“An orchid never rushes. It grows in silence, and suddenly it’s breathtaking. Be patient with your becoming.” _anonymous. 

This morning, I stumbled upon something truly remarkable! My moth orchid is about to bloom in approximately a week. It’s been an arduous journey, almost fifteen years, to successfully regrow a moth orchid. You know the kind. The beautiful but intimidating ones that somehow feel disposable after their first bloom.

Now, let me share the secret. 

A few months ago, during one of my Instagram doomscrolling sessions, I discovered that orchids often re-bloom when their roots are submerged in a simple glass of water. No grand gestures. No elaborate procedures. Just a gentle shift in environment.

It turns out the small decorative pots they’re sold in rarely give them enough to sustain another cycle.

It seems like orchids have had a reputation for being high-maintenance plants. I suspect that comes less from their nature and more from the overwhelming flood of advice on how to care for them. Especially when one piece of advice tries to outweigh the other pieces of advice that are out there. Especially if you’re new to plants and are gifted a stunning orchid, the process can start to feel arduous and time-consuming, almost discouraging. Personally, I’ve managed to bring my orchids into a second round of blooms before, but oddly enough, life had other plans. It made sure they were randomly cut halfway through the growing period, or died of dryness…For a long time, I thought orchids were simply too demanding. Too delicate. Too particular. But perhaps it wasn’t the orchid that was difficult. Perhaps I was simply moving too quickly to notice what it needed.

It turns out blooming again didn’t require a complete overhaul. Just a better container. And a little more consistency.