Apartment orchid

When I had 4 south facing windows and a fire escape I went nuts for orchids: I had around 50 plants. Then I had to move and found a place with a patio garden but fewer windows. My orchid frenzy had mostly run its course, so I gave most the collection away. Now I grow only a few, including this one: Oncidium x Twinkle 'White Caps'. (Onc. cheirophorum x Onc. ornithorhynchum) It blooms at Christmas with a froth of white flowers that smell of vanilla and spice when the sun shines on them.

The orchids that made the cut were varieties with a definite seasonal cycle. They go outside in May and make their growth, come in around Halloween, bloom in the dead of winter, then sit dormant till it's time to go out again. They are all small, nice looking (or at least interesting looking), tough plants. Laelia rubescens is on the verge of blooming, and I'll post her when she does.

I've also grown the Paphs and Phals that are often recommended for apartments. I've rebloomed them, swabbed rubbing alcohol on their scale infestations, stood by their gradual decline, and eventually said to hell with it.

Orchids are propogated in greenhouses, and it takes a couple of years to acclimate them to apartment living. Once they've settled in, they're easy.