Visited Botanical Orchid Greenhouse yesterday! :)
 

A couple of weeks ago, a glass blowing buddy of my husbands suggested that I call AJ (initials to protect privacy) and see if I could help her out. He said she is widowed and in her seventies and could really use my help. He also said that she raises orchids and there probably would be a lot I could learn from her.

I called her, and told her we would come up to visit, then she could tell me how I could help her. The drive is a little over a half an hour.

My husband and I went to her house yesterday and was given a tour of her greenhouses. (She has seven up and running). I would post some of the wonderful pics I got, but I don't have her permission to do so. As soon as I get her permission, I'll put them up on the gallery.

Her greenhouses were not the typical greenhouses, with rows of plants, neatly cared for. They were botanical greenhouses - and each one was like walking into a forest - (it was WONDERFUL!!) she kept apologizing saying that the expectation is always different - but I loved it!!

There was 1 *ONE!* greenhouse that was orderly and what one would normally expect - there she grew commercial flowering and used that to support the other greenhouse she 'loved'. :)

The botanical greenhouses each had a rubber tree growing in the corner that branched out along the ceiling to shade the other plants growing below.

She used terracotta pots for all of her plants - some were broken for the roots outgrowing them, I asked her about this, she shrugged and said, "natural!" The broken ports still served as support, but just became a part of the material the plants were growing in. She doesn't fertilize at all nor does she repot when it's supposed to happen. The plants looked like they would look if you found them out in the woods, imperfect, beautiful, and omg - the flowers were stunning!

She showed me what a 'beginning to sunburn' orchid looked like, then promptly shaded it - so I know what to look for now. My phal didn't die of sunburn. :(

Nearly all of her orchids were originally purchased in the late '50's early '60's! :)

I was worn out last night - but it was a wonderful good day. I noticed that some of the orchids fascinated me more by how they grew and what the actual plant looked like. . .I hope to share some pics soon.

:)

Edit: Edited Title at request of owner of Greenhouse as she has had her greenhouses broken into and vandalized.

That sounds like a wonderful experience, thank you for telling us about it, it's great to hear how people grow their orchids.

What a great experience! Hope you are able to post pics!

Can't wait to see the pics! Sounds like a little slice of heaven. :)

Wow, sounds like a fun experience. Hope you get permission, can't wait to see :photo:

:photo: :photo: :photo: Can't wait!!!

That's nice of you to ask if you can post the photos you took of her place. Just to let you know, you don't really need her permission. The photos you took are yours, you are the rights holder. They are your "art" and your images. If she didn't want you to take pictures she could have told you not to and you would have had to respect her dissision.

Those are the facts, but I do find it refreshing to see that people still find it nessecary to ask permission. That's really cool!

I'm sure she'll let you post the ones that don't give away her location, just the flowers and greenhouses.

I had to laugh when I spoke to her on the phone and told her orchids took so much more attention than other "Water once a week and forget" house plants. She said that her other plants were what got all of her attention and her orchids were pretty much leave as is, and let them do their thing. (This was a bit of a tongue lashing! LOL!) She has wonderful environments set up for them, though, so that's not entirely true **wink**.

You're quite welcome!

We hope to go back there, often. She said she'll call me when she needs help repotting or splitting the orchids. :biggrin:

I haven't been able to get in contact with her for the last couple of days - but I'll try again tomorrow. If I'm not able to contact her, I may well just post the pics.

Hopefully tomorrow - **crosses fingers**

She lives up in the foothills (Tennessee) - the land she's on is absolutely breathtaking and yes, each greenhouse was like a new gorgeous piece of exotic Terra Firma right there for the taking! :)

Hopefully I'll get the pics up tomorrow, I'm going to try to call her again in the morning.

Thanks, Chas, that's such good information to know. I want to be respectful though, as she was kind enough to let me and my husband go through her 'private' gardens/greenhouses. She asked me how I was going to use the pics before I took them - so there was some concern there. I told her that I was going to use it for my scrap book, but if I wanted to use it for something else, I'd contact her, first. So, this is keeping my word to her. :)

Beth,

It's nice to see that are few left in this ol' world that still hold true to their words ;) Looking forward to seeing photos of your visit! :D

Pics!!
 

I spoke to AJ this morning and got her permission to post the pics! I wanted to go back and get a few pictures of the greenhouses for a few broad pictures of the whole so that you could see how awesome they all are, but she refused stating that she didn't want anyone to recognize anything concerning the greenhouses, so I'll respect her wishes. She said that she will get with me this week to help me to identify all the orchids I took pictures of . . .em. . . because I haven't a clue at this point. **chuckles** I'll update the names in the gallery when I can.

Not all of the pics are orchids, some of the plants I just found either beautiful or fascinating, so I took a pic.

But here they are! Enjoy!

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...6132009_06.JPG

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...6132009_02.JPG

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...6132009_01.JPG

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...e_06132009.JPG

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...humbs/0241.JPG

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...humbs/0231.JPG

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...humbs/0204.JPG

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...humbs/0183.JPG

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...6132009_04.JPG

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...6132009_05.JPG

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...eorchids_5.JPG

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...s_06132009.JPG

Wow, great pics Beth. Thanks for sharing them :cheer:

You're welcome, Rosie! I was so glad to finally get her ok! I was a little afraid she wouldn't want her orchids up on the web.

Wow! Yes Beth, I can see how much you enjoyed your trip there. I am enjoying these pics as well........thanks for sharing.

Thank you so much for sharing your experience and pictures. It looks amazing!

You're welcome! :) it was certainly my pleasure!

I wish I could share full photos! I guess if you're ever in this neck of the woods, it would definitely be a place to visit! :) From what I understand, visitors are only by word of mouth and she has to feel comfortable with you to show them to you, so I feel very honored by the tour! :)

I hope to go back there this next week, and then in a few weeks she'll invite me out to help her tend to the orchids that need to be split.

You are SO lucky! If I had someone who would let me hang out with them and help them while I got to learn from them for FREE, I would do it in a heartbeat. She must really like and trust you to ask you to participate on such a level. It's definitely an honor. Very nice!