This Way to the Orchid Trail

Orchid Trail, American Riviera MediaOrchids are an exotic and fascinating species, with a lavishly colorful array of flowers in bloom in Santa Barbara County. Along with being the home of the renowned Santa Barbara International Orchid Show (scheduled to be back in-person for the 76th annual festivities on March 11-13, 2022), the region between the Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean has seeded an industry that produces more orchids than any other part of the country. This stretch of the American Riviera is known as the Santa Barbara County Orchid Trail, and there is no better way to traverse the region and discover it for yourself.

Cal-Orchid Inc. Orchid Trail, American Riviera Media

James and Lauris Rose have owned this boutique nursery since 1987, and its diverse inventory reflects their keen eye for the unusual. “We have an insatiable desire to improve on what people generally see in the marketplace,” says Lauris. Known for their unique line of Epidendrum hybrids, particularly the Reed-Stem Epidendrum hybrids, Cal-Orchid’s breeding program focuses on “taking something that’s average and making it very special is a passion for us.” she says.

1251 Orchid Drive, Santa Barbara, 805/967-1312, www.calorchid.com

Gallup & Stribling Orchids

A premier supplier of orchids to the world for more than 60 years, Gallup & Stribling’s home farm occupies close to 50 acres in Carpinteria. Now owned by the Van Wingerden family, who emigrated from Holland to the Central Coast in the 1960s to bring generations of farming knowledge to the area’s cut flower industry, Owner Case Van Wingerden says they have diversified their holdings over the years to include orchids and cannabis, as well as a variety of fresh produce that is available for sale on-site. “Gallup is probably the last commercial Cymbidium orchid grower left in the county.” he says. They also offer a wide selection of Phalaenopsis (the biggest selling orchid in the country) as well as Galilea Orchids and Lady Slippers.

3450 Via Real, Carpinteria, 805/684-1998, www.gallup-stribling.com

Orchid Trail, American Riviera MediaWesterlay Orchids

A third-generation family business with Dutch roots, Westerlay Orchids specializes in Phalaenopsis in tons of beautiful colors, says Paige Harmon, who manages the retail shop of this 21-acre operation. As restrictions on gathering begin to lift, keep an eye out for announcements of in-person flower arranging and orchid care classes. Growing approximately three million orchids a year, Westerlay puts an emphasis on giving back to the community as well as on sustainable practices. Using innovative, environmentally-friendly technologies and systems have earned it an MPS “A” rating for best practices to minimize its impact on the planet.

3504 Calle Real, Carpinteria, 805/684-5411, www.westerlayorchids.com

Ambriz Kingdom of Plants

The newest grower on the trail, Ambriz Kingdom of Plants’ Owner Joe Ambriz mostly focused on the crowds at the Santa Barbara International Orchid Show and some wholesaling to local nurseries until the pandemic hit last year. Now open to the public, his greenhouses focus on Lalias Anceps and Cattleyas and generally temperature tolerant orchids, i.e. “ones we can grow outdoors here in our climate.” As a self-avowed “lover of the entire kingdom of plants,” in addition to a collection of rare and unusual orchids, Ambriz also has rare and unusual cactus succulents and South African plants for sale.

4998 Foothill Road, Carpinteria, 805/570-5792, www.facebook.com/ambrizkingdomofplants/

This story originally appeared in American Riviera Media.American Riviera Media, Fall 2021

Carpinteria Greenhouse & Nursery Tour

Young patrons at the Carpinteria Greenhouse and Nursery Tour, courtesy photo.

Young patrons at the Carpinteria Greenhouse and Nursery Tour, courtesy photo.

This weekend is a rare chance for the public to peek inside Carpinteria Valley greenhouses, where millions of flowers of every color stretch as far as the eye can see. The sheer volume and beauty make a trip to the Carpinteria Greenhouse & Nursery Tour a breathtaking experience.

The free tours are on Saturday, April 14, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., guided by expert farmers who will share a wealth of knowledge of greenhouse growing.

Carpinteria Greenhouse and Nursery Tour, courtesy photo.

Carpinteria Greenhouse and Nursery Tour, courtesy photo.

“The environment inside our greenhouses is tightly controlled. We monitor everything from nutrients to temperature, light and moisture at each phase of growth,” says Toine Overgaag, President of Westerlay Orchids, a Greenhouse Tour participant. “My family has been doing this for decades, and I’m still fascinated.”

Opening its doors for the 10th annual tours, Westerlay will also continue its tradition of community support over the entire week preceding the event, April 9 to April 14. Carpinteria Education Foundation, the nonprofit supporting public schools in Carpinteria, will receive 100% of proceeds from orchids sold at Westerlay’s showroom during this period. 

Carpinteria Valley, known as “America’s Flower Basket,” has long been central to domestic flower production. It contains the greatest concentration of growers in the U.S. and represents the best-of-the-best in the field. Dozens of Dutch farmers chose to relocate to the ideal climate of Carpinteria generations ago and helped to create a lasting and successful industry.

Tour attendees can start and stop at any point on their self-guided tour around Carpinteria Valley. Maps of participating growers are at http://www.carpinteriafarmtours.com/map.

Each participating greenhouse will plan its own special attractions for the day of the event, and many will offer discounts on the freshest flowers, directly from the source. In addition to Westerlay, participating farms include: 

Gallup & Stribling Orchids

MOBI’s

Myriad Flowers

Pianta Bella Nursery

Seaside Gardens

Spring blooms at the Carpinteria Greenhouse and Nursery Tour, courtesy photo.

Spring blooms at the Carpinteria Greenhouse and Nursery Tour, courtesy photo.

For more information, visit carpinteriafarmtours.com.

—Leslie Dinaberg

Originally published on April 12, 2018 in Santa Barbara Seasons.

The Wild and Wonderful World of Orchids

Laelia orchid Splendid Spire “Rose Midnight” from Santa Barbara Orchid Estate. Photo by Chuck Place.

Laelia orchid Splendid Spire “Rose Midnight” from Santa Barbara Orchid Estate. Photo by Chuck Place.

Photographs by Chuck Place | Story by Leslie Dinaberg

The flowers themselves are not the only lavishly colorful component in the exotic  jungle of the orchid universe. Photographer Chuck Place—an avid grower of  cymbidiums and an eager chronicler of quirkiness—takes us on a lush visual  journey through the wild and wonderful world of orchids.

 

 

Lynn Pettigrew prepping a special cymbidium for the Santa Barbara International Orchid Show. Photo by Chuck Place.

Lynn Pettigrew prepping a special cymbidium for the Santa Barbara International Orchid Show. Photo by Chuck Place.

Meet the Collectors

“If roses are the flower of romance, then orchids are the flower of passion. Collectors through the years have risked life, limb and incarceration in their quest for yet another rare orchid to add to their hoard.”—Zoological Society of  San Diego.

The largest family of flowering plants, orchids are found on every continent except Antarctica. Among the many local orchid collectors whom Place photographed, he says that Don Brown “is like one of the godfathers of local collectors and growers.

Don Brown grows a variety of orchids using a reverse osmosis system to provide pure water. Photo by Chuck Place.

Don Brown grows a variety of orchids using a reverse osmosis system to provide pure water. Photo by Chuck Place.

He’s extremely knowledgeable. Hugely so. He’s got an international reputation.” A retired UCSB anthropology professor, Brown has several greenhouses and grows a wide range of orchids using a reverse osmosis system to provide pure water. Like all of the collectors shown here, he is also an avid competitor.

Bill Robson holding an Odontoglossum Yellow Parade orchid hybrid. Photo by Chuck Place.

Bill Robson holding an Odontoglossum Yellow Parade orchid hybrid. Photo by Chuck Place.

Lynn Pettigrew (in plaid) is shown prepping a special cymbidium for the Santa Barbara International Orchid Show. “He has so many cymbidiums, his collection has expanded to a friend’s backyard…he picks up hybrids at various orchid shows and just keeps building his stock that way. But essentially every time he brings in new plants, he has to give away some because he needs the space,” says Place.

Bill Robson (in green), shown in his shade house holding an Odontoglossum Yellow Parade orchid hybrid, is the former manager of Gallup & Stribling Orchids Visitor’s Center and what Place describes as “another highly knowledgable expert,” along with Paul Gripp, the former owner of Santa Barbara Orchid Estate.

 

(L-R) Curator of Malacology at Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Daniel L. Geiger, Ph.D. ; micro orchids; Recently germinated cymbidium orchid seedlings are transferred to flasks at the orchid seedling facility at Gallup & Stribling Orchids. ; The next step in the process, cymbidium orchid seedlings germinate in flasks at the orchid seedling facility at Gallup & Stribling Orchids. All Photo by Chuck Place.

(L-R) Curator of Malacology at Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Daniel L. Geiger, Ph.D. ; micro orchids; Recently germinated cymbidium orchid seedlings are transferred to flasks at the orchid seedling facility at Gallup & Stribling Orchids. ; The next step in the process, cymbidium orchid seedlings germinate in flasks at the orchid seedling facility at Gallup & Stribling Orchids. All Photos by Chuck Place.

The Science

Orchids thrive in many different types of environments, including the climate-controlled world of the laboratory.

As Curator of Malacology at Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Daniel L. Geiger, Ph.D. has a unique advantage as an avid collector and grower of micro orchids. His job affords him access to scanning electron microscopes and focus stacking software to photograph these tiny orchids, because they are very difficult to see, says Place, as evidenced by the mounted specimens of micro orchids being prepared for viewing in a scanning electron microscope. “I don’t think these micro orchids are any harder to grow than any other kind,” says Place. “They’re all on bark.”

 

The Orchid Show

Photo by Chuck Place.

Lynn Pettigrew shows one of his prize-winning cymbidium orchids from the 68th Santa Barbara International Orchid Show. Photo by Chuck Place.

With a theme of “Complements and Contrasts,” the 69th Santa Barbara International Orchid Show is March 14–16  at Earl Warren Showgrounds, 3400 Calle Real,  sborchidshow.com.

The oldest and one of the largest orchid shows in the country, this year’s Orchid Show showcases all of the many beautiful and exotic orchids from around the world. Featuring exhibits and floral arrangements by top local, regional and international growers, as well as vendors from all over the United States, South America and Asia, offering thousands of blooming orchid plants for sale, the show also offers demonstrations and lectures on orchid culture and related topics, says spokesperson Tammy Guerra.

Photo by Chuck Place.

Visitors enjoy the colorful beauty of thousands of blooming orchid plants at the 68th Santa Barbara International Orchid Show. Photo by Chuck Place.

In keeping with the theme, orchid displays showcase unusual contrasts and stunning complements and show how, while different, they can look beautiful when brought together as a whole. Competition is also an important component of the Orchid Show.

The Artist

Photo by Chuck Place.

Artist Suemae Lin Willhite. Photo by Chuck Place.

Artist Suemae Lin Willhite brings focus to the art of the orchid with her  dramatic Chinese brush paintings, often inspired by the thriving orchids  in her own back yard.

Willhite, who teaches Chinese calligraphy and brush painting, gives demonstrations of brush painting techniques at the Santa Barbara International Orchid Show. An award-winning artist with more than 40 years of experience in Chinese brush painting and calligraphy, her work can be seen in local galleries and is inspired by her grandfather, a well-known Chinese artist in Taiwan. Orchids—which symbolize grace and elegance in Chinese brush painting—are frequent subjects for Willhite’s artistry. Drawing her ideas from nature and spiritual inspirations, she says she paints, when inspired by a vision in her mind’s eye from a wide range of subjects and compositions, with a unique style of Chinese impressionism, abstract and her own fusion of East meets West. She paints with a joyful harmony that is apparent in her work as well as in the classes she teaches. For more information about Willhite, visit suemaeart.com.

Discover the Orchid Trail

This cymbidium orchid was grown by Lynn Pettigrew. Photo by Chuck Place.

This cymbidium orchid was grown by Lynn Pettigrew. Photo by Chuck Place.

The Santa Barbara International Orchid Show comes but once a year, but the diverse beauty of orchids is in full flower year-round along the California Orchid Trail. The area between the rugged Santa Ynez Mountains and the calm seas of the Pacific has seeded an industry that now produces more orchids than any other region in the country.

Five out of the seven growers on the California Orchid Trail are in Santa Barbara County (the others are in Malibu and Oxnard). From north to south, the local growers are:

Cal-Orchid, Inc.

Owners James and Lauris Rose keep a diverse inventory, reflecting the interests of not only the current marketplace, but also their many trips made to foreign locales, where James uses his sharp eye for the unusual to spot new treasures. Open 9 a.m.–4 p.m. Monday–Saturday. 1251 Orchid Dr., Santa Barbara. 805/967-1312, calorchid.com.

Dendrobium orchids from Santa Barbara Orchid Estate. Photo by Chuck Place.

Dendrobium orchids from Santa Barbara Orchid Estate. Photo by Chuck Place.

Santa Barbara Orchid Estate

Located on five acres of beautiful coastal Santa Barbara, the orchid estate is just 500 feet from the Pacific Ocean. Founded by Robert J. Chrisman, a legendary orchid grower, and now owned by Parry and Alice Gripp, the estate is one of the world’s foremost collectors and propagators of orchid species and hybrids, specializing in outdoor temperature-tolerant varieties. Open 8 a.m.–4:30 p.m. Monday–Saturday and 11 a.m.–4 p.m. Sundays. 1250 Orchid Dr., Santa Barbara. 805/967-1284, sborchid.com.

Miltonia orchids, or pansy orchids, from Gallup & Stribling Orchids in Carpinteria. Photo by Chuck Place.

Miltonia orchids, or pansy orchids, from Gallup & Stribling Orchids in Carpinteria. Photo by Chuck Place.

Gallup & Stribling Orchids

Gallup & Stribling’s home farm occupies 48 acres in Carpinteria, making it one of the largest in the country. With more than 1.5 million square feet of greenhouse space, it is a state-of-the-art breeding, growing and distribution facility. Open 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Monday–Friday and 8:30 a.m.–5 p.m. Saturday–Sunday. 3450 Via Real, Carpinteria. 805/684-1998, gallup-stribling.com.

Orchids Royale

Orchids Royale grows mostly cymbidiums, but also paphiopedilums, miltonias and odontoglossums. They maintain 70,000 square feet of temperature-controlled greenhouses. Open by appointment. 5902 Via Real, Carpinteria. 805/684-8066.

Laelia orchid from Santa Barbara Orchid Estate.Photo by Chuck Place.

Laelia orchid from Santa Barbara Orchid Estate.Photo by Chuck Place.

Westerlay Orchids

Joe Overgaag founded Westerlay Orchids following his emigration from the Netherlands to Carpinteria. Later, he earned the distinction of being among the first in the nation to widely apply hydroponic growing technology to flowers. Winter hours: 8 a.m.–4:30 p.m. Monday–Friday and 10 a.m.–3 p.m. Saturdays. Regular hours (daylight savings): 8 a.m.–5 p.m. Monday–Friday  and 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Saturdays. 3504 Via Real, Carpinteria. 805/684-5411, westerlayorchids.com.

 

 

Originally published in the Spring 2014 issue of Santa Barbara SEASONS Magazine.