Valentine’s Orchid by LollyKnit
Valentine’s Day is coming and I know all the intelligent male and maybe many of the intelligent female readers of TheGardenLady blog are planning something really special for their beloved Valentine on that day.
Say it with flowers is a romantic advertisement logo- though the florists usually mean cut flowers. I love receiving cut flowers; but if I had my choice, I would prefer receiving flowering plants. Cut flowers last a few days or if I am lucky, perhaps a week or two. However, a flowering plant, if it lives, can give me years of bloom. And if the plant has flowers when it is delivered to me, but it dies, I usually feel that it is still a winning situation because the plant probably cost less or not more than cut flowers which have to be thrown out in a week or less.
This is why I want to suggest that when someone buys flowers for Valentine’s Day, to consider buying a beautiful flowering plant. This is not the time to buy something little that will take years to flower. And if that plant is an orchid- what could be nicer? Of course, since Valentine’s Day comes when it is still winter in parts of the US and Canada, be careful when ordering to be sure the Orchid will live if mailed to you. Some nurseries will postpone shipment if they think it is too cold where you live. After all, orchids are mostly tropical plants. (see here)
A place TheGardenLady likes to buy orchids is the largest orchid wholesaler and retailer in the Northeast US who will ship most places. That is Waldor Orchids. If you want, you could visit their nursery and let your sweetheart pick out her or his favorite orchid or orchids- I fear orchids can become addictive.
If you are lucky enough to live in California or are going to visit California and want to buy orchids or contact orchid nurseries to see if they will ship to your area, check out these orchid nurseries. (see here)
Here is a very complete list of orchid nurseries around the Unites States where you may buy orchids. The Orchid Mall website also lists places around the world where you can buy orchids and has a list of all the orchid societies around the world so that you can contact the one nearest you to see if they can recommend a great orchid nursery for you to buy orchids.