It’s ridiculous how happy this makes me. See those two bloom spikes down there? Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
I rescued a tiny little orchid from a discounted bunch from Lowe’s a while back. I’d never had a dendrobium before. The picture on the sleeve showed delicate yellow blossoms. It looked sad and I thought, So it either sits here and dies or someone else takes it home and kills it or I take it home and give it some TLC and hope for the best. (And, no, there could not possibly be anyone else out there who would not kill it, so…I had to take it, didn’t I?) So I bought it and took it home. I’ve always taken in strays and rejects.
I read up on dendrobium aggregatums, often called dendrobium aggravatums. OH MAN! What have I gotten myself into? This one must be for experts. (Heavy sigh) Lots of dos and don’ts.
I decided to do all I could and hope for the best but steeled myself for the worst. My daughter gave me a sycamore knot from a tree they had to cut. Husband put some hardware cloth on the back and I mounted the dendy on it and left it there all winter, barely watering it as instructed.
Then I left it outside in indirect light all last summer, watering only when it was really dry. It grew. It seemed to like the side porch.
This winter I hung it in the bathroom window and let it pretty much dry out and get chilly. It got its water from the shower steam and a decent watering maybe once a month. Then about a month ago (I know, not really Spring, but…) I started watering it every week.
The pseudobulbs are kind of fun to watch. They start to shrink in diameter when they need water. The roots always look sort of dry, but that seems to work for it.
But, until it blooms, I have my other cheery plants to keep me company.
Plus, this happy little sphagnum moss guy grew from some sphagnum I bought for the orchids. I put the moss in a gallon jar to make a sort of terrarium to bring back an ailing phalaenopsis, which worked, and this little guy grew too. I didn’t have the heart to get rid of it after the orchid got well. 
