A new addition /Garden

Christmas 2015.. one of my gifts was this beautiful Orchid.  It flowered for a couple of months, then started to die off. I was sad the day the last petal fell off.  

 When clearing up after the festivities.. I put the Orchid on the widow sill outside the cottage door.  I left it there .  Winter arrived, and I forgot all about it.!

A little loath to throw it away.  I just let it be.   

 I  haven't a clue about Orchids.  Never having had any.  And so the Orchid was left alone.   One day, I noticed that the stems were going black. --  This is the end of the Orchid, I said to myself.!!!  I decided just to cut the dead black storks off, and again left it alone.  

To my sheer delight, at the beginning of June , there I saw some life in the poor plant.   I gave it some water , and spoke to it every day.  (yes dear friends, I speak to my flowers).. and so the Orchid started to come alive..and produced first one, then two perfect blooms.. there are still more to open. Sheer delight.  Now I know, why some people go crazy for Orchids.   

I brought it inside for the first time today.  Its looking lovely , and I am so proud of myself, for not throwing it away.  I learnt something about these lovely flowers. 

A new acquired hobby... Orchids.

 As early as 700 BC  written records show that Orchids originated in China and Japan.  Being brought to the west by English missionaries in the 1700's, while in Asia.  They were used for medicinal purposes.  (info web)
They are perennial.. so now I know a little more about them.   There are over 28.000 current accepted species in the world.
I am looking forward to buying my next one, and reading up more about them.

  What color is it !!!  I call it 'My golden Orchid'- if you look close you can see that it has some pink too.

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Petunias- Oleander and Roses.


 Its over 35º most days here .. very typical of Alentejo weather..  These past three days, its been 40º - bit of a heatwave..
The garden is looking good.. am pleased that I put in the automatic watering system.. it helps. I still have to water some of the pots, but thats something I like to do.
Its 2.30pm GMT time ... The birds are all sleeping in the Oleander trees keeping cool.. The horses are down the bottom of the land, under the shade of the olive trees.

Its taken me some years, to get the garden looking as it does.. Gardening is so rewarding.. I dont think I will be slowing down too soon..
I have pink,white and deep magenta colors of Oleanders.

                                                                                  Golden Orchid.

  My roses, are suffering with this intense heat.  I keep them as watered as possible.. alternating the Rose bush areas every evening. I'm still able to cut fresh blooms more or less every 3 days.
I counted last week.. I have 36 rose bushes.  They continue to give me so much pleasure too.

                                                  Peace and Love to you all , dear blogger frinds.
Thank you for your kind comments on my last post..  It was so nice to see you all again.

                                                  .......VAL...........