Tell the Truth Tuesday - Orchids

On Tuesdays, Alison at Bonney Lassie invites us to share parts of our gardens that are less than perfect.  Today, instead of sharing photos of my incredibly messy winter garden, I'm posting a confession of sorts.

I've spent a lot of time resisting orchids.  The blooms are pretty enough but the plant itself doesn't thrill me.  Last May, I received a white cymbidium orchid in bloom as a teacher appreciation gift.  It lived on top of my file cabinet at work until the end of the school year at which time it came home and continued blooming for a couple more months.  The longevity of bloom was remarkable.  Since it didn't die, I repotted it recently and it's putting on growth.  Hmm.  Certainly this plant that's notoriously finicky would have died under my care but it seems to be thriving.  You know how success leads to further experimentation, right? 

At Lowe's picking up supplies for a class, I checked out the plant section.  The fragrance and form of this Cattleya caught my attention and somehow hopped into my cart.  When I think of orchids, this form is what comes to mind, perhaps because these were once very popular corsage flowers. 

This flower is beginning to fade a bit but they're only supposed to last for three or four weeks.

Another visit led to this one  hitching a ride in the cart.  Who could resist such a warm color in the winter.  It's softer, more subtle with more pronounced venation in real life, like a tropical sunset. 

Watson's indoor plant sale included their orchids.  This tiny one, stuffed into a 2" pot seemed innocent enough.  Now that it's home, a second flower spike is emerging. 

The last two are both cymbidiums and if they bloom as long as my first, there will be blooms until the end of the school year.    So, there you have it, the orchid collection now numbers four.  Plants grown exclusively for flowers with no foliar interest at all.  It's a slippery slope toward the world of flower flooziness.   They may end up as compost but even if they do, they will have provided cheerful flowers for a long period of time at a cost less than buying cut flowers every week for three months, right?  (Not that I often buy cut flowers, just saying is all.)

What's your Tuesday Truth?