"Q: How long will an orchid live?... A: ... Art Chadwick Sr.... tells the following story:
"The year was 1947. I was... learning to raise orchids from the old estate growers in Pennsylvania. One afternoon, the head grower of a large greenhouse operation handed me an outstanding variety of the naturally occurring species, Cattleya lueddemanniana, and said, 'I want you to take this and see that nothing happens to it.' He told me that he was concerned the species were being replaced by the new big round hybrids and that this plant was too good to lose. The orchid had been imported from Venezuela along with thousands of others in the early 1930s and had sold for $35, a handsome sum in the midst of the Great Depression. ... "Thanks to my parents, who maintained a small greenhouse, the plant survived while I was away... in 1954, I accepted a job in Texas and my entire orchid collection had to be sold... I remember asking my father, 'Can you take care of this until I can build a new greenhouse?' He nodded and put the Cattleya under his arm. It was five more years before I was able to rescue the plant from my father's kitchen window. It didn't flower the entire time, but it didn't die either. When I married and built a lean-to on my house, which was now in Florida, my parents arrived with the plant as a housewarming present. "The Cattleya finally recovered enough to bloom again, so I entered it in a local orchid show where it received a Highly Commended Certificate from the American Orchid Society. In 2002, nearly 55 years after I agreed to take care of this plant, it was exhibited again and this time it received an Award of Merit. Each spring, I look forward to the beautiful large pink frilly flowers that remind me of the journey it has taken" URL : http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/entertainment.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2008-03-01-0009.html ************ Regards, VB _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
