Q:My fertilizer regime is minimal. I feed when they look like they need it and rarely in the summer. I apply the foliar type because it’s easier than dragging a hose around. Will I get blooms?—Mary W. Answer: By the time orchids look like they need help, it’s often too late. These tropical beauties are very slow growing, taking an average of five years to bloom from germination. Attention to the seven basic requirements—air circulation, fertilizer, humidity, light, potting medium, temperature and water—will ensure robust foliage and healthy roots.

Q:I have a large cachepot in my living room that holds three orchids. I always buy matching plants, but when they re-bloom, the timing doesn’t seem to work out. What can be done?—Sherry T. Answer: Buying three identical orchids in perfect blooming sync is realistic. Expecting them to bloom again in sync is not. Stores are filled with tables full of phalaenopsis. It’s quite possible to obtain “groupings” that are the same color, height and even have the same number of flowers. Sometimes the exact stage of blooming can be found in all specimens. For example, four flowers out and three buds left to open.

Q:I’m a member of the Orchid of the Month Club and have had great success with 32 plants so far. The only exceptions are the lady slippers whose leaves are dying and falling off. What can I do differently?—J.C. Answer: One of the challenging aspects of a multi-genera collection is keeping track of the divergent cultural needs. Much like day care, in which teachers must know who is potty-trained, who has food allergies and who takes naps, orchid growers have a mental tally of their plants’ culture.

Cattleya, dendrobium, oncidium, paphiopedilum and phalaenopsis orchids are all extremely easy to care for while they are blooming. Watering thoroughly once or twice a week and providing a well-lighted space is usually sufficient. It also helps to have comfortable humidity and gentle air movement. Anything more is asking for trouble—such as misting the flowers, polishing the leaves, repotting the plant, or “babying” the orchid in any way. The quickest way to kill a perfectly good orchid is by loving it too much.

Orchids are everywhere—they’re now the No. 1 houseplant in the U.S., having recently surpassed poinsettias, African violets and chrysanthemums. Two best-selling books (“The Orchid Thief” and “Orchid Fever”) as well as a hit movie (“Adaptation”) are about orchids. So why are orchids so popular? For starters, they come in every imaginable color, shape and size. Intense purples with orange throats. Big frilly whites with polka dots. Fluorescent yellows that resemble bees. Long, spidery tentacles reeking of cinnamon. The combinations are seemingly endless.

Q:We live in Honolulu and are being transferred to Virginia. Do you have any suggestions on safely shipping our 100-plant orchid collection?—A.H. Answer: Hawaii’s capital is a dream location for orchids and people. Every day, thousands of plants and cut flowers are shipped from Hawaii to the mainland, where hungry shoppers snap them up. The shipping techniques for these delicate beauties have been perfected. Large cardboard boxes are packed to the brim, and each plant is rolled in newspaper. Individual blooms are cushioned with fluff. Plastic pots or baskets hold the roots, never fragile clay. Some epiphytes may be bare-root (no pot) with the variety label either wired or taped to the leaves.

Can you help us relive the magic of our “yellow orchid day”—our wedding 60 years ago? Marguerite M. Answer: It is remarkable that a single flower made such an impression after all this time. The year would have been 1949, just after World War II. Orchid corsages were in their heyday. Typical colors were whites and purples, sometimes two tones. Yellow was rare.

Orchid business is a beauty amid squalor LABOULE, Haiti Deep in the plunging valley, in the shadow of a carved-out sand mountain, in a place of rampant destitution, unexpected beauty blooms. It thrives in a land of crushing poverty, in an almost magical place, on grounds crowned with towering pines known as the farm of Antoine “Toni” Assali, where workers tend to a staggering collection of colorful Cattleyas, queen of the orchids.

The Maymont Flower and Garden Show is, without a doubt, one of the finest horticultural events anywhere. Modeled after the iconic Philadelphia Flower Show, which is now in its 175th year and draws 250,000 visitors each March, the MFGS brings together the area’s best gardening talents for one four-day weekend in downtown Richmond. Until just a few years ago, the entire show was put together by Maymont staff and volunteers before finally hiring a professional show company, MAC Events.

The typical lead time for White House orchid presentations is usually measured in years. For Laura Bush, it was during her husband’s second term. For Hillary Rodham Clinton, it was during President Bill Clinton’s run for re-election. Barbara Bush’s husband was already out of office. The three first ladies all eventually received their namesake Cattleya orchids, but it took dozens of requests along with recommendation letters from prominent politicians to achieve.

Q:I have been babying my orchid (grocery-store variety) for six years, but it has not bloomed. I run a humidifier next to it every day for an hour and keep it under fluorescent lighting. What can I do differently?—Joan T.