Orchids are often considered by many people to be too exotic and difficult to grow.

I had always thought this, until somebody gave me a pleione.

This is a terrestrial orchid which means it grows in the ground, as opposed to many of them which grow on trees.

It was given to me as it was about to flower, from the bare earth.

To my amazement, the flowers came up and blossomed – the most beautiful and big flower.

It was a mauvey-pink colour, with a lip of yellow, spots in the throat, and it lasted for a long time.

I did exactly as I had been told, and watered it sparingly until the flower died and the leaves came up.

After several months the leaves died, and then I stopped watering it and put it underneath the shelf for the winter.

Then I forgot all about it – until, one day, I noticed a bud appearing, so I gave it a drop of water, and to my amazement a whole bunch of flowers appeared, all looking absolutely beautiful.

After that I started to divide the plant and give them away, so now many of my friends have them too.

At that point I realised that I did have an orchid growing in the garden.

Settled

It is a bletilla, which has been there for ages, settled in behind a big pot, where it has grown quite a lot.

The flowers blossom in June and are magenta in colour, with the usual orchid shape.

Then I started to take note of the gorgeous specimens which grow at the garden centres in time for Christmas, and I bought a book to help me on my way.

At this point I found out that a lot of the orchids are as exotic as I had feared, because they are now produced by micropropagation, they are not as expensive as they used to be.

I bought a phalanopsis, which is supposed to be one of the easiest to care for, and is able to support flowers at all times of the year.

The watering is different to most house plants – phalanopsis should be watered from the bottom of the pot, filling up the cover for just about five minutes, and then tipping the surplus water away.

Then it should not need further watering until it is really dry.

My phalanopsis lives in a cool room, along with some green house plants, which is ideal as they provide the humidity that the orchid requires.

So far it looks good, and I am pleased. Maybe I shall invest in a more exotic one later as I become more used to looking after it.

Orchids are certainly the most beautiful flowers, and as there are at least 30,000 different varieties, there are plenty to choose from.

By Pat Edwards