Orchid

I am testing my picture-uploading skillz with a picture of my orchid from this summer.

This orchid, from Trader Joe's, is the first that I've ever had bloom for a second time. My first orchid, from Kroger I think, died when I asked Karen to take care of it over the summer. Her orchid didn't make it either. The asparagus fern she cut an inch off the ground, surprisingly, did make it. But I digress. My second orchid, from Ikea, grew very well and split into two plants when I repotted it. One of the two died after a few months as if it didn't have the strength to go on. The other started growing a flower spike about a year later but gave up the ghost. I think I shouldn't have let it split into two.

But this one, from Trader Joe's, I have kept alive for over two years. I bought it shortly after I started working at this current job because I had a window by my desk and kept it there. I brought it home when I moved to the windowless but unshared cubicle. I bought four houseplants I kept on my desk instead until it turned out we're not allowed to have plants in the building. At home, the orchid not only rebloomed, it bloomed in two spikes! It had a very good display for several weeks. I had to wait until daylight to take a picture of it because this was around the time my camera's flash broke. It's been around six months since then but it's already growing what I think might be another flower spike. It also has a ton of roots coming out of the pot. I'm reluctant to repot it given my previous experiences. This plant also has a bunch of keiki because I overfertilized it when it was at my desk. They're little "clones" that shoot off from the motherplant. I wonder if they're giving it strength to produce so many flowers. The Internet says you can cut them off and get more orchids, but after my previous experiences I'm not messing with what's working.