Easy Orchids

Cymbidium orchids grow outside quite easily in our mild Southern California weather! I purchase them almost every year in containers for brightening up the house in January or February and they bloom for months. Afterwards they are kind of just stuck in a corner in the potting area or some go in the ground in a spot that gets filtered sun. These beauties are blooming right now in my orchid/bromeliad patch in SJC. Without the diligent fertilizing required for some orchids to bloom annually, these survive on neglect. I am hesitant to cut off the whole stem to bring inside because they are so pretty, but a few blooms floating in a shallow bowl will be just as effective!

Cymbidiums

All of the cymbidium orchids that live outside are in bloom. They require little care throughout the year, just enough light and a little water will keep them thriving until they surprise everyone with late winter blooms.

The Orchid Place

I've written about how easy it is to grow cymbidium orchids in our climate and I don't mean to rub it in to all my friends that are still waiting for the snow to melt, but I have to show the spot where I park all my cymbidiums after they are done blooming in SJC.
I usually buy a pot in bloom every year for inside the house in January as a present for myself for making it through the holidays. When they are finished blooming after a couple months I sink them, pot and all, into a shady spot in the garden where my bromeliads live. They get watered with the sprinklers and left pretty much alone. With little provocation they send up flowers like this that put on a show for almost three or four months.

The Perfect Orchid

I wrote a few weeks ago about the cymbidium orchid outside the door at our SJC home. I almost forgot about this one that has resided outside the door in Laguna for almost thirteen years. It was given to me by a neighbor that was moving away and it has been thriving on neglect ever since. It occasionally will get a dose of organic fertilizer, the same as all the other plants and it gets watered once every week or two. Most of the year I forget it is even there until out of the blue come this exuberant display of flowers. It never gets diseases or bugs, never needs pruning nor does it shed. The perfect container plants!

Orchids at the Door

One of the best things about living in our climate is that cymbidium orchids grow freely, with little to no care except for watering. They will do better if fertilized, but as you can see by these that are blooming in an urn by our front door, they put on a show in January regardless. I love cymbidium orchids and buy new ones for indoors every year and then they go out into the garden or deck and live quite contently.

Wild Orchids

While poking around the garden in Laguna the other day I happened across this little orchid bloom poking out of a planter that had become a refuge for some abandoned potted plants when the lower deck was cleaned out last year. It is a zygopetalum and one of the most fragrant of orchids. It is easy to grow as proven here by existing and blooming on neglect!