"Orchid grower... a delicate orchid was his proudest achievement...
Shaffer was an orchid breeder. He worked in 12 greenhouses in a nursery along 41st Avenue [Santa Cruz, California, US] that he started with his brother Hal in 1937. His son Richard would later join the business. It was there that Shaffer, who died Saturday night at age 90, became famous in the orchid world for advances in the breeding of the Phalaenopsis orchid... At one point the nursery was introducing 50 hybrid orchids a year, shipping them worldwide. He made sure Princess Margrethe of Denmark had them for her 1967 wedding... "... there's only one person in the world recognized for his contributions to the white Phalaenopsis orchid. Go into Trader Joe's and look at those white orchids. They all go back to him." ... Shaffer arrived in 1950, taking over the nursery after his brother's death... Shaffer's Tropical Gardens... Shaffer retired from the nursery, which closed in 1986, in the early '70s, but he was never far from his orchids. "It was his hobby before it was his business... Richard Shaffer, who ran the family nursery after his father retired, said his father carefully waited to name his creations until they were bred to near perfection. ... His two most prized hybrids were the "Capitola Moonlight," recognized by the Royal Horticulture Society with its highest honor, and the "Elinor Shaffer." " source and complete article : http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2005/October/24/local/stories/01local.htm ************** Regards, Viateur _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
