"For Robert Scarborough of Gulfport, growing orchids is a means of recovery and a way to honor the memory of a beloved sister, as well as a longtime passion.
... vice president of the Gulf Coast Orchid Society... His introduction was at one of the society's shows, and he bought an a vanda orchid. "I kept it a year. Never bloomed," he said. "Next year, same problem. I was told it needed more water, sun, fertilizer. Well, I did that, and it finally bloomed. Right after it bloomed, it promptly died. ... "I went to the Society and joined," he said. Eventually his collection grew to about 300 plants, then about 600. But they fell victim to an arctic blast in the late 1980s. "I lost them all," Scarborough said. "For years, I couldn't go to the orchid show - it was just too depressing." His sister Brenda tried to encouraged him to buy a couple of orchids, but his heart still wasn't in it. Then Brenda was diagnosed with terminal cancer. "When she was dying, I would sit with her. Sometimes she would suddenly sit up, and one night, during one of those times, she said she wished I'd get back into my orchids," Scarborough said. He found several orchids on eBay, and slowly, he returned to his favorite pastime. After a while, he had "several hundred orchids"... "I had just rejoined the Orchid Society in August 2005," he said. Hurricane Katrina destroyed the new collection as well as his home... He went back to eBay to look for more plants, and when he explained to sellers his situation, several suppliers doubled his orders. He is busily building his orchid collection back in a greenhouse" article URL : http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/living/16531265.htm?source=rss&channel=sunherald_living *************** Regards, VB _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) [email protected] http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
