There are orchid plants in the forests of Peru measuring forty-four feet from the ground to their highest leaves.  In other parts of the world, they have found specimens that weigh a ton.  Orchid flowers can be as tiny as dimes, or as heavy as two hundred twenty-five pounds.

No matter how large or small, the orchid has captured the imagination.  For growers, the first signs of a new leaf or a bloom stalk peeking out from the center crevice, all the way to the end of a flower’s days, are mesmerizing.  Like human faces, each and every flower in the vast Orchidaceae family has bilateral symmetry.  I wonder if our passion for them is partially because they remind us of our loveliest selves.