Hello, my name is...

[Ellen]

Ellen, and like all the rest of you, I'm an orchid addict. I've been growing 'chids for over 15 years, with no end in sight. I got started when a colleague at work retired (or died? I can't remember which) and left a jungle of floofy Cattleyas in his office. Those of us who were in the neighborhood divided them up, and I got 4 plants that I kept in my office. I had a beautiful south-facing window, and the orchids loved it. Then I went to an orchid show with a friend, had my eyes opened to the beauty of species other than Catts, came back with lots more plants, and ended up with an uncountable number of orchid plants. When I moved from the east coast to west coast about 10 years ago, I gave away nearly all of my orchids except for a yellow Oncidium and a couple of Phals. I went on the wagon for a few years, but when Trader Joe's started carrying orchids, I would acquire the occasional Phal, Dendrobium, or Oncidium-type orchid while doing my grocery shopping. Then, I discovered the internet (LOL). It was while googling, trying to ID a couple of the noids from TJ's, that I discovered all the online orchid vendors out there ... and these forums, too... now I have over 100 plants of all types, loving my sunny grow area, and I just keep getting more. It seems there's always room for "just one more". Right now I have 10 orchids in bloom, more in spike, and will try to post some pics in that section when I have time. My oldest plant is the yellow oncidium (13+ years and parent of numerous divisions), and my youngest is a mounted Maxillaria striata seedling that I got (by mail) last week. Good growing to you all!

[Dave]

Hi Ellen,
Glad to have you! It's always fun to read about how people get into orchids and how it some how over take their lives (even in a small way) .
Wow 13 years is a long time, must have produced a lot of divisions! I think that's what I like most...dividing my orchids so they produce more orchids .

[Ellen]

Hi Dave,

Like you, I love dividing my orchids. My 13-year old Oncidium has countless kids and grandkids scattered all over the country. My strategy now is to always keep 2 divisions - one to grow as a specimen and one to keep on dividing.