(The following post was written in 2009, on my previous but now-defunct blog, slipperorchidblog.com. For those who don’t know about Phrag. kovachii, it had been discovered not too long before 2009 and probably was one of the biggest orchid finds in the previous 100 years.)
We’re all passionate about orchids. If you’re reading this, you really, really like orchids. Some people like them so much, though, that they will steal them when they can.
No, I’m not talking about stealing from the jungle.
I’m talking about people who actually will steal orchids outright. Here are a few stories:
1) One grower I know had to step away to take a call while a customer remained unattended in the greenhouse. When the grower came back, what did he see, but the customer with toothpick in hand swiping pollen from a prized plant! The customer/thief was sent packing quite quickly.
2) Another story from a very reliable source: an orchid judge/official was left alone in a greenhouse full of expensive stud plants. The judge decided to help himself/herself to a division of an excellent specimen. And by division, I don’t mean something already divided and potted up. This person was caught pulling the stud plant out of pot, and trying to break off a piece of it! Somehow, the “Oh,-I-forgot-that-I’m-not-supposed-to-do-that” excuse that works so well with tax-deadbeat politicians doesn’t work so well in the real world or orchids. Well, maybe I shouldn’t be surprised, since orchid judging is so political.
3) I once visited the greenhouse of a commercial grower, and we got to talking about Phrag. kovachii. In my orchid envy, I asked if he had any.
The owner answered, tersely, “Yes.”
“Oh, I’d love to see them. Can you show them to me?” I asked, politely.
“No.”
I was puzzled. Growers are usually excited to show off the new stuff. “Why not?” I asked. “Were they obtained illegally?”
“No, they are all legal. But I can’t show them to you because of what happened previously when I did show them to someone. As the customer was leaving, I had to ask him to please remove and return the kovachii plants that were sticking out of his pocket. So I’m not showing the kovachii’s to anyone anymore.”
Me: “Wow. OK. I understand.”
4) I was having an open house at my nursery, and a bunch of people came over. While I was talking with a small crowd, I noticed the wife of a very prominent orchid person simply pick up a lovely Paph in full bloom, and walk out the door. She came back into the greenhouse a few minutes later (without the Paph), and rejoined her husband. Because the husband of the woman is very prominent in the orchid world (and I mean internationally known), I didn’t want to make a scene. He ended up buying some other orchids (of a completely different type). I’m not sure if he was aware of what his wife had done but I would imagine that with his level of orchid expertise, he would’ve spotted the purloned Paph as soon as he saw it, probably on the way home. Well, he had done me a very kind turn in the past, and I didn’t want to cause a scene that would have embarrassed him or anyone else, so I just stayed quiet about it.