Growing the temperamental flowers provokes emotions from love to despair, local enthusiasts say
By Larissa Van Beurden-Doustldoust@thetribunenews.com
Every day, Larry Vierheilig steps into the greenhouse in his Nipomo back yard to visit his beloved orchids.He spends equal time with the thick, roping green vines of his vanilla orchid and the exotic blooms of the cattleyas. The bulky roots and slender spikes of all of his hundreds of orchids are watered and cared for.Even the species that sometimes smells like a dead animal ? an odor it emits to attract nutrients ? gets attention.
"I come out here and tell my plants they?re beautiful and tell them how much I love them," Vierheilig said, before adding with a chuckle, "There?s a fine line between hobby and mental illness. I?m going to see the people with the white jackets."
Vierheilig is not alone in his orchid passion. There are nearly 26,000 members of the American Orchid Society, which, according to the group, is the largest special- interest horticultural organization in the world.
In San Luis Obispo County, orchid enthusiasts join the Five Cities Orchid Society or the Cabrillo Orchid Society. Members say belonging to a society not only provides support and answers questions but also offers inspiration."When you see other people are growing things, getting them to bloom, it feeds you and gets you charged," said Eric Holenda of Nipomo, who belongs to the Five Cities club.
Anyone interested in seeing the local passion for orchid growing is invited to the 11th annual Central Coast Orchid Show and Sale this weekend in Arroyo Grande. Flowers will be on display and for sale.People interested in growing orchids do not have to have greenhouses or expansive facilities.
Greg Doudna of Nipomo has at least 70 orchids around his house.A phalaenopsis, with light purple flowerings capping stick-thin stems, perches on the edge of a bathtub. It emits a light, scented-soap odor throughout the bathroom.
On the kitchen counter sits a butterfly orchid, scientifically known as a Psychopsis Mendenhall.It didn?t bloom for almost four years, until Doudna found a southwest window that let in the perfect amount of sunlight. It then bloomed almost immediately, he said.
Doudna?s interest in orchids started about 30 years ago when a girlfriend gave him one of the plants. She had no idea what it was, he said, but thought it was pretty.
In the early 1990s, Doudna decided to pursue orchids more seriously."Orchids have a certain mystery to them," Doudna said. "There?s a legend that they?re difficult to grow, but that?s not true. It?s a mystery and a challenge."
There?s also deep attachment to some of the flowers for the more serious orchid grower.There?s anger and frustration when they don?t bloom. There?s depression if a favorite plant dies."I had several beautiful plants I dearly loved that came down with color-break virus," Doudna said. "You do get heartbroken if you lose a favorite plant."
Serious orchid enthusiasts must feel something for the plants if they are going to continue the hobby, Holenda said.
"I think it?s No. 1 that you have to fall in love with the flower," Holenda said. "Once you?ve seen the flower, you want to bring it into flower again. You know how beautiful it is; you have to have that beauty re-manifested."
