I was in my local grocery store today and walked through the plant section to see what they had. Sitting on a back shelf was a gorgeous, dark blue flower. It looked like a phalaenopsis, but I'd never seen one that color. I asked the clerk what it was and she said - phalaenopsis and of course it's a white one dyed. She then showed me other colors. Will these continue to bloom these rare colors. Or, as soon as what ever was used as a dye wears out return to being white? My guess is yes. And then we have another mad fledgling gardener. Any ideas or comments? barb
Oh, jeez loueeze, Barb, don't get me started! OK: too late. Your guess is a true surmise. Blue is temporary. What gets me mad is the shameless greed of the growers. Rather than selling plants as their natural selves, growers tart 'em up and sell them as decorations---not the beautiful LIVING things that they are. As we all know, to our frustration, growing information is rarely provided---if it is, it is often so general as to be useless (e.g.: 'tropical plant'. Yeah well I kinda knew that bit already!) The worst aspect of this trend, I feel, is MISinformation. Oh boy if you want to pick a fight with me (and who wouldn't?) all you need do is utter the phrase 'Just Add Ice'. AAGH! This pernicious and insidious instruction began appearing a few years ago on orchids sold in grocery stores. (There is at least one thread here on the Forum which wrassles with this subj.) How insulting and utterly WRONG this is! Clearly, prospective orchid owners were regarded as: 1. too stupid and/or irresponsible to be able to look up how to care CORRECTLY for a phal, and; 2. every plant killed by this treatment gave the growers the chance that the hapless customer would buy another plant to replace the one killed by the application of ICE to its roots!!!!!!! What a nasty plan---I can just picture this poor person, trying to take good care of her/his phal, following these instructions... and seeing ithe plant slowly die: 'I must have done something wrong! I did what the tag said...' What evil marketing genius thought THAT one up? ---One who is now rolling in his bank vault, a la Scrooge McDuck. I refuse to purchase gimmick plants. This list includes the fake phals, forced bulbs, spray-painted and glittered poinsettias, and any plants intended to last a few days and then be thrown out. I exhort you all to likewise shun these botanical mockeries! If someone means enough to you to merit a gift, then surely they deserve a genuine, honest plant that will grow for years to come! I feel that as plant enthusiasts we are honor bound to help spread true knowledge to those who want it. Can we REALLY buy---thereby supporting the company who produced it--- a plant that is artificially and falsely colored? Can we buy an orchid whose tag reads 'Just Add Ice'????? I cannot, and will not! I now dismount the soapbox. Vincit omnia veritas!
Aha! an Amicus curiae. Who thought high school Latin would have still be useful 60+ yrs. later. I agree with the ice cube bit! I warn anyone I see in a store buying an orchid about that false hood and threaten to haunt them forever if they use it. I would love to tract down the idiot that started it and feed them on ice cubes. If you want an easy care, no fail plant there is always genus silkus or genus plasticus! "Do not mess with Mother Nature". barb
togata57...Bravo! Bravo! Audience members whistle and cheer. They stand and wave their trowels and clippers slowly in the air above their heads...
Why, thank you. I have contemplated an undercover campaign in which tags bearing Orwellian doublespeak would be replaced with ones which tell the truth. Or leaving stickers bearing the red circle/slash containing the image of a melting chunk, perhaps with a polar bear taking its ease atop it, surmounted by the words 'NO ICE!!!' My favored course of action would be to buttonhole the uninformed and deliver an impassioned lecture on phal culture. Well...to date I have been restrained by the stern presence of my daughter, who gives me The Eye and steers me away from the wall of turquoise phals. 'Now, Mom, I know that this is important---but if you get arrested and put in the slammer who will take care of your plants?' When I begin to expostulate that Yeah well if I get on the evening news that's just the sort of publicity this issue needs! she calmly leads me over to the breakfast-cereal aisle. If she ever moves out...'Police today arrested THIS woman (mug shot of me, steely-eyed and iron-jawed) for disturbing the peace at THIS local grocery store. Security officers had to use pepper-spray to stop her from shouting the words 'NO ICE!!!' at passing customers. Mental-health professionals have been called in to perform a psychological assessment.' Was out in my garden this afternoon...coreopsis, blue iris, daylilies, spiderwort, sweet peas beginning to bloom...natural beauty. Inside, here is my episcia in full bloom, covered with brilliant red flowers...and phals blooming in white, pink, and yellow. What possible improvement could be made upon this? No glitter, mascara, or makeup required.
