Orchid

I got this Phalaenopsis orchid last fall when it had beautiful magenta blooms.( Little Jaws is wondering what is on his carpet by the heater. The orchid normally sits on windowsill -it's only on the floor for the photo)
I have never been able to get an orchid to rebloom but this one has put out a new shoot!

In the past, I cut the spent blooming stalk back to a node as the gardening expert on the radio advised but then the stalk would just dry up and die.  This time I decided to leave it intact and a node has sprouted on the flower stalk. I'm thinking that our house is so dry in the winter that cutting the stalk allowed too much moisture to escape and so the stalk died. In a couple of months as the new shoot gets bigger I will trim the stalk.

Some nice new roots are growing out of the center, too.
I know orchids can be fussy about the quality of the water they get.  Our well water is very hard so we have a water softener but the salt in the soft water isn't good for plants, and the hard water can leave residual minerals. I have been watering the orchid with bottled spring water but now that it is showing new growth I think I will switch to distilled water.  In a few weeks I'll give it some dilute fertilizer and hope for the best.