Who Has a Green Thumb?

I have a green thumb.

Living in New York, we don't have a lot of access to greenery.  Most New Yorkers end up cultivating their own little miniature gardens in a desperate attempt to stay in touch with anything natural.  This is achieved with varying degrees of success, or in my case, blinding triumph.

Case in point.  Here's a Phalaenopsis (yes, I did have to look up the spelling) Orchid that I got approximately 5 years ago.  Under my loving care, and despite occasional lapses in said care, it has not only survived, but regularly blooms up to 10 flowers for our enjoyment.  (And also because it's biologically required to, but I get the sense that it is largely because it wants to make us happy.)

Do you see what I mean?

However, buoyed (read:  inflated) by the massive success of my first orchid, Sarni and I purchased a second orchid approximately 4 years ago.  I mean, sure, it was absurdly cheap, especially compared to the original orchid, and sure, we purchased it at a bodega.  (Seriously.)  But that's no reason to think it won't flower, right?  Wrong.  It never flowered, despite all my best coaxing and most violent threats.  (Bet you're pretty impressed with my green thumb now.)

However, Sarni discovered this amazing invention recently - it's an Aqua Globe!  You fill it with water and jam it in the soil, and when the soil gets too dry, the Aqua Globe releases more water.  What we discovered when we used the Aqua Globes is that Cheapy (the second orchid) guzzled water at a much higher rate than Posh (the first orchid).  And THAT told me that all this time, Cheapy must have been dealing with a much lower quality of soil than Posh.  Even though I was giving them the same water.  In other words, Cheapy had been starving.

Anyway, here's what Cheapy had to say about all of this:

Cheapy, welcome to New York.

Happy Presidents' Day, all.


New York City.  On Canon Powershot.