Back by popular demand, Stephen Benjamin will be our guest speaker for July. We are in for a special treat. Stephen plans to hold a hands on workshop on how to mount orchids. He will be supplying all members in attendance with the mounting material needed. WNCOS will be supplying each member with an orchid from Carter and Holmes to mount under Stephen’s guidance. Everyone will go home with their newly mounted orchid as a gift from Stephen and the WNCOS.
Stephen Benjamin started growing orchids , mostly Cattleya’s, when I was nine years old under lights in the basement. After graduating Xavier University with a degree in Biology, I moved to Kentucky to help them make better Bourbon whiskey. My orchid collection; grew slowly. When I bought a house at 23 yrs of age, I immediately turned my porch into a greenhouse. This I filled with many many species from J&L and Oak Hill Gardens. Then decided to build a “proper” greenhouse onto the back of the house, this I filled with about every type of Cattleya compot Richella’s in Hawaii had. Unfortunately, while on a family re-union in the Smokey Mountains at Christmas, the electricity went out for a week, and everything froze. I slowly recovered and started to go to shows again in the area. A small group of AOS judges quickly persuaded me to join them, so I in 1989, I applied and became an AOS student judge in Ann Arbor MI. This is when everything turned for the better. I met and married my wife, bought a new house, and built a ¾ underground greenhouse that has never failed to keep my orchids safe. A new judging center was eventually opened in Cincinnati, Ohio, cutting my driving time in half.
I still grow mostly Cattleya allied, but also have a good collection of Paphiopediums and Sarcochilus. I have over 50 AOS awards, I have made and named several hybrids, even had an orchid named for me.
We live in Bardstown, KY., we have two kids, four grandchildren and four great-great grandchildren. One of my grandchildren has shown some interest in orchids and has put in several orchid displays on her own. Maybe someone to carry on with my orchids when I am gone?