Passion Flower : Dana Point Pair’s Devotion to Orchids Blooms in Their Not-So-Secret Garden
Any doubters who still don’t feel that it’s springtime have not passed by Bart and Alba Conner’s house.
The Conners are renowned in Orange County for their orchids, and hundreds of the brightly colored flowers are thriving all around their corner lot. Sprays of orchids grow in trees, encircle their 46-year-old house and are crammed onto shelves in three greenhouses.
Both 80 years old, the couple have made orchids a family passion, not only spending hours every day tending their plants, but also trekking into the rugged mountains of Peru and Ecuador, to the Philippines, Central America and Mexico in search of different varieties.
“I have just always loved flowers,” said Alba, a California native who has been married to Bart for 55 years. “When we lived in the desert I knew every wildflower around us.”
The devotion to orchids “has just taken off from there,” she said.
While Alba is in charge of the orchids on their grounds, Bart authors two newsletters about orchids. The Conners are members of the Newport Harbor Orchid Society, the Placentia-based Orchid Species Society and a San Diego County group dedicated to orchid growing and collecting.
Although slowed slightly by the ailments of age, they recently returned from a trip to the Andes of Ecuador with a group led by Brad Carter of Costa Mesa, the museum scientist at the UC Irvine arboretum.
“We don’t have any children so we travel,” Bart said. “After all, you can’t take anything with you when you go.”
Trips to view orchids in their native habitat are not for the pampered traveler.
Their destination in Ecuador was Limon, a town on the eastern foothills of the Andes in the upper Amazon River basin that is accessible by bus over unpaved, pothole-pitted roads.
“You get muddy, wet and bitten by insects, but the orchids are often in places that are inaccessible and remote,” Carter said. “When the people arrive, the orchids disappear.”
Because so many collectors were snatching up orchids around the world, their export has now been outlawed under an agreement signed by nations that have orchids, Carter said. But the main reason that orchids are disappearing is “the deforestation that is occurring so rapidly,” he said.
Nonetheless, the Orchidaceae is arguably the largest family of plants in the world, with 25,000 species, although “people who work with daisies say there are more of them,” said Harold Koopowitz, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and director of the UCI arboretum.
“Orchids make up 8% to 9% of the entire plant kingdom and can be found from Antarctica to the Arctic, with even a few native to Orange County and Los Angeles County,” Koopowitz said. “If you live in Southern California and are interested in orchids, it’s almost like being in heaven, so many kinds can actually be grown outdoors or under minimum protection here.”
Part of the fascination people have for orchids lies in the unique shape of their flowers, which have evolved for ease of pollination, Koopowitz said.
“Usually, one of the petals is modified to form a landing platform for the animal that is going to pollinate the flower,” Koopowitz said. “That petal gives it the orchid shape, commonly called a lip. . . . It gives an unusual symmetry to the flower.”
Because they have so many species, the Conners have reproduced a variety of habitats at their home, including three greenhouses that each maintain different climatic controls.
The orchid family is so varied that different species flower at different times throughout their yard, Alba said.
Orchids in bloom now are most likely cymbidiums, which flower in the early spring and can stay in full bloom for two to three months, Alba said.
Although the individual species often have their own unique demands, Alba offers some general tips on caring for orchids:
* Plant orchids in an area with very good drainage. Instead of soil, which remains too wet, use a mix of tree bark and lava rock.
* If possible, deionize their water. Orchids tend to dislike any sodium buildup.
* Fertilize them in small, weak doses each time they are watered, rather than a powerful dose every few weeks.
Tending to the orchids “is a full-time job, but I enjoy it so it’s not so bad,” Alba said.
It’s a Big Family
Classification: Belongs to the Orchidaceae family. About 25,000 species exist.
Range: Wild orchids grow in all parts of the world.
Habitat: Most abundant in regions with plenty of rainfall. In warm or tropical areas, most species grow on the trunks and branches of trees, or on rocks. In cooler regions, wild orchids grow on the ground.
Size: Range from a fourth of an inch high to vines 100 feet long.
Color: All colors except black; can be speckled or streaked.
Reproduction: Most orchids reproduce by cross-pollination. An insect, bat or bird carries pollen from the stamen of one flower to the pistil of another flower. Many orchids look or smell like bees and as a result, bees are attracted to the flowers.
Life span: Orchids are perennials; the plants live for at least three years.
Uses: Vanilla, a flavoring used in foods and beverages, occurs naturally in the vine-like vanilla orchid, which grows in Mexico and the tropics. Orchid parts are also used to flavor rice in Malaysia, ice cream in Brazil, and are roasted and eaten like potatoes in tropical Asia. Orchids are also used as the source of primitive medicines.
Sources: World Book Encyclopedia, Academic American Encyclopedia; Researched by CAROLINE LEMKE / Los Angeles Times
