New addition to our orchid family

Shopping for plants at the local home improvement store was interesting today.  I had the tomato plants in my cart.  Bonnie Bell plants.  Then I glanced over at a little pamphlet about raised bed vegetable planting.  Every whistle went off in my head as I saw Miracle-Gro, Bonnie Bell, Osmocote and Scotts.  The tomato plants and pamphlet were returned to the shelves. Every vegetable and herb plant was Bonnie Bell, no choices at this store.  That meant no buyer with me.  I don't want to eat stuff that uses a bunch of chemicals and has been tested to with results to match what they want the results to say.  I'm distrustful of these companies and heads of companies who have shown themselves to be in the pockets of our politicians, by gifting trips and other valuables.  Sorry.  So, Home Depot did not get my business for my vegetable garden.  I talked to my daughter about it later and we'll both be looking at other options to find organic or non-modified tomato plants for our gardens or go from seed.  

Verbena and Torenia

Purple Pansy and Pink Dianthus

They had some really gorgeous orchids and yes, I treated myself to a new, yellow orchid for a cheap, cheap 11 bucks.    I found some nice pink and white flowers that look just perfect for the living wreaths I want to work on this weekend.  I have a double shepherd's hook in the front that always needs 2 new flowers every year.  This year they got some purple pansies with white tips.  I did manage to put those in the moss the pots that go inside the wire hangers that hang on the shepherds hooks.  Josh would not be happy with me though, because I forgot to put the fertilizer in when I planted them.  I remembered after I sat down for the night.  He would have reminded me while we were doing the work because that's his favorite part.  I also found some really pretty, pink and white dianthus and some tiny little purple pansies that look like a vine type.  So far all of the plants I bought need at least 6 hours of sun per day and have average watering needs with good drainage.  They are extremely easy to take care of.  The pansies require dead-heading (pulling off the dead blooms) for new blossoms to continue providing a full blossoming plant.  Pansies also need to be pinched back from time to time to keep it from getting too spindly.  Because it gets so hot here, they require a daily watering regimen.  I usually do a daily walk around my yard after work each day.  I find this is relaxing and gets my mind in the right frame and puts my priorities in the right place anyway.  I picked up necessities for the orchids - bark, rocks, and food.  Then.... the non-necessity...... my flower clips.  Those little clips for holding the flimsy orchid stems to the bamboo sticks.  I found some very cute ones with lady bugs on them. 

I met a very nice foreign lady at the store.  She showed me that a plant was in seed and seeds were falling all over the ground.  She picked a few up and handed them to me.  She told me she had the plant at home and it was very nice and very easy to grow from seed. I put the seeds in my wallet and thanked her.  This was the only plant that did not require full sun.  I need to do a bit of research on this plant and find out what the seeding requirements are.  I don't usually grow or plant things that I have not researched first.  I'm one of those... yes it's ok to groan now.    I hate dead plants because I hate failure.