Today I finally got round to drawing our beautiful orchid; a lovely gift from friends several months ago. I must admit to struggling to care for orchids in the past, but this one has flowered non-stop, and given us much delight.

The beautiful shape of the flowers, and the way they cluster together on one stem, are reminiscent of fluttering butterflies. 

I was surprised to read from Wikipedia that orchids are one of the two largest families of flowering plants.

Orchids are very much part of the culture of China, so let’s end with a quote from Confucius:

“The orchid grows where others cannot, enduring the hardships of hunger and thirst, and is loosely tied to the things that support it.  And, even with all the difficulty of its life, the orchid graces the world with beautiful colour and rare fragrance.”