The Crazy Orchid Lady
A visit to New England’s most unlikely garden Shelburne Falls, like many of Massachusetts’ hill towns, has a starkness about it in early spring. The surrounding hills may still carry a dusting of snow, the trees have yet to leaf out, and the town’s famed Bridge of Flowers lies dormant. But this artsy former mill […]
Dial. Snowflake x Enc. Tampense
Photo Credit : Kathy PuckettA visit to New England’s most unlikely garden
Photo Credit : Kathy Puckett
Shelburne Falls, like many of Massachusetts’ hill towns, has a starkness about it in early spring. The surrounding hills may still carry a dusting of snow, the trees have yet to leaf out, and the town’s famed Bridge of Flowers lies dormant. But this artsy former mill town is home to a secret, almost florid jungle of nearly 500 orchids created by one passionate gardener in the converted barn she calls home.
Her name is Kathy Puckett, but her partner, Daniel Lieberman, affectionately named her the “Crazy Orchid Lady,” a name she embraced enough to create an online forum, crazyorchidlady.com, where an international fan club of orchid growers share photos and information.Orchids aren’t her primary job—she’s a speech and language pathologist—but they are her therapy, an antidote to the sadness she felt when her outdoor gardens went to sleep.
“I hated the end of the year,” says Puckett, who makes her home on a former dairy farm in Shelburne Center. “And then I found orchids. The fun is that they bloom in opposite seasons.”
Kathy grew up in New Jersey, where she learned to get her hands dirty in the small family garden her parents kept. In Shelburne Falls, where she moved in in the early 1980s, Puckett reclaimed the property’s main flowerbed. Out went the thorny plants and small bushes; in came more colorful creations like beardless irises, some 250 varieties of daylilies, and heucheras with bronze and lime leaves.
It wasn’t until 2005 that Puckett tried her first orchid, an orange Ascocenda (now renamed Vanda). When Puckett consulted experienced orchid growers about her choice, they informed her she’d picked one of the hardest varieties to grow.
“It needed to be watered daily,” Puckett recalls. “One day I was showing a client’s mother my orchid in the window of my office and told her I would sadly kill it because I was going on a trip for 5 days and it wouldn’t get watered. Then we noticed a flower spike starting to grow on it. We both stared in silence at the ‘pregnant’ orchid. The client said, ‘Show me how to water it and I’ll come every day.’ And so it lived and thus started my obsession.”
Other varieties followed: Cattleyas, Oncidiums, and Dendrobiums. Today, Puckett’s home is as hospitable as any in New England for allowing orchids to flourish. She’s installed a reverse osmosis system to filter out the salt from her well water, to better simulate rainwater. She’s also placed fans all around to recreate a jungle breeze.
“You’re trying to reproduce the conditions they’re used to in the wild,” says Puckett, who grows 80 different varieties. “You have to think about light, humidity, temperature, and watering practices.”
Puckett used to devote a lot of time to painting, but now she focuses on photography and on her plants.
“Everything I do,” Puckett says, “I do as an artist.” The proof is in her creations. Below is a selection of her favorite orchids.
New England Orchid Societies
A good place to buy an orchid is at an orchid show, where you can ask the seller what the plant needs. Plus you get to look at an array of beautiful plants.
Orchid societies around New England mount annual shows whose dates are posted on their websites. The websites also provide information on many aspects of orchid culture. You can also join an orchid society and attend workshops, picnics and more.
Here is a list of orchid societies and their websites:
Amherst Orchid Society www.larchhillorchids.com/amherst_orchid_society.html
Cape & Islands Orchid Society (CAIOS) www.caios.org
Connecticut Orchid Society (COS) www.ctorchids.org
Eastern Maine Orchid Society (EMOS) www.easternmaineorchidsociety.org
Maine Orchid Society www.maineorchidsociety.org
Massachusetts Orchid Society http://www.massorchid.org/
New Hampshire Orchid Society (NHOS) www.nhorchids.org
Nutmeg State Orchid Society www.nutmegorchids.org
North Shore Orchid Society (NSOS) www.nsorchid.blogspot.com
Ocean State Orchid Society (OSOS) www.oceanstateorchidsociety.org
Rhode Island Orchid Society (RIOS) www.riorchidsociety.org
Twin States Orchid Society (TSOS) – NH/VT border Marjorie.T.Cook@valley.net
