Working Designer Wednesday: Phalaenopsis Care

Recently, I received an email from a designer asking for advice on handling and caring for cut Phalaenopsis…her email read:

“I recently used [Phalaenopsis] in a wedding and had a lot of them bruise and become unusable, even with super-careful handling. It made the one stem I salvaged a pretty expensive item! So sad to see the other five stems go to waste, I really could have used them in the church décor!”

For advice, I turned to Janice at Precious Pear after seeing some of her gorgeous designs using seemingly flawless Phalaenopsis stems. Take a look…

all images via Precious Pear

Janice’s advice on taking care of Phalaenopsis or “Phals” as she calls them:

“One important tip is to avoid putting Phals in the cooler!  They need a warm and humid environment so I usually store them indoors.   The blooms are very delicate so avoid squishing or folding of the petals when storing.   Also, I would mist them lightly with water a couple times per day.  I try to make the bridal bouquet bright and early the morning of the wedding so I can keep all the other flowers fresh while avoiding putting the orchids in the cooler.  If I need to put them in any centerpieces or large arrangements, then I strategically leave spaces in the arrangement and insert the water-picked Phal blooms right before I deliver.  This has been working quite well for me to keep all the Phals in great condition for the weddings.”

Also… cut 1/4 inch from the stem and put in a clean vase of warm (100°F ) water upon arrival at your studio.

Thanks, Janice, for your advice! And, please, dear Botanical Brouhaha-reading designers, I’m counting on you to leave a comment with any other helpful hints you have for our designer regarding Phalaenopsis care…

One other item of business today…Belinda at Wild Acre is starting a Friday post detailing her flower growing and designing techniques…as well as information on her best garden performing plants. I don’t think you will want to miss these posts! I’m super excited about them…although, I’m sure the gorgeous photos and lists of great performing plants will be a bit of a frustration to this Texas gardener…especially as we are having consistent 100+ degree days and are experiencing a severe drought right about now. BUT, I’m still excited about Belinda’s Friday posts. Hope you’ll check them out, too!

Happy Wednesday…