Botanicals
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Here at Cal-Orchid we have an interest in growing a fun assortment of unusual plants that also make wonderful companions for orchids. These come from many different plant families from around the world and can add an extra amount of fun and interest while enjoying your hobby-it doesn’t have to be ALL orchids! They will vary in their size to very large to quite small but as a rule, unusual foliage is the pivotal factor. Some can be grown in pots while others prefer to be grown on mounts. If one looks back to the famous orchid firms of the 19th century, it is easy to see that these famous men also had a much larger interest in all plants, not just orchids. This includes some very famous collectors such as George Ure-skinner, Bennedict Roezl, Hugh Low, Frederick Burbidge, and Joseph Hooker. Though we remember them for their exploits recounted while collecting orchids, they also collected some of the most exotic plants in nature. Often the collectors were employees of orchid nurseries or were being sponsored by wealthy men who desired to collect the newest and most rare plants to add an air of exclusivity to their collections. Even the famous men in orchid history, like Frederick Sander, had nurseries specializing in these new plants. Over the decades, many of these rare plants introduced into public botanical gardens. We truly owe these people for assisting in the overall appreciation of the plant kingdom. Of course, in the 1800’s, anything to do with nature was popular. Along with orchids, it wasn’t long before hybridizers began to create an even more beautiful or at least more exotic plant or flower to entice growers far and wide.
For many years, while growing our orchid nursery, we have cultivated an interesting group of these rare and unusual ‘botanical’ plants as a sideline because we consider ourselves to be avid plant growers. Most are grown by us from seed. Once a very renowned orchid personality from England and most especially, Africa, named Joyce Stewert, was giving a lecture and stated the the one problem she saw with orchid growers was that they had little consideration for all of the other wonderful plants in the world. After the lecture, I stopped her to say that I didn’t think that her statement was true since we grew so many other types of plants at Cal-Orchid. She bluntly conceded that we were the exception.
After thinking about it, I realized that what she said was mostly true. Plantsmen
appreciate all types of plants including orchids. Yet, orchid growers often show
little interest in anything but orchids. As a plant family, it certainly offers a wide variety! Please peruse this section so that you can become familiar with a wonderful selection of plants that grow right along side with your orchids. By cultivating these various types of plant, you can create a whole new environment with your growing area. Since these plants come from many places around the world, not all plants will be suitable for your garden growing area. We will describe each entry with a small amount of cultural notes which should assist in your choices. Please feel free to contact us should you have any questions about what is offered here or if they will do well for you.
