blue orchids

Now that Christmas is over, I feel a bit of a let down, and here in the Midwest, January is usually cold and grey. This is by way of explaining why I found myself driving to Hausermann’s Orchids, in Addison, Illinois. I wanted warmth, and I wanted color, and I seemed to remember that Hausermann’s greenhouse had both. I had been there years ago at a time when I wasn’t all that interested in orchids, and actually I’ve been strangely unmoved by orchids, perhaps because I associated them with the rather funereal orchid corsages women used to wear on Mother’s Day or on Easter.

At any rate, I walked in the door, and was enveloped by warm moist air that smelled of cloves, lilies, and vanilla. I was in the right place!

I was immediately confronted with a “pansy” orchid. Love it!

About an hour later I emerged, having taken more than a hundred pictures, and purchased an orchid myself, which I really hadn’t planned on doing.

As I strolled along the aisles, I heard customers speaking in Japanese and German–orchid lovers come to Hausermann’s from all over the world.

As I explored from room to room, I finally started to “see” orchids, and their amazing colors and forms began replacing the cliched orchid Easter corsage of my mind.

Initially, I tried to write down names, but between my camera, my glasses, and a pad of paper and pencil, it became cumbersome, and I realized that I just wanted to enjoy their beauty, and I hope you do, as well.

One interesting thing is that different areas of the greenhouse are kept at different temperatures and humidities to accommodate the various types of orchids.

This is an incredibly labor-intensive endeavor, and the prices are reasonable considering what goes into nurturing these specialized plants.

I was falling under their spell.

How could I not?

I was floating on the Planet Orchid.

Definitely didn’t want to go back to the Planet Earth . . .

where it was snowing.

So I continued to float along the aisles, drawn from plant to plant . . .

each seeming more dramatic than the last. Love the color of this one.

And this one!

Didn’t know there were blue orchids.

So amazing I had to include two pictures.

This was like sunshine.

This orchid has a lily-like quality.

The colors are amazing.

I hope you have enjoyed these lovely flowers . . I have more photos, and tomorrow will publish a photo gallery for the hard-core orchids lovers among us.

I purchased a miniature phalaenopsis called ‘Chin Lih’, along with a maidenhair fern, and am attempting to digest the information sheet that came along with it.