Eighteen months ago, I received two Phalaenopsis orchids. They are dramatic, if rather alien, plants, and I have never bought one for myself. I wasn’t familiar with their care, so I just put them in filtered light and watered occasionally, as per the attached instructions. I was amazed that the blooms lasted for six months.
Then the flowers fell and I cut a few inches off the stem, as directed, and waited to see if they would bloom again. Nothing happened, so I left them on a windowsill and watered them only when the soil was quite dry. They were rather unattractive at that point: dead-looking stems, still attached to the metal support that held the flowers in the familiar arc. Still, I persevered.
A year later, they bloomed again! I was amazed at this small miracle and now look at them every day with gratitude.
Anmaru 