The Magic of Orchids

What’s not to love about orchids? They are exotic. They grow in wild places. People write great books and make movies about them (The Orchid Thief and Adaptation). They often live forever as well as re-bloom. Should you not find one that you like, look harder: Orchidacae has over 27,000 species, more than twice the number of bird species on our planet Earth.

Orchids are one of my favorite flowers (along with peonies) for many reasons. My best friend’s grandfather collected, propagated and sold them in Santa Barbara many years ago (Stewart Orchids). As teenagers we’d wander the greenhouse lanes and taste the orchid honey. My great aunt and uncle raised them and had a greenhouse at home – a meditative space I loved to visit, due to a quiet whirring fan. A friendship bloomed when Diana, an acquaintance at the time, thoughtfully sent me a huge white Phalaenopsis when I lost my father. It blooms again, reminding me of my sweet papa, as well as the kindness of strangers in a time of grief. A friend named his daughter Amesia, after a now retired orchid genus (the modern name is Epipactus). What’s not to love about these exotic flowers that include Cattleya Dendrobium and fabulous Species Orchids with equally fabulous names like the Aerangis fastuosa that hails from Madagasgar? Did you know that the fragrant and tasty vanilla bean fruit comes from the vanilla orchid?

Most orchids are found in the wild in tropical rainforests in South and Central America, Africa and Indo-china region. (They also grow in the U.S., Russia and Australia). Lucky for us, we have many orchid farms in Carpinteria and I often pop into Westerlay Orchids for plants both large and small, to celebrate birthdays, cheer up those who are ill or to decorate my own home where these long-lasting exotic plants remind me that friends, family and life, like flowers, is a cycle.—

By Leslie A. Westbrook

For more info on orchids contact Westerlay Orchids www.westerlayorchids.com