Orchid Growing with expert Capt. Morgan

Fran Lansberry
Jan 16, 2018
2 min read

Are you interested in learning about growing orchids, but intimidated and afraid of the unknown??

If this be the case, you are NOT alone.

Hi folks,

I, for one, have long been fascinated by orchids. The beauty, the unusual growth habit, the rarity, and the uniqueness of them has always drawn me to them. But that is as far as I went.

Orchids were for specialists with all the proper growing conditions I thought. Only the elite folks dabbled in orchids right? Wrong!

While visiting my son in Wake Forest, North Carolina, I took the road less traveled one day to see what I could see. Others going out of the development went right to the metropolis. I made a left and found ‘country’.

Being a country girl I was excited to find retired greenhouses just a few miles from his home. I pulled into the desolate setting and visualized what it was at one time. Three large tattered greenhouses were probably filled with fresh plants, annuals, perennials, shrubs, and trees. The smell of vigorous green lush growth penetrated my thoughts. Some partially empty skids of pavers, potting medium, and sand told me they must have had a landscape division at one time. I could see it….not for what was that day, but for what it was years ago. Now a deceased dream. It made my heart ache.

I noticed a golden retriever lazily resting in front of the third door. So I parked and went in.

To my extreme surprise I struck gold! Inside that third house was a wealth of orchids dancing to the faint sound of classical music. Not hundreds, but thousands of orchids. Sitting, hanging, and suspended orchids everywhere. In the distance of the greenery, I saw an older gentleman working. I yelled ‘Hello’.

A friendly, lean southern gentle man yelled back ‘Hello’. Captain Morgan is his name, and he graciously accepted my intrusion. Like most growers, he was eager to show me around. He has a business called ‘Whisper Orchids’. His business card reads ‘PROVIDING FINE ORCHIDS AT A REASONABLE PRICE. Many Species, Plant setting, Repotting, and Pest Control’ 1500 Averette Rd, Wake Forest, NC 27587. (Phone 252-204-3174)

Each time I visit my son, I migrate back to the “Orchid Man”. I would ask him about the current bloomers, each exquisite in it’s own right. He would tell me the how to’s and the what for's. He is a wealth of information.

With you, my readers and fellow growers in mind, I asked Captain Morgan if he would mind if I recorded our last visit. Again, he graciously accepted.

Let me share the videoed visit with you. The audio at times is a little hard to hear due to the wind outside, and the layers of poly. Sorry about that.

Click the link below and enjoy the visit with Captain Morgan.