Wound up back at the grocery store yesterday, where I first saw the blue-dyed Phalaenopsis flowers at which we all shuddered two months ago, and they still had them. (More accurately, they'd probably gotten new ones in: I can't imagine even long-suffering Phalaenopsis blooms hanging around for two months, looking exactly the same.)
Which means that I can answer some questions people had back at the end of March.
The bark in which they were planted was not blue; it was normal bark color. Most of the roots were normal gray-white also, though I saw a couple that were the same blue as the flowers. From this, I think we can conclude that the flowers aren't being dyed blue by watering with blue water.
I think I've found a smoking gun for the method, after looking around a bit:
I realize it isn't the best photo (bad lighting), but I think it's clear enough that you can see an injection site with a darker-colored ring around it (it may help to blow the picture up to full size by opening it in a separate window). Not sure what's going on with the leaf that's next to it, but it looks like it's been dyed a little bit too, or maybe bruised.
It's still a lie when you know how it's done, of course. And I'm still angry about it. But my curiosity is satisfied.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Unfinished business: Phalaenopsitrocity
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7 comments:
you know its funny I saw these at a lowes in NJ as well and this little old lady was about to buy one, I heard her remark how lovely the color was, so of course I had to step in and let her know that the color is artificial, and that the next blooms will be white. The associate starts to rebut me saying its a new breed that is bred to make blue blooms, so I showed him the injection site which was surrounded by blue dye on a otherwise green stem. That kinda shut him up.
Was there an audible 'Ah-HAH' when you saw the mark?
...
Gah, I hate these things. Atrocity. Abomination. And other despicable sounding A-words.
I really should check what they've done to the poor Dendrobiums - I saw some of them while running through the DIY store for yet another window box, but they're just too repulsive to look at them closely!
I think it's morally challenged (at least) to lead people to believe it's a new breeding development. And maybe a short-sighted business approach, when the cynicism backlash occurs. But I admit when most of the phals sold are marketed like cut flowers and florist potted plants, I'm resigned to it. I wonder how much red or black dye it would take to make a 'goth' phal? And I expect this season to read about phals dyed to order for weddings...
From Los Angeles, a suggestion for how to phrase this if it comes up in conversation...
"Oh look, I think he's had some work done. Yes, right there! You can even see the injection sites. Doesn't even look very natural. What a shame."
It makes me mad that they'd take a gorgeous plant (it's not just a flower - unlike what too many people out there think.) and inject (inject!) it with dye. If you feel that you need an orchid with blue blooms, then you don't need one at all. Ughhhh.
This new trend is bizarre. Kind of like when I saw a Dieffenbachia at the local supermarket with gold glitter stuck all over its leaves. The plant looked embarrassed.
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