Free orchids are a labor of love

“It’s like Jack and the Beanstalk,” Roberta “Bobbie” Singer said of the ever-taller orchid she received from the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) last year. “It survived all through the winter. It was a gorgeous color. It was coral.” 

The Riverdale resident was among a group of people who received orchids at The Riverdale Y last year.

The exotic plants are distributed every year around Earth Day, following the garden’s popular annual orchid show. Specimens that do not go into the NYBG’s own collection are distributed through community and non-profit groups around the city.

Of course, once people receive the plants, the problem is caring for the notoriously touchy flowers.

In the case of Ms. Singer’s specimen, it was still in glorious bloom on a recent visit to her Netherland Avenue apartment.

Elegant pink and yellow petals crowned the plant, with several desiccated flowers lower on the stem.

Ms. Singer said she has taken pains to maintain the orchid, though she admitted she is not an expert.

“I don’t know anything about it,” said Ms. Singer. “Not a thing. I said, ‘You’re so beautiful, you’ve gotta live.’” 

Nicholas Leshi, NYBG’s director of public relations, said orchids should be kept under indirect light, fed and watered regularly — with enough time in between to let the plant dry a bit — and given a balanced fertilizer.

“It all depends on the type of orchid since the orchid family is so diverse,” said Mr. Leshi. “The specific conditions will depend on the type of orchid that is being grown.”

The plants should be cut midway through the stem when they start to die in order for flowers to bloom again.

“I’m scared,” said Ms. Singer, who refrained from following that procedure. “I’m afraid I won’t get my buds. Let it go to the ceiling, then I’ll worry.”

Another Riverdale Y member, Gloria Birnbaum of Henry Hudson Parkway, has had a more difficult time maintaining her orchid. She said the plant is dying.