Waiting to Bloom

So the other day we were in the San Francisco for lunch and a walk around. As we were leaving the Embarcadero there was this little flower shop that had a few potted plants outside. Well you know that no Master Gardener can walk past a stand of plants or vegetation without at least taking a 5 minute look-see.

I walked inside first. The tiny cramped shop was humid and there were canaries in cages singing away. The cut flowers were beautiful. From the ordinary daisy to exotic orchids. There were a lot of flowers crammed into this dark little place.

I stepped back out into the sunlight to peruse the potted plants, thinking I could take home a living souvenir from our day.  Well, the frugal part of Master Gardener caught up with me- $8.50 for a polka dot plant in a 4 inch pot! I just picked one up for a filler at Walmart for $2.50.

Then there was a row of African Violets. But wait, these had a tag hanging over them. “Waiting to Bloom--$4.50”. They honestly didn’t look much different than the others that were bloomed. There was also a succulent in a 4” pot for $8.99 that while healthy, was still only half the size of one at a local garden center.

At this point, I finally had had enough of searching for my living souvenir and decided to head on my way with just some photos. Just as I ran out of room on my photo card, I looked down and at my feet was a large group of chopped-off orchids. There were two leaves and a piece of stem. I now know where all those pretty cut ones inside had come from. The sign read Phalaenopsis $3.00…Waiting to Bloom.

Pricey polka dot plant. (photos by Patricia Brantley)

Tag on African violet.

Expensive succulent.

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