Here are more orchid-growing tips (continued from my last post)...
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Beauty and use seem to go hand-in-hand in the orchid family.
The lovely petals and sepals of the flowers guard and protect the vital organs hidden in the labellum: in some cases as extra protection they never entirely open, and in others they fold as soon as the flower has been pollinated.
This last evidence of protection often comes as a shock to the amateur orchid grower.
When an uninvited bee enters the greenhouse and pollinates a bloom being cherished for a special exhibit, the flower responds by blushing violently and soon thereafter folds its petals or 'wilts,' much to the distress of the grower.
Nature's schemes for perpetuation of the orchid species work with wonderful precision.
A peculiar balance seems to be observed in that rarer and less productive orchids have developed a more complicated and thus more accurate and certain method of cross-pollination.
Self-pollination is discouraged by nature.
Even in the few orchids capable of it, the process seems only to be used when insects fail to appear.
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I'll post more orchid care tips soon!
- Sara
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