Saturday, February 20, 2021

The Challenge of Growing Orchids

 

I have tried to grow orchids over the years but all my attempts have failed. Of course, the Orchidaceae are a diverse and widespread family of flowering plants but when I think of orchids, I don't think of all the members of the family with small inconspicuous blossoms. I think of these lovely large, impressive ones. The basic reasons for my failure lie in the fact that for most of my life so far, I have lived in a desert with very low levels of humidity and extreme temperature changes. Overcoming these factors requires constructing a container (greenhouse) that can control the high temperatures and lack of humidity in the summer and the cold below freezing and dry climate of the winter. I have known about people who could grow orchids in Mesa, Arizona but I have never really had the inclination to spend all that time and money. That does not keep me from enjoying the beauty of the flowers when I visit those places where they are grown in abundance. 

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