Re: Kathy116
From Newsday:
It's orchid show time
Orchids reign at Rockefeller Center
Email this story
Printer friendly format
Photos
Orchid show (Photo by Rebecca Letz)
Photo Gallery
At the orchid show
More Coverage
Floral arrangements vie for ribbons at Hofstra
Apr 14, 2005
BY CELESTE HADRICK
STAFF WRITER
April 14, 2005
Some people are hooked on caffeine. Others are fanatics about shoes. But orchids?
'For some people, yes, it's very addictive,' says Diana Valentine. But not, of course, for her. She only has about 200 orchids in her Huntington Station home. 'That's a very small amount compared to some people,' she says.
With orchids, it seems, you can't grow just one. Once you start, you have to have more and more and more of these exotic blooms. Remember Rex Stout's fictional detective Nero Wolfe, who tended 10,000 orchid plants in his Manhattan brownstone?
Dave Taft lives in an apartment in Glendale with only 130, mostly tropical, orchids, but he's quick to confess: 'I'm kind of an addict.' Besides, he says, 'I like the idea that it could be growing in Belize, but there it is in my bathroom in Queens.'
Orchids bloom in more shapes and sizes than just the frilly flowers found in corsages at weddings and high-school proms. Some species have blossoms that can be measured in mere millimeters; with others, one bloom can fill a dinner plate. Orchid flowers come in all colors except black - blue is rare. Some have a sweet scent; others smell like something you stepped in.
Variety of blooms
And not all orchids are pretty: Some look like spiders or slugs or lizards - others resemble a screaming mouth. The ones that Taft prefers - the generally small South American species called Pleurothallis - have flowers that resemble bugs. And still others can be striped, speckled or swirled - sometimes even all in the same bloom. But that's what makes orchids so fascinating.
Whether you're already among the addicted or just mildly curious about these exotic flowers, now is a good time to learn more. That's because thousands of orchids from around the world are on display through Sunday at the New York International Orchid Show at the Rockefeller Center Skating Rink. Taft and Valentine are members of the Greater New York Orchid Society and are helping at the show.
For years, growing orchids was considered an expensive hothouse hobby for the wealthy. But orchids come in such a wide variety that some can adapt to living on windowsills in suburban split-levels and city condos. The American Orchid Society even insists in its literature that, 'if you can grow houseplants, you can grow orchids.'
Lots of loving care
But frankly, orchids are more demanding than your average English Ivy or potted spider plant. Like all plants, they require light, food and water. To flourish and flower, orchids also demand more humidity than most houseplants, because dry air can prevent buds from opening. Which is why home growers use humidifiers to keep things moist, since simply misting the plants isn't sufficient. Or they place the orchid on a tray of pebbles and water or on grates above a shallow water-filled container.
Orchids need good air circulation but hate cold drafts. Valentine uses ceiling and window fans to mimic gentle outdoor breezes. And, while orchids like things bright, most prefer indirect light because full sun can burn their leaves. Insufficient light is the most common reason orchids don't flower, experts say.
Valentine started growing her favored Cattleya corsage orchids on south- and west-facing windows in her home about 15 years ago - running two humidifiers to keep them happy. Now, she keeps them on her daughter's sun porch next door, where they get light from three sides. She moves them outside to her wooded backyard after the last frost, and finds the dappled shade provides enough light to encourage them to flower once they're back inside before autumn's big chill.
She clearly knows what she's doing. Right now, she has two cattleyas in bloom - one is yellow, the other pink with a purple lip. One of her Coelogyne orchids has been blooming in brown tones since summer.
Novices are surprised to learn that most of the orchids that flourish inside don't grow in dirt. These include easy-to-grow Phalaenopsis, also called the moth orchid because its blooms resemble moths, as well as cattleyas and dendrobiums. These plants are epiphytes, which means that in the wild their roots grow around tree trunks and gather their nourishment and water from the air and rain.
Taft and Valentine try to mimic their orchids' natural conditions by mounting some of them on tree ferns or pieces of cork or wood or by hanging them in open-weave baskets. Since this can make watering a mess, many growers pot their plants in special orchid mixtures made from bark, moss or perlite-like pebbles that allow air around the roots.
Valentine uses a weak 20-20-20 fertilizer when watering and then uses undiluted water every fourth time to flush the salts away. Taft said he only uses a small amount of fertilizer in the spring. As with most houseplants, over-watering and over-fertilizing are the most common orchid killers.
To get the best growing conditions in his east-facing windows, Taft grows most of his orchids on racks placed over humidity pans on the radiators in his apartment. The sides of the racks are enclosed with plastic glass, but the top is open for air circulation. This creates steamy conditions in which the orchids flourish.
'I think its quite a beautiful thing,' Taft said. 'My girlfriend doesn't necessarily share that impression. But I think it's quite a feat to be growing these plants in the conditions they have.'
It is. There will be plenty of orchids for sale at the orchid show. Taft and Valentine may pick up yet another specimen for their collections - because, when it comes to orchids, you can't grow just one.
It's orchid show time
Orchids reign at Rockefeller Center
Email this story
Printer friendly format
Photos
Orchid show (Photo by Rebecca Letz)
Photo Gallery
At the orchid show
More Coverage
Floral arrangements vie for ribbons at Hofstra
Apr 14, 2005
BY CELESTE HADRICK
STAFF WRITER
April 14, 2005
Some people are hooked on caffeine. Others are fanatics about shoes. But orchids?
'For some people, yes, it's very addictive,' says Diana Valentine. But not, of course, for her. She only has about 200 orchids in her Huntington Station home. 'That's a very small amount compared to some people,' she says.
With orchids, it seems, you can't grow just one. Once you start, you have to have more and more and more of these exotic blooms. Remember Rex Stout's fictional detective Nero Wolfe, who tended 10,000 orchid plants in his Manhattan brownstone?
Dave Taft lives in an apartment in Glendale with only 130, mostly tropical, orchids, but he's quick to confess: 'I'm kind of an addict.' Besides, he says, 'I like the idea that it could be growing in Belize, but there it is in my bathroom in Queens.'
Orchids bloom in more shapes and sizes than just the frilly flowers found in corsages at weddings and high-school proms. Some species have blossoms that can be measured in mere millimeters; with others, one bloom can fill a dinner plate. Orchid flowers come in all colors except black - blue is rare. Some have a sweet scent; others smell like something you stepped in.
Variety of blooms
And not all orchids are pretty: Some look like spiders or slugs or lizards - others resemble a screaming mouth. The ones that Taft prefers - the generally small South American species called Pleurothallis - have flowers that resemble bugs. And still others can be striped, speckled or swirled - sometimes even all in the same bloom. But that's what makes orchids so fascinating.
Whether you're already among the addicted or just mildly curious about these exotic flowers, now is a good time to learn more. That's because thousands of orchids from around the world are on display through Sunday at the New York International Orchid Show at the Rockefeller Center Skating Rink. Taft and Valentine are members of the Greater New York Orchid Society and are helping at the show.
For years, growing orchids was considered an expensive hothouse hobby for the wealthy. But orchids come in such a wide variety that some can adapt to living on windowsills in suburban split-levels and city condos. The American Orchid Society even insists in its literature that, 'if you can grow houseplants, you can grow orchids.'
Lots of loving care
But frankly, orchids are more demanding than your average English Ivy or potted spider plant. Like all plants, they require light, food and water. To flourish and flower, orchids also demand more humidity than most houseplants, because dry air can prevent buds from opening. Which is why home growers use humidifiers to keep things moist, since simply misting the plants isn't sufficient. Or they place the orchid on a tray of pebbles and water or on grates above a shallow water-filled container.
Orchids need good air circulation but hate cold drafts. Valentine uses ceiling and window fans to mimic gentle outdoor breezes. And, while orchids like things bright, most prefer indirect light because full sun can burn their leaves. Insufficient light is the most common reason orchids don't flower, experts say.
Valentine started growing her favored Cattleya corsage orchids on south- and west-facing windows in her home about 15 years ago - running two humidifiers to keep them happy. Now, she keeps them on her daughter's sun porch next door, where they get light from three sides. She moves them outside to her wooded backyard after the last frost, and finds the dappled shade provides enough light to encourage them to flower once they're back inside before autumn's big chill.
She clearly knows what she's doing. Right now, she has two cattleyas in bloom - one is yellow, the other pink with a purple lip. One of her Coelogyne orchids has been blooming in brown tones since summer.
Novices are surprised to learn that most of the orchids that flourish inside don't grow in dirt. These include easy-to-grow Phalaenopsis, also called the moth orchid because its blooms resemble moths, as well as cattleyas and dendrobiums. These plants are epiphytes, which means that in the wild their roots grow around tree trunks and gather their nourishment and water from the air and rain.
Taft and Valentine try to mimic their orchids' natural conditions by mounting some of them on tree ferns or pieces of cork or wood or by hanging them in open-weave baskets. Since this can make watering a mess, many growers pot their plants in special orchid mixtures made from bark, moss or perlite-like pebbles that allow air around the roots.
Valentine uses a weak 20-20-20 fertilizer when watering and then uses undiluted water every fourth time to flush the salts away. Taft said he only uses a small amount of fertilizer in the spring. As with most houseplants, over-watering and over-fertilizing are the most common orchid killers.
To get the best growing conditions in his east-facing windows, Taft grows most of his orchids on racks placed over humidity pans on the radiators in his apartment. The sides of the racks are enclosed with plastic glass, but the top is open for air circulation. This creates steamy conditions in which the orchids flourish.
'I think its quite a beautiful thing,' Taft said. 'My girlfriend doesn't necessarily share that impression. But I think it's quite a feat to be growing these plants in the conditions they have.'
It is. There will be plenty of orchids for sale at the orchid show. Taft and Valentine may pick up yet another specimen for their collections - because, when it comes to orchids, you can't grow just one.
