Orchids at Home

Orchids bring Life

I like the way a beautiful blooming flowers brings so much life and energy to a room design.  The phalaenopsis or common name orchid is a favorite.  They are lovely and long-lasting as they bloom for 3 months and need only weekly watering. If they are exposed to indirect sunlight and continue to be watered after the last flower is gone, they will also bloom again after several months. I have a couple of phalaenopsis orchids in my home. 

I read a money saving tip from Laurie Wards book Trade Secrets from Use What y\You Have Decorating.

 http://www.amazon.com/Trade-Secrets-From-What-Decorating/dp/039952861X

So I added some silk "fake" flowers

It’s called Orchid Afterlife. When the orchid plants finish flowering, you can extend their bloom creatively by cutting the stem back a bit and adding silk flowers in place. You can get these stems of flowers at Michael’s hobby store, Hobby Lobby, Joanne’s craft store or a specialty silk floral store. You will want to use a high quality, life like, silk flowering stem that will blend in well with the live orchid plant foliage. Put the new silk flower stem with the natural orchid stem add some green moss and raffia around the connection and tie. It’s that simple yet will provide months of beauty, until your plant shows off more natural flowers.

I used peat moss and raffia to hide the connection



Here is my live Orchid, no more flowers...

The final project, flowers added

This is were this orchid lives...

Orchid Inspiration from Pintrest 

You can change the silk orchid plant flowers to reflect the seasons. I think white looks the most natural. A dark red bloom will match the colors of fall and winter while pastel pinks and purples will be a good match for the colors of spring and summer.