Vanilla Orchid

I can taste the ice cream already!

For those that do not know it, my wife Susan keeps a nice population of orchids in our home. Occasionally they bloom, and it's a real treat when that happens. You may know that most orchids are epiphytic, meaning they grow without soil. The vanilla bean orchid however, grows in soil and forms a long vine. Susan's mom (in Hawaii) has one that is probably 15 meters long. (We got its clone a couple of years ago.) The Kailua mother plant has started to bloom! Evidently, it blooms at night and is only open for a short time. Susan's mom and sister have started artificially pollinating the blooms in hopes of getting a bean. It's a good thing they have the green thumbs.

Happy Birthday!

With a smirk, our building's deliveryman yesterday morning gave me a 3 foot long shipping box adorned with Hawaiian floral print. Until it was time to go home, I stored it in the same fridge where we keep such goodies as bacterial plates and cell culture media. I appreciated that the package came from a nursery with the address "Mile Marker 9." My mom and dad picked them out during thier recent vacation to Kauai.

Inside were the most beautiful orchids, anthurium, and ti leaves. A ginger and bird-of-paradice topped it all off!! Arranging them was a lot easier after Suzy suggested using green foam! We hope these last for a while.