Our unattended garden

There is a garden in our backyard where my mom used to frequent. She would spend hours in the place tending to her precious orchids, ferns, and other kinds of plants during weekends, while working as a nurse in the Rural Health Unit in our town on weekdays. I believe it was her way of easing tension from work, as she interminably spent more time there than inside the house. She would even bring out a radio with her believing that this would make her orchids bear beautiful blooms. And they would. As if responding to the attention and care she was giving them. She even had a regular schedule on when to spray this and that fertilizer or flowering agent. She had a budget for that and they were her “baby” for such a long time. It was a nice place to relax, have a picnic, or just to kill time.

But ever since my mom stayed with my sister in Manila, her plants were left behind, unattended. I would gladly do the work for her but my tight schedule just won’t permit me. It is the helper who regularly water her plants but the special attention that they previously received was gone. And so they lost the beauty they used to have and most of them died.

It is only my easy-to-propagate euphorbias which are left looking prolific in one area of my the garden as they are so easy to thrive and do not need too much tending. I just wish my mom’s orchids are  like them.

But then one day, as I was strolling in the garden, I chanced upon two beautiful blooms of two vandas. They look pretty though their blooms are smaller than usual. I want to propagate them just as my mom did. And I think that would be my project this summer vacation. But I have to learn more about them before I can do that. Maybe me and hubby can also start a vegetable garden. I just wish everything will push through.

I started buying some fertilizers and flowering agents by just basing my choice on the labels. I hope to bring them back to their previous healthy condition. Do you have some tips to share?