MarilyninOttawa
Orchid hobbyists have a great thing going for them. Typically they are friendly, gregarious people who love plants. Orchids are their special interest but frequently we learn that they like other plants also such as cacti, succulents, bromeliads, episcias, clivias, and just about anything else interesting that is green. Orchid people like growing things! Naturally, what they grow is determined somewhat by where the hobbyists live.

In chilly climes, we find plants grown indoors during the cold season and sometimes outdoors during the warmer months. In the tropics, plants are grown mostly outdoors with some natural or artificial shade to protect them from too much sun.

All is not perfect in a tropical paradise. Outdoor growers must contend with birds which pick at flowers, herbicide drift from a nearby golf course, mites during the dry season and scale just about any time of year. The rainy season brings with it a heightened risk of bacterial and fungal rot. And then there are hurricanes... Hurricane damage can only be minimized but garden sanitation will contribute greatly to the ongoing health of an orchid collection.

The best growers remove and dispose of spent or damaged blooms and dead foliage. Roots are kept away from the ground where splashes may transfer fungal spores and bacteria. Plants are examined regularly so that any small problem can be dealt with before it becomes overwhelming. Tropical orchid culture is not that much different to what we practice in temperate climes. Good cultural practice is always rewarded.

When I visited Barbados, West Indies to meet up with some orchidophiles, I found collections of healthy floriferous stock including some locally produced hybrids. Orchids are a natural part of landscaping and are featured in some tourist venues. This is the story of my visit.

Canada is downright chilly during February and not all that conducive to gardening. Instead, I dream of warmer times to come, when I do not need boots to venture out-of-doors.

I planned my Barbados trip with some trepidation. When there is heavy snow, freezing rain, etc, flights are delayed. Fortunately, the orchid gods were smiling on my chosen travel days and I arrived on schedule. Barbados is a hive of activity seeing that they will be hosting a major international cricket match in 2007. The airport has been expanded, is very spacious, breezy and cool.

Traffic is a bit of a challenge but an orchid friend graciously agreed to meet me and skillfully steered through the taxi mayhem resulting from hundreds of passengers arriving more or less simultaneously mid afternoon. It was good to smell the fresh air, feel the gentle humidity and see an island verdant from two consecutive years of good rainfall. Brackish water ponds were full of water as we see here in a picture taken near dusk at Long Bay.

The island has developed over thousands of years from the buildup of coral. Rainwater filters through the coralstone and gathers in a subterranean aquifer which provides delicious good quality drinking water for the some quarter million inhabitants. I was looking forward to visiting collections but first I would rest after sampling sorrel drink, a favorite thirst quencher. Sorrel is made from the bright red, succulent outer parts (calyx) of a relative of Hibiscus. You steep the succulent calyx material (or dried) in water, sugar and spices to extract the colored juice.

My first visit was to Orchid World sited about a wooded gully. Entry is US$9. There is a 25% discount if one also wishes to take in another attraction, Flower Forest. Visitors can drive, take a taxi, or take a bus from the capital city, Bridgetown, to Clifton Hall. Visitors are greeted at a building housing a gift shop, food concession and washroom facilities. Umbrellas are provided for shade and protection from a chance shower.

There are even some plants for sale but unless one has a import permit and is willing to obtain the necessary phytosanitary certificate and export papers, we must pass this by.

The layout of Orchid World is superb, the grounds well maintained, the paths wheelchair accessible. There are many photographic opportunities.

Benches are welcoming and well situated. You can feel the peace of the place and escape from the workaday world into this tropical retreat.

There are orchids in abundance such as Ascda. (Chomkao × Korb Fah).

A large collection of Calanthes greeted the viewer. The Calanthes are growing in an enclosure where rain is excluded. Too much rain or rain at the wrong time of year would be disastrous.

I particularly liked Vanda Kultana Gold 'Green Gold'.

There was a wealth of flowering plants and shrubbery also. The large specimen of Grammatophyllum was not yet in flower but is sure to be spectacular when it does bloom.

 

My next visit was to Hunte's Gardens in the parish of St. Joseph. There I visited with proprietor Anthony Hunte who showed me how he was developing this remarkable site with a planned series of steps leading visitors into a wooded gully. Here tall palms towered and purple-leaved Alocasias competed with other garden plants for photographic advantage. Anthony is hoping to establish orchids along a shaded wall and I look forward to seeing that when I next visit. We stopped for a tasty lunch at the Fisherman's Pub in Speightstown on the West Coast where delicious salt fish cakes were US35 cents each.

Next I visited the home of my host, Michael Birkett, Vice President of the Barbados Orchid Society. Michael has a fabulous collection of Phalaenopsis, vandas and dendrobiums. He uses a MSU fertilizer formulated to suit south Florida water which is apparently very similar to what comes from the tap in Barbados. The results speak for themselves. Large spikes, numerous spikes and fabulous flower quality.

A favorite is Dtps. Mem. Francis Hunte (Ever Spring Prince × Taida Pearl) named in honor of the late Francis Hunte who once raised orchids in the same garden. Francis Hunte taught me a lot about orchids and I am happy that such a lovely orchid carries his name. He would be justly proud.

Mokaras and Arandas such as Aranda Noorah Alsagoff compete for attention with many vandas.

I particularly liked this golden unnamed Kagawara (Asctm. × V. × Ren.) Where the influence of the Renanthera has contributed to flower shape and vivid color.

White-flowered dendrobiums are popular pot plant that can rented as a blooming specimen or harvested for cut flowers.

A Jewel Orchid (Haemaria discolor) was flourishing in a shallow pot.

David Leach has a large garden filled with colorful orchids including some of his own hybrids. I particularly liked his semi terete Vanda (Mandai Poppet × Varavuth) which is apparently always in bloom. The flowers varied mostly in the color and shape of the lip.

I also found a large Schomburgkia growing atop a stump and an exquisite large yellow Spathoglottis.

The shade houses were bursting with a varied collection including Recchara Frances Fox (Blc. Polka Dot × Schom. tibicinis). I haven't seen this for sale anywhere but it certainly could be flowered in our collections.

Besides numerous dendrobiums there were masses of colorful vandas, many hybridized by David.

We went on to Andromeda Botanic Garden, a favorite place and once home to the late founder, Iris Bannochie. Iris would love seeing how her palms have flourished and how once small euphorbias have become towering trees! There are orchids here also but the array of other plants is something to be savored in the context of a tropical world.

At the home of Linda and Reg Antrobus, Linda showed me vandas and a good collection of cacti and succulents. Their vandas were thriving in a well tended garden bed with shade provided by a nearby tree.

Potinara Little Toshie (Toshie Aioki × Sc. Beaufort) was in flower. It can be difficult to get good blooming from Sophronitis types under tropical conditions.

When I lived in Barbados many years ago, a favorite visit was to the brackish mangrove swamp called Graeme Hall. Visiting any wetland can be difficult but we always marvelled at the diversity of plants and animals found there including fiddler crabs, guppies, mollies and waterbirds. I was therefore delighted to find that a visitor center has been developed for the Graeme Hall Sanctuary. Park your car, pay the entry fee of less than US$15 and you enter into beautifully groomed trails surrounded by mangroves. In the largest pond there are tarpon. We also saw red coots, blue-winged teal and cattle egrets. There is a blind to observe birds more closely and a visitor guide providing detailed information. This is a very accessible must-see for any visitor to the island.

I had the pleasure of attending the monthly meeting of the Barbados Orchid Society which is typically held at a member's home. Many orchids are raised attached to trees but for those requiring more shelter/shade, members employ a variety of enclosures including a open tile-walled carport, a picnic tent, and sturdily constructed shade houses. Shade is provided by polypropylene cloth, wire screening or high overhead trees. Hostess Angela Parris housed some of her orchids under a portable shade canopy.

There were some 20 entries on the show table with plants of novices and of those having won previously divided into two groups for judging. There was a very well grown and flowered specimen of Mtssa. Royal Robe 'Jerry's Pick' HCC/AOS as well a lovely rose purple Cattleya. Brazilian Miltonias and selected Brassia intergenerics do especially well in Barbados. picture

Here Monica Skinner who has been a member for just 3 years admires a large Dendrobium that has taken quite a few years to reach specimen size.

There were some magnificent specimens including cattleyas, dendrobiums, phals and vandaceous. Michael Birkett (right) and Michael Marshall (left) examine the show table entries prior to judging.

 

This showy tall cane Dendrobium was one of the show table winners.

After a two-week visit, I had to say goodbye to my friends, the sea and the sand but I carry a memory of flowers, of fragrance and of friendship that will linger for a very long time.

That is the end of my formal presentation. Questions, comments anyone?

barbara_in_no._
Those pictures of flowers were beautiful. Thanks you so much for bring them to us.

John_in_Arcadaia,_Ca
The flowers were so well grown. I am sure you really loved seeing all of them

MarilyninOttawa
I rarely take what we would call a vacation. It is usually a conference, etc. This time I really did relax and made certain that I had one day off reading, doing needlework, chatting, etc between home visits. I had virtually no internet contact for two weeks and I loved it. We all need a change of pace on occasion and I heartily recommend Barbados for just that purpose. They will be having a show next March (AOS judged). Maybe some of you can go??? There will also be a conference/show in San Jose, Costa Rica next March 16-23. Details to follow.