Unidentified plants.

[silverweb]

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]Hello, garden experts! I've got pictures of 2 plants to show you and hope you can help me identify them. I have to post TinyURL links because for some reason the https links from my Dropbox won't show up as photos in this post.

The 1st plant, , was found in a plastic cup (which it is still in until I figure out what it is) and has dark green, succulent leaves. The long dried stem may presumably have been a flower of some sort. If I can identify it, then I can figure out how it would like to be transplanted and cared for.

The 2nd plant, , is in gorgeous bloom a block from where I live and I'm just curious. The leaves are huge and the tips of the flowers are a good 4 feet off the ground.

Thanks in advance for any help!

[NRaleighLiberal]

1. second one is Acanthus (Bear's Breeches). first link won't work for me.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear%27s_breeches

[silverweb]

2. Thank you!

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]I'll work on fixing that first link right now.

[silverweb]

3. Fixed the links!

[silverweb]

5. I've heard of acanthus before.

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]They're growing in the patch between the sidewalk and the street, right in the shade of a huge old tree. Absolutely gorgeous!

The yard that sidewalk fronts is full of roses and jasmine. I never see the people who live there, but I love walking past all their flowers.

[NRaleighLiberal]

4. First is a Phalaenopsis Orchid (moth orchid)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phalaenopsis

[silverweb]

6. I was afraid of that.

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]That's 2 abandoned orchids I've now inherited and I have no experience with orchids at all. Any suggestions?

[NRaleighLiberal]

7. we've gone through a lot of Phals through the years....we just don't have good conditions for them.

best bet may be to trade it for something easier - or have an Orchid greenhouse babysit it for you to get it to bloom (they do that around here).

[silverweb]

8. Okay.

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]The only things I know about orchids are that they're tropical and like humidity. The air here, despite fairly frequent rain, is extremely dry. There's also an approximately 25 to 30-degree variance between daytime and nighttime temperatures.

I don't see how these orchids can survive without a special climate-controlled enclosure, which I don't have, and I'm not going to pay someone to care for them just so they bloom. Not worth it to me. I'd rather spend my efforts on plants that can do well in this environment.

Trader Joe's sells these things potted by the dozens here and I never understood why. Best bet sounds like it might be to discard them both, although I feel like I'm being "cruel."

Thanks for your input!

[silverweb]

9. New thought:

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]How do orchids do just as houseplants, without concern for whether they bloom?

The first one I inherited looks all dried out, except that there's still life under the dried layers. Maybe if I re-pot it, it will grow new leaves?

The one in the plastic cup has rather pretty leaves and I wouldn't mind it just as a succulent houseplant. I really don't care if they ever bloom again or not.

Do you think this is a feasible alternative?

[uppityperson]

10. They are fine kept as succulents that need little care and rarely bloom.

Don't over water and they are easy if you aren't looking for blooms. I recently inherited a couple like your photo, a few leaves and a dried stem. Roots in the cup with little else. I was told to water once a week and just let it be.

[silverweb]

11. Thanks!

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]I'll give that a shot and see what happens.