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Our Hobby's Gone Wild!

Almost 45 years ago, on a bright sunny irresistible day in March, Doug and I played hooky from home renovating. Our consequence was the discovery of orchids. Immediately these intriguing plants cast their spell upon us. Over the years we have grown many, many genera; Paphiopedilum, Cattleya, Phalaenopsis, Miltoniopsis, Phragmipedium, Oncidium, and Pleurothallis to name but a few. Most of these are still represented in our greenhouse.
Countless trophies and boxes of ribbons document our participation in shows all over North America. We pride ourselves on our displays which have been recognized with more that 100 AOS Show Trophies including silver and gold certificates. At the 11th World Orchid Conference in Miami, Florida, 3 silver medals for flowering plants and a silver certificate for the display confirmed world class quality. Our Dracula NIGHTSHADE 'Black Ice' AM/AOS received a trophy at the 16th World Orchid Congress in Vancouver in 1999. In addition, our plants have been recognized with more than hundred A.O.S. awards. Some of these spectacular plants have even been mericloned.

Over the years, our commitment to orchids has never wavered. Terry is an accredited judge with the American Orchid Society. She is vice-chair of the American Orchid Society Toronto Judging Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Toronto Judging Centre is the first AOS judging centre outside of the United States.
Both Doug and Terry have served on the executive of the Southern Ontario Orchid Society in every capacity including several terms as president and show chairman.
The trouble with orchids is that their numbers keep increasing. By 1994, our orchid collection had outgrown our living space so we moved here and built a larger greenhouse to accommodate our hobby and growing business. With early retirement we were able to devote full time to tending our orchid hobby and to teaching people about orchids.

Using our own-awarded plants we are constantly hybridizing to produce new exciting crosses. We have registered several crosses and our most famous, Odontocidium CHERRY FUDGE, turned out to have superlative quality. From the first six plants that bloomed in our greenhouse, we received four AM's: 'Chocolate Mousse', 'Swiss Mocha', 'Sweet Dessert', and 'Cherries Jubilee'. 'Swiss Mocha' also won the first Robert Dugger Award.
Both Doug and Terry travel throughout Canada and the US giving talks. The slide presentations range from 'Introduction to Orchids for Beginners' to in-depth investigation of such genera as Lycaste and Miltonia and the newest trends in hybridizing. Their workshops offer hands on experience in repotting and grooming of orchids.

If your group is interested, contact us to arrange a time and place. If you need an in home consultation about the care of your orchids, that can also be arranged.
In recent years, we have begun to travel the world in search of orchids. In the process we are meeting many new friends, visiting exotic places and learning how these intriguing plants grow in their native habitats. Representatives of this ancient plant family have adapted to various climatic conditions and pollinators, producing fascinating results. The world of orchids provides an infinite variety of size, colour, and form in their flowers as well as in their plants. Even after all this time we keep discovering new treasures.
Interest in knowing and growing our own temperate orchids has lead to an association with the Native Orchid Conference and field trips in the wilds of Canada and the US in search of native orchids to photograph.
The gallery photos document some of our adventures.

Doug & Terry Kennedy

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