‘What's Growing in Your Garden?’

In a post to social media, Phi Kappa Phi is encouraging its members to share “What’s growing in your garden these days?” In response to this prompt, I have a rescue orchid at home that currently has a beautiful white bloom on its flower spike.

I call it my rescue orchid because in July 2023, during a walk downtown, my spouse and I found a potted orchid left abandoned in an alley. It was past blooming, with a flower spike that had hardened to dry wood, but its leaves seemed to be a healthy green. We took the orchid home and I re-potted it in fresh bark, in a larger pot. Since then, I've been tending it. My rescue orchid produced a new flower spike in February 2025 and, in May 2025, the spike's buds began opening. The blooms later dropped off, but most of the flower spike remained viable. This summer, it formed a new segment branching off from the original spike, and now a beautiful orchid is blooming at the end of that new segment. Another segment has branched off the spike, just below the blossom, and that new segment is also forming what appear to be buds for more flowers.