After the bad flood last month, October seemed to be calmer and the soggy earth was taking over two weeks to hardened enough for people to walk on with their rubber boots. My gardener had to take off her boots and walked bare feet while the mud was very soft like soufflé. I reckoned it would take about one month before I could walk around my garden in rubber shoes.
My gardener told me that at least twenty fruit trees were perished in the two meters’ high flood and a few big old trees had also gone. It took more than five years for these trees to grow to five meters. I was quietly saddened by this news and I couldn’t bring myself to see these dead trees. I needed some time to accept this loss of several of my favourite trees. Walking around the house I was greeted by new orchid blossoms. This was a nice surprise, I thought they were trying to comfort me about so many dead trees.
These orchids sent me a message of hope and encouragement for planting some new fruit trees. My neighbour who lost all her pot plants had vowed not to get any new plants. She lost almost a hundred pots of cacti! But I couldn’t stand the empty spots where the old plants used to stand and sway in strong wind. To save some money, I would get very small saplings grown from seeds as they would have deeper roots for surviving prolong flooding. All the trees and plants which were germinated from seeds survived the two weeks’ flood. But they would take longer time to grow so I had to give them extra organic fertiliser.
These common orchids had been with me for a long time. It’s great ancestor came to me as a small bunch of sharp leaves without any flowers. I bought it from the flea market in a central university; the elderly owner wanted to pack up and get back home. She has this small pot of orchid she wanted to get rid of. So, I got it at a very good price so the vendor could close her stall.
I hardly looked after this small cluster of green leaves. They just kept getting fatter and fatter but without any flowers. After two years of neglect, purple orchid blossoms bursted around this pot. So, I began to get to know this orchid and gave it some attention. They grew so big that I had to divide them into several clusters and find them new pots. My gardener did get some cluster for her son’s collection of orchids. He had a good collection of wild orchids. I just continued to divide the excessive growth of the orchids and attached them on various tree trunks.
I discovered that there were three types of colours in these orchid clusters: white, pale pink and purple. They would always start blossoming when the cool wind came from the north, all the way from China. They gave me the sign that winter would arrive soon. It seemed this year we would have longer winter months which would be very nice for working in the garden and planting new saplings. The orange cats would love cool weather as they could spend more time in their warm beds. My gardener also liked cooler weather as she could work longer hours in the banana groves.
I did buy about ten new orchids online; the more expensive and attractive ones refused to blossom for ages. Only the cheap variety did give us a few purple and white flowers. These orchids would start to have young buds which would slowly burst into purple flowers. I had to be patient and observant to catch the first moment of bursting orchids. Keeping orchids was like a game of endurance and patience. I have become less hot-headed because of these quiet and aloof orchids that refused to do my bidding or obey my commands. They were worse than orange cats as I couldn’t control them at all.
So, nature had a strange way of molding my characters and taming my impatience. I have learned to respect the unique life cycle of each plants and let things following natural cycles. I hoped that we would have a colder winter than last year. Then I could be lucky with several blossoms of orchids around the house. Nature is bountiful and generous in her own way, so I just have to learn to respect and enjoy all nature’s gifts to me and my cats.
Wishing you peace, good health and prosperity.
Stay strong and cheerful.
#beautifulsunday hosted by @ace108
I love seeing your orchids as they are not something I would grow here. I like that yours grow wild outside, and that your winters are considered time to get more done outside, just the opposite of here.
Thank you for admiring these simple orchids. They are very tough and dependable!
The rainy season was too wet and soggy for serious work in the garden. On the other hand, dinner months would be too hot for working more than two hours at a time. Too much time Wouk’s be spent on watering all the plants to keep them alive.
The cooler temperature of winter months is just perfect for working in the garden.
Sorry to hear you lost 20 trees. I heard Bangkok still getting quite a bit a rain too. I hope it stop soon for the coming weekend.
Some small pot plants were also lost. But plants could be replanted and they will take time to grow. It’s still rainy season, so we could expect an hour or two of rain in the afternoon!