PLANT OF THE MONTH: FEBRUARY
ORCHIDS
Our plant of the month is the beautiful orchid, bringing elegance to your home. The orchid makes a lovely gift for flower lovers and is a longer lasting alternative to cut flowers on Valentine’s Day.
Many people assume orchids are difficult to care for, but this isn’t the case. With a little care, your orchid can flower for months. Most orchids like bright natural light, but not direct sun. They can tolerate a fairly cool spot but they dislike cold draughts.
Water or mist them weekly. If watering, leave for half an hour in a bowl of water before draining it away so the orchid doesn’t sit in water. They prefer rainwater or boiled water from the kettle that is tepid.
The moth orchid, or Phalaenopsis, along with the Cymbidium are two of the easiest orchids to grow. Their flowers can last for months. There are also fragrant varieties of orchid.
If you want your orchid to last more than one season, feed it with a balanced orchid fertiliser. Apply it every third watering in spring and switch to a high potassium orchid fertiliser in summer. In winter feed only occasionally, using half-strength general liquid fertiliser. Orchids don’t really go dormant. When not full of buds and blooms, they’re building up the energy to put out more blooms for the next cycle.
Choose from the selection of orchids in the houseplant section at Garsons. There’s also a range of beautiful pots to show them to their best advantage.
