Or exclusive, either. Sure, there are rare ones that cost hundreds of dollars, but many beauties are readily available for around $20. For less than the price of a dozen cut roses, you can have a pretty and potentially long lasting gift that opens all by itself, over and over.

Watching a bud swell and burst into a crazy, colorful, sexy, sometimes scary, always fascinating bloom is a lot of fun. Soon you’ll have a full herd of flowers that look like fantastic eyeless alien creatures.

And, as far as colors go, imagine asking a creative 8 year old what they think a flower should be colored, and you’re about halfway there.

Purples with greens, pinks and yellows. Yes, on the same flower! Whites, reds, oranges, there aren’t enough colors in the rainbow to describe. And that’s not even mentioning the shapes… from round and soft, to spiky or even hairy!

Orchids naturally grow in the wild all over the world and lots of varieties have been cultivated for indoors. Some require very special attention, but many are quite tolerant of being ignored, and, probably prefer it that way.

It is easy to kill an orchid with kindness, but a lot of diffuse light and a little water (make that filtered or collected rainwater, and at room temperature, please!) will go far to make most inexpensive orchids happy.

I put my orchids in a bright room, in a corner away from the direct light and they seem to be pretty happy so far. And the foliage is pretty, too, so once the blooms die, I’ll try to see if I can make them come back. One even has interesting bulbs at the base of each leaf.

Exquisite, yes, and exotic looking, but really, quite approachable and fun.

Until next time!

Elaine Bothe

For more reading and additional beautiful photos, including care information and identification guides, please visit the following websites:

www.orchidworks2.com

www.beautifulorchids.com

www.aboutorchids.com

All photos courtesy of AboutOrchids.com.