Blooms for three months. Not three days.

Why an orchid

The math nobody does at the counter.

And when the last flower drops, the plant is still alive. Cut the spike above the second node and most of them spike again the following year. You are not buying a week of flowers — you are buying a plant that happens to be flowering.

1. 01

   Water once a week

   Three ice-cube-sized splashes of room-temperature water at the roots, or run it under the tap for fifteen seconds and let it drain all the way through. Once a week. That's it.

2. 02

   Bright, never direct

   A few feet back from an east or north window is perfect. If the leaves go dark green it wants more light; if they go yellow-ish and leathery, it's getting too much.

3. 03

   When the flowers drop

   The plant isn't dead — it's resting. Cut the spike about an inch above the second node from the bottom, keep watering, and most plants push a new spike within a few months.

4. 04

   Never let it sit in water

   This is the one that kills them. Standing water in the saucer or the cachepot rots the roots in about two weeks. Drain it every single time. And skip the ice cubes — cold shocks tropical roots.