FrogPondPhrags wote:
"We are getting ready for our yearly Halloween party. We'll have about 10 guest who LOVE to see our greenhouse. Its attached to the house so I can;t keep them out. Last year I was appalled at the behavior of some of the guest, Big problem is the people in a happy party mood want to grab, touch and smell the orchids-all without asking Several plants were knocked over and flowers were lost.
"Has this happened to others? Any ideals on how to handle this situation?. I don't want to be overprotective and scream at people. Yet after waiting a year for a flower having unaware quests do damage it is too much for this orchid grower."
Linda:
I forget what size your greenhouse is, but I have a couple solutions to this problem. One thing that may not help in your situation, is that I have asymetrical aisles in my greenhouse; one is over three feet wide, and that aisle is left open to "tourists" during our yearly open house, while the aisle that goes down by our stud plants and personal collection is much narrower, and I keep it blocked off. People can see everything in the greenhouse (albeit not from as close as they might like), but they cannot get close enough to anything valuable, to damage it. For people that are appropriate, I personally tour them behind the barracades, so they can see the details. For everybody else, all they can get close to, are "commodity" type plants.
I also often set up a display in an area well away from the rest of the plants, that has the most interesting things in flower that people are likely to want to see. That keeps them away from the other plants.
Depending on the demographics of your guests, you might have some success with a sign explaining that "Looking without Touching" is the norm in Orchid collections ... and if you have plants hanging into the aisles like I do, block the aisles off.
Good luck,
rob't Robert Bedard Horticulture http://www.robert-bedard.com/orchids/
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