Lindsey, you have such lovely blooms!!
Regarding the Orchids blooming from what it seems like a dead sheath - most of my Spring - flowering Cattleyas like to do that. They produce a nice green sheath, which then turns brown. Still, comes March, April, they do start budding and manage to bloom - Cattleya skinneri comes to mind and and also Lc Rojo will fill up those dried up sheaths with swelling buds, just to mention a couple.
