Reminders of My Mother

It is very rare to see an orchid in my garden but today I saw this flower from an old forgotten Cymbidium orchid.  I took the plant into a brighter place and took this picture.  It turned out really good.  

I have a natural attraction to orchids; one might presume that it is because of their irresistible and intricate flowers or because of the mystery in the way they grow (me being a horticulturist).  Yet, the reason is simple...they remind me of my late mother.

My mother was a gardener.  She planted trees, vegetables and ornamentals but the one thing that brought her pleasure were her orchids.  I remember watching my mother stick orchid plantlets into the bark of an old tree on the eastern side of the house or tying them around the trunk of the betel nut  trees around the yard.  She started them from very small plantlets and no matter how hopeless the plantlets looked, once my mother put her hands on them they would end up producing a profusion of beautiful flowers.  She even propagated orchids to give to those who admired her orchids. 

I've tried many times, during the last nineteen years that I've lived in California, to grow orchids and this is the first time that an orchid produced a new flower in my garden.  When I saw these soft pink flowers, my heart leaped...the sight brought back fond memories of my dear mother.