People Have Been Nuts over Orchids for A Long Time
Orchid culture is so widespread in our time that it is diffcult to picture a world without these wonderful flowers. But, not so very long ago, the inhabitantspopulace of the developed world were totally in the dark about the overwhelming majority of orchid species.
Europeans of course knew about their native orchid species, such as the exuberant Bee Orchid. But knowledge of the thousands of splendid tropical orchids had to await the results of explorations into the jungles and mountains of South America and the East Indies. Even then, orchid specimens were quite slow to make their way back to England and other European countries.
Perhaps the first living orchid to be taken from the tropics to England was an Epidendrum cochleatum, one of the more showy of its genus. It flowered in London in 1787. Another species from the same family was brought to England in 1778. It took a decade for its caregivers to bring forth flowers from the plant.
Admiral William Bligh of Mutiny on the Bounty fame had a small part in laying the ground for the orchid craze. In the early 1790s he brought 15 species of epiphytal orchids to his native England from the West Indies. These were planted at the well-known Kew Gardens in London. For many years the West Indies, along with India, were the most important sources of tropical orchids to Europe. In 1793, however, a species of Oncidium was taken to England from Panama, followed a few years later by some orchids from Uruguay.
By 1818, Brazil was at the forefront of was contributing to what was becoming a steady stream of orchids back to England and other countries of Europe. By 1830 collectors were traveling throughout Brazil on behalf of the Royal Horticultural Society, seeking out unusual orchid species.
The orchid exchange quickly became a serious moneymaking endeavor, with businessmen in Brazil entering in to arrangements with their opposite numbers in London to ship plants to England to be resold there. William Harrison, a merchant living in Rio de Janeiro during the 1830s and 1840s, shipped many gorgeous orchids to his brother Richard in Liverpool. Richard’s house soon became a Mecca for orchid lovers who pilgrimaged there to see the latest arrivals.
Of course, it was one thing to import orchids into Europe, but another thing to get them to thrive and reproduce. For more than half a century England was known as the grave of tropical orchids. The plants that survived did so in spite of rather than because of the treatment they received. Growers continuing experimenting and making mistakes until, by about 1850, they had mostly worked out the art of orchid cultivation. That is when the orchid craze really took off, because now the knowledge was available by which even non-botanists could grow these stunning plants.
Knowledge of how to successfully grow orchids has greatly expanded during the intervening years and now we know so much more than did those Victorian devotees. We also have, of course, better technology to assist us in the greenhouse and garden.
The most complete guide to modern orchid care, without a doubt, is Orchid Care Expert by Nigel Howard, which is available to be downloaded from the Internet. Howard’s well-written guide is a comprehensive education all by itself. And, it is appropriate for those just starting out as well as more seasoned orchid growers. Also, check out the Orchid Secrets web site, which has a growing library of postings on many topics of orchid cultivation.