Orchid Growers Are Hooked On a Budding Addiction

Some Valley residents have taken to raising Odontoglossum in their homes and gardens.

Others are growing Oncidium chrysodipterum and Laelia .

Even Pleurothallis pubescens .

Some have gone as far as setting up greenhouses to grow these insidious Orchidaceae , better known as orchids.

Common sense dictates there should be a warning that these hothouse plants can be habit-forming without even sniffing, snorting or smoking them.

Mere exposure, it seems, can be addictive. Take the case of Northridge resident Ned Daniger.

Daniger, a man who readily admits his addiction, says it all started 30 years ago when he was given some plants by his brother-in-law.

Since then he has spent thousands of dollars on the care and feeding of orchids. He has about 4,000 plants in two greenhouses on his property. His wife, Maureen, a former bank employee, wishes it to be known she is not a party to this activity.

Daniger readily admits that he has also become a pusher, and that he is in frequent contact with others engaged in similar activities.

He and his fellow addicts meet the first Thursday of the month at the Northridge Women’s Club where they exchange growing tips and admire one another’s efforts.

Few if any of these addicts have sought counseling for their problem. There is no known 12-step program they might join.

It is true that orchids are not clinically addictive or illegal, but one only need see these people around the plants to understand the concept of being hooked.

However, there is nothing as futile as trying to help those in the throes of their addiction when they joyfully refuse to be helped.

Most of us, at least those of a certain generation, remember orchids as extravagant white or purple flowers that girls wore on their dresses or wrists for the prom.

It was a big deal if your date gave you an orchid rather than, say, some carnations or itty bitty roses. And most of those youthful orchid givers and wearers never came down with rampant orchid-growing lust.

But for Daniger and about 80 other San Fernando Valley Orchid Society members, happiness is digging up information on planting and rearing these lovely floral things. And, like Daniger, who is president of the organization, several members have gone from amateur growers to professionals.

Most of the orchid society members belong to, and receive periodicals from the American Orchid Society Inc., headquartered at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. Most got started growing orchids, according to Daniger, by receiving a plant or buying one from a local nursery or grocery store.

“They find the plants are easy to care for, as well as being beautiful,” says Daniger. Pretty soon they are brought to their knees in their brand-new potting shed.

“The old fallacy that orchids were only for aristocrats and millionaires has been exploded,” wrote Englishman John W. Bowers in the introduction to the 1961 edition of the book, “Orchids.”

“Thousands of present-day amateurs have found to their delight and enjoyment that most of the wonderful orchid plants may be grown and flowered with the same ease as other household plants,” added Bowers, a member of the Royal Horticultural Society Orchid Committee.

It is a sentiment echoed through the ensuing decades by other authors and growers.

According to Brian Rittershausen, in his 1985 book “Orchid Growing Illustrated,” these blooms, originally grown in China, were brought to Europe in the 1600s.

Today, there are 25,000 varieties of wild orchids blooming all over from the steamy jungles to mountaintops, as well as in homes throughout the world.

Daniger says members of the Valley group grow a wide variety of orchids. “There are orchid types that appeal to almost every personality type,” he says.

And, while the orchids are blooming right smartly throughout the Valley, the society membership has hit a growth plateau.

“Most of our members are around 50-something, and evenly divided between men and women,” Daniger says.

He adds that current members wouldn’t mind having some new and younger members.

They’re looking for budding addicts, as it were.

Nothing Funny About Affects of Simpson Trial

Female clients of Haven Hills, which serves victims of family violence, are reporting a new kind of psychological terrorism.

Many of the battered women are telling staff that their mates are threatening to “O.J.” them, says Betty Fisher, executive director of the nonprofit agency.

She adds that it is not something she and her staff have heard from just one or two women.

“It’s something we’ve heard from too many to ignore,” she says.

She adds that the Simpson trial has caused other kinds of upheaval for the agency, including distracting women from dealing with their own issues of abuse.

“The women here have such empathy and relate so strongly with Nicole Simpson that they all want to talk about the trial,” Fisher says.

And there is also a good news-bad news situation with the current high profile of the battering issue. Her staff is being stretched to its limits to make its message known.

“There is currently a window of opportunity for us to speak out and address issues to members and groups in the community,” says Fisher, “but we are still dealing with the same number of staff and the same budget.”

On top of this, there is an upswing of almost 30% in new callers to the agency since the Simpson trial began and everyone, she says, is working hard to meet the demand.

Fisher says one of the most stunning developments of the trial is the news that Lenore Walker will testify for the Simpson defense team.

Fisher says Walker, who identified the battered woman’s syndrome several decades ago, has always been a hero of hers.

She adds that until now, every client of Haven Hills has been given Walker’s book, “The Battered Woman.” It has been the agency’s textbook. Now, that will probably change.

“We will try to find another text for our clients,” says the executive director. “I feel Lenore Walker has violated our trust.”

Overheard:

“Gee, Mom. These aren’t for me. No. No. I’m getting them for Tuffy.”

Tiny con man in Tarzana market explaining to his mother that the M&Ms; are for his dog.