Inspired design and décor for the home and garden, from the publishers of New Hampshire Magazine
Current Issue
Gardening Rx > A Passion for Orchids
By Robin Sweetser | Photography by Les Regenbogen
January 9, 2008
|
Article
Tools | |||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 | |||
| |||||||
| |||||||
In his best-selling book Orchid Fever, Eric Hansen says, “You can get
off alcohol, drugs, women, food and cars but once you’re hooked on orchids,
you’re finished. You never get off orchids … never.
” Les Regenbogen says
his love affair with orchids began quite innocently, often buying cut sprays of
cymbidium at the florist for his wife Peg. When she saw orchid plants for sale
at the local grocery store, she brought one home for him as a gift. What started
with one dendrobium in 1991 has grown to a collection of more than ninety
orchids. And now Regenbogen is the president of the New Hampshire Orchid
Society.
“Many orchid growers are men,” Regenbogen says. “We are drawn
to the challenge of the diversity and vastness of it. There are more than thirty
thousand species of orchids and innumerable hybrids, and their cultivation goes
beyond growing a regular houseplant or annual. Once you watch an orchid you’ve
grown develop a flower spike and come into bloom, you’ll be hooked. There’s a
thrill you can’t fnd n any other plant.” Indeed orchids are the second most
popular potted plant n the world, right behind poinsettas but gaining fast.
Regenbogen is especially drawn to fragrant orchids and lists his favorites as
including Encyclia cordigera with its raspberry powder scent, a night
fragrant Brassavola nodosa, and the unusual and overwhelmingly fragrant
cycnoches species.
Getting started with orchids
Regenbogen advises beginners to not be afraid to try. “It doesn’t take much
homework to figure out the conditions your orchid needs,” he says. “Part of the
fun is learning about your plants and the technical aspects of growing them.
Don’t think you have a black thumb if you kill a few.”
No longer a hobby
for the wealthy, orchids have become affordable in recent years and the plants
are available in most garden centers, big-box department stores, grocery stores
and home improvement centers. “Don’t be afraid to buy an orchid from a big-box
store,” Regenbogen says. “Some of the best plants exhibited on the show table at
our monthly meetings are from these stores.”
Regenbogen encourages anyone
with an interest in orchids to join the New Hampshire Orchid Society. “We meet
the second Saturday of every month at 11 A.M. at the Town Hall in Bedford. We
have a very welcoming group of people from all walks of life who share the
passion of growing orchids,” he says. Most meetings have a show table where
members can bring blossoming orchids for judging. There are plant auctions twice
a year, and most meetings have a speaker or slide show.
The society’s
premier event is the annual show in February (see sidebar on page 25), a time
when the gardens are covered with snow and Granite Staters are most in need of
flowers. There is always something new to see and lots to learn at the orchid
show. This year, orchid society members will take small groups on tours around
the show, pointing out interesting features about the plants and answering
questions. Another new feature is a potting clinic where you can bring a plant
from home (or one you’ve purchased at the show) and have it repotted for only
$5.
This year, this writer will have to pass those non-blooming
phalaenopsis along to someone who’ll have better luck and free up some
windowsill space for a new plant or two. I’m convinced that orchids should come
with a warning label: “Caution! May become habit-forming!”
Orchid Shows Worth Seeing
The phalaenopsis is the most popular orchid in cultivation worldwide. |
.jpg)
The New Hampshire Orchid Society’s Seventeenth Annual Show and Sale: A
Symphony of Orchids
February 8–10
The Radisson Hotel (formerly
the Sheraton)
11 Tara Boulevard, off Exit 1
Nashua
http://www.nhorchids.org/
The Friday, February 8, preview party is from 7:30 to 10 p.m. Tickets
are $15 up to one week in advance or $25 at the door. Dessert and a cash bar are
available. The show is open Saturday, February 9, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and
Sunday, February 10, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The weekend includes floral
displays; speakers; guided tours; potting clinics; video and slide
presentations; exhibits; and vendors selling plants, supplies, jewelry and other
orchidrelated items. This is an American Orchid Society–judged event and
seventeen trophies will be awarded—don’t miss this chance to see prize-winning
orchids from around the world.
Admission is $7 for adults, $4 for
seniors and children 12 and younger are admitted free of charge.
Cape
and Islands Orchid Society Nineteenth Annual Show and Sale:
Victoriana
January 12–13
The Seacrest Resort and Conference Center
350 Quaker Road North
Falmouth, Massachusetts
http://www.caios.org/
Show hours are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For tickets—which cost $7—and
information, call (508) 758-2888.
Les Regenbogen’s Tips for Growing Orchids
|
The intergeneric hybrid vuylstekeara was named for Belgian nurseryman charles Vuylsteke, who was the first to cross cochlioda, miltonia, and odontoglossum to create this gorgeous, multigeneric hybrid. |
.jpg)
New Hampshire Orchid Society president Les Regenbogen maintains that there is
an orchid for every situation, saying: “the key to success is matching the right
orchid to your home growing conditions. Once you have success with one orchid
you’ll want more.”
He offers the following tips:
1. To bloom
well, most orchids need a ten-degree temperature drop at night.
2. East or
west windows have a good half-day of sunlight, which is adequate for most
orchids.
3. A southern exposure is fine for high-light plants, but place
them about a foot back from the window to keep them from burning.
4. Don’t
use a north window because there won’t be enough light. a light meter on a
camera is an easy way to check how strong the light is on your windowsill.
5. Water your orchids fully, about twice a week, but don’t use hard water or
water that has been run through a softener. Use spring water or sometimes
distilled.
6. Fertilizing depends on the species of plant. Many experts
agree that the old adage of fertilizing “weakly weekly” doesn’t work because
different orchids have different needs. resources for finding what works best
for your orchid include orchid societies, which off er fact sheets with growing
info for diff erent types of orchids (see resources on the next page), and other
orchid lovers who may be successfully growing the same orchid.
