a flower of some sort. If I can identify it, then I can figure out how it would like to be transplanted and cared for.
The 2nd plant, , is in gorgeous bloom a block from where I live and I'm just curious. The leaves are huge and the tips of the flowers are a good 4 feet off the ground.
Thanks in advance for any help!
NRaleighLiberal
(60,470 posts)silverweb
(16,402 posts)[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]I'll work on fixing that first link right now.
silverweb
(16,402 posts)silverweb
(16,402 posts)[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]They're growing in the patch between the sidewalk and the street, right in the shade of a huge old tree. Absolutely gorgeous!
The yard that sidewalk fronts is full of roses and jasmine. I never see the people who live there, but I love walking past all their flowers.
NRaleighLiberal
(60,470 posts)silverweb
(16,402 posts)[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]That's 2 abandoned orchids I've now inherited and I have no experience with orchids at all. Any suggestions?
NRaleighLiberal
(60,470 posts)best bet may be to trade it for something easier - or have an Orchid greenhouse babysit it for you to get it to bloom (they do that around here).
silverweb
(16,402 posts)[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]The only things I know about orchids are that they're tropical and like humidity. The air here, despite fairly frequent rain, is extremely dry. There's also an approximately 25 to 30-degree variance between daytime and nighttime temperatures.
I don't see how these orchids can survive without a special climate-controlled enclosure, which I don't have, and I'm not going to pay someone to care for them just so they bloom. Not worth it to me. I'd rather spend my efforts on plants that can do well in this environment.
Trader Joe's sells these things potted by the dozens here and I never understood why. Best bet sounds like it might be to discard them both, although I feel like I'm being "cruel."
Thanks for your input!
silverweb
(16,402 posts)[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]How do orchids do just as houseplants, without concern for whether they bloom?
The first one I inherited looks all dried out, except that there's still life under the dried layers. Maybe if I re-pot it, it will grow new leaves?
The one in the plastic cup has rather pretty leaves and I wouldn't mind it just as a succulent houseplant. I really don't care if they ever bloom again or not.
Do you think this is a feasible alternative?
uppityperson
(115,837 posts)Don't over water and they are easy if you aren't looking for blooms. I recently inherited a couple like your photo, a few leaves and a dried stem. Roots in the cup with little else. I was told to water once a week and just let it be.
silverweb
(16,402 posts)[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]I'll give that a shot and see what happens.