Green Stuff Growing on Trees

I'd rather not talk about snow. That is one of the main reasons we moved away from the Midwest. But since we came to DC, we experienced snowmaggedon and now this awful blizzard thing that is keeping us trapped in the house for a few days. Before all this started, we were enjoying the mild temperatures, taking extended walks, and observing the world around us. When the leaves are missing, the tree trunks and limbs stand out. And so does the interesting art and texture that emerges. The colors are vibrant, and the formations are peculiar. We thought we saw a face of something on one of the trunks - and not a very pleasant one at that. We won't even bother to try to get out of the house today or tomorrow. Now my attention is to find interesting snow art that is randomly created by the flakes and wind. For some reason I don't find that as appealing, but nevertheless could be potentially as interesting. 

Helen Olivia Artichoke Replaced With American Plant Orchid and Gingko Garden Moss

The experiment with the artichoke "plant" didn't go over very well. We got it last week at Helen Olivia in Alexandria. The flower shop is scrumptious, the wrapping was wonderful, but the artichoke just didn't like where we put it. So we went to American Plant in search of an orchid...something we knew could last for a while - or at least hope we could get a few blooming flowers and change it for something else whenever that time comes. There were so many to pick from there, but we wanted something a little different than the "usual kind." We have had some success with orchids in Milwaukee. We selected one called Miltonia. It has much thinner leaves and requires more water. That might be tough to manage in our extremely dry winter environment with the heat blowing right on it. Aside from that, the location should be good. We wanted to remove it from the container and needed to find some moss to tuck in around it. So we went to Gingko Gardens in our neighborhood to find some. Our little air plant also needed replacement as it was no longer a plant and all air. We found a similar type with pink rather than red edges, and some strange moss from Norway. The folks at Gingko's are always so great. I wanted to make sure our new orchid would have whatever it needed to succeed and they were more than willing to share their expertise. I hope I am not writing about this subject again next week. I'll leave it to my husband to manage the plants. Then I can blame it on him if something happens.