"Bob Fuchs... A third-generation South Florida grower, Fuchs has registered more than 700 hybrid orchids... vanda is the only one he's named after himself: Robert's Delight... Fuchs remembered seeing the buds unfurl into palm-sized, bright red flowers for the first time. "I was so intrigued by the quality that we named it 'Robert's Delight,' because it truly is my delight," he said.
The orchid went on to win the equivalent of "best in breed" at the 2002 World Orchid Conference, the event that established him as orchid royalty [!!!] more than 20 years ago. It was another hybrid with round, fuchsia flowers that won him the grand champion prize for the best orchid in the world at the 1984 conference. The win encouraged him to stop teaching junior-high art classes and make the family passion for orchids a full-time business. The virgin hammock forest his grandfather bought to nurture a collection of native Florida orchids is now the 40-acre Fuchs Hammock Preserve in Miami-Dade County. Fuchs, 61, is now recognized as an expert in vandas and hybridization -- crossing two compatible orchid species[or hybrids...] to produce a new flower. ... new orchid species[and hybrids...] cannot be named until they flower. ... Orchids are a nearly $160 million industry in the U.S., second only to poinsettias in potted plant sales, said Ron McHatton, director of education and regional operations for the American Orchid Society... His orchids bloom in 10 greenhouses extending from his grandfather's original home, which he renovated and expanded... tiny green leaves poke through handfuls of soil[!!!]... hybrid orchids crossed in laboratories in Asia, then shipped here to grow." URL : http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080124/LIFE04/801240309/1005/LIFE ************* Regards, VB _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) [email protected] http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
