Photo courtesy Shehan Obeysekera/Flickr

When I was doing research for last Saturday’s article on orchids, I came across information on Chadwick Orchid’s website that fascinated me.  Chadwick Orchids are orchid boarders.  Just like you can board your dog when you go out of town, apparently, you can take your out-of-bloom plant and ask them to mind it for you until it’s ready to bloom again.

Now, I suspect that all of those orchids at grocery stores and home centers mean that lots of people are purchasing orchids and doing the same thing with them when they stop blooming as they do with their Christmas poinsettias – throw them out on the compost.  But, apparently, if you really love your orchid but don’t want to mind it while it’s not in its “pretty” stage, you have another alternative.

Art Chadwick said that when he got into the orchid business with his dad, he “never thought I’d be in the orchid boarding business.”  Now, it’s their main business, boarding 13,000 orchids in 11 greenhouses.

Orchids bloom for 1-3 months, but can live for many years with proper care, so those that want to trust others to provide that care send their orchids to Chadwick.  They have clients who board a few orchids, and they have clients that rotate 500-1000 orchids each year.

Only a few other places in the country do orchid boarding, and you can understand why.  Imagine the inventory control and tracking system necessary to properly account for 13,000 orchids!  When Mrs. Jones calls and wants to know how her orchid is doing, they have to be able to tell her!  Not to mention getting her orchid back to its home in time for Mrs. Jones to enjoy it blooming again.

Now this is a service you wouldn’t find for too many houseplants!  Strange, but true.

Learn more about orchid boarding at Chadwick Orchids.