The Orchid and the Fern

In the gardening section of Pinterest, I have noticed a lot of beautiful ferns lately  and it is those images that got this ball rolling.....

I may have said this before - I LOVE PLANTS. 
All plants, lots of plants, just about any kind of plant. I wouldn't feel at home without lots of plants. AND as luck would have it (once in a while), I'm pretty good with them - I've only lost a few over the years and the ones I have are flourishing. 

Now, contrary to that statement, there are two types of plants that don't appreciate my love.
FERNS and ORCHIDS.
*sigh*


The FERN:

I think ferns are just so pretty and feminine and there's some kind of soft, comfy feeling about them. I have tried multiple times to  grow ferns. Each time it has been an epic fail. The last time I tried was many many years ago and I recently decided after all the luck I've had re-growing produce, and all the amazing Fern images I've seen on Pinterest, i'd yet again try my hand (or in this case my thumb) at fern owning.

Here is my cute little fern that waved me down one day as I was walking through the plant section of The Home Depot:

Potted into an old terra cotta pot that I think once lived in my parent's house and
hung in the archway between my kitchen and dining area.

The above picture was taken on 9/29/12. I'll let you know how it fares. :)


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The ORCHID:

I think that orchids are really one of the most beautiful flowers in the world. I actually have two orchids tattooed on my leg that I have no problem taking care of  but real LIVE orchids are a gigantic sore spot for me.

My Father once left me all his orchids (there had to be 20 or so of them) to take care of while he moved. Not ONE of them survived and I still feel lots of guilt over that. I tried soooo hard to care for them they all make me feel like that cartoon character - you know... the little girl that squeezes her pets to hard... Elmyra!

So I thought if I have success with the fern, maybe, just MAYBE I will try my hand at one little orchid and see how it goes.

Then, FATE stepped in as it usually does, and my sweet and thoughtful Auntie Colleen brought me a drop dead (oh goodness, NO pun intended!!!) gorgeous orchid as a gift.

Here is what it looks like as of today:

Beautiful, huh?

I am going to follow the instructions to a 'T' and hope of the very very best!

Wish me luck! i'm going to need it!!!