Lois Duffin Orchids

News & Events

February 9 - 12	Deep Cut Orchid Society 15th Annual Orchid Show
February 18	Jim and Lois Duffin to present "The World of Orchids" at the Mount Airy Learning Tree
March 23 - 25	Longwood Gardens International Orchid Show and Sale

Oct 2011 article	AOS Orchids Magazine Spotlight: "Dendrobium bullenianum ‘Mt. Airy’, CCM/AOS"
Feb 2011 article	"Philly-grown flowers, even in winter"
Feb 2004 article	"Good health flowers for Mt. Airy former CEO, Beauty rescues area's largest orchid grower"

February 9 - 12: Deep Cut Orchid Society 15th Annual Orchid Show

The Deep Cut Orchid Society sponsors their 15th annual orchid show at Dearborn Market in Homdel, NJ from February 9th to February 12th.

Held in Dearborn Market's 10,000 square foot greenhouse, the Deep Cut Orchid Society Winter Show is the largest orchid show and sale in New Jersey. It is an AOS sanctioned show and hosts many displays from orchid societies and professional growers from the area. This is the time of year when orchids are at the blooming peak and you will see hundreds of beautiful orchids covering a wide variety of orchid genera. And it's Free!!

There will be free group guided tours throughout the week, and information on growing orchids. The show also includes a large sales area of the growers attending the show.

Show hours:
Thu-Sat: 9 am - 6 pm
Sun: 9 am - 4:30 pm

February 18: Jim and Lois Duffin to present "The World of Orchids" at the Mount Airy Learning Tree

Course description:
"Get acquainted with this exotic world-wide plant group. Get an up-close view of flowering orchids and cultural tips to maintain and bloom your orchids. We will then take an on-site trip to our greenhouses on Mermaid Lane and demonstrate repotting."

The Mount Airy Learning Tree (MALT) is a community service organization based in Mt. Airy, Philadelphia, PA.

Visit the Mount Airy Learning Tree website

March 23 - 25: Longwood Gardens International Orchid Show and Sale

2010 Southeastern Pennsylvania Orchid Society Show at Longwood Gardens

Our exhibit from the 2010 show (photo by Jim Pluskota)

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Orchid Society (SEPOS) sponsors the Longwood Gardens International Orchid Show and Sale.

Stunning exhibits fill the Conservatory and a wide array of orchids are for sale. Enjoy the American Orchid Society-judged show, guided tours, informative talks and a sales pavilion like no other.

Friday: 1 pm – 6 pm
Saturday: 9 am – 6 pm
Sunday: 9 am – 6 pm

Click here for directions to Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, PA.

AOS Orchids Magazine Spotlight: "Dendrobium bullenianum ‘Mt. Airy’, CCM/AOS"

This article appeared in the October 2011 edition of Orchids magazine, a publication of the American Orchid Society.

Written by Greg Allikas, Photograph by Maurice Marietti.

One thousand seventy-five immaculate flowers and 12 buds in 43 stacked clusters on four upright canes, two canes immature and three emergent, grown in a 12.5- cm clay pot; cone-shaped flowers bright orange; lip flushed red basally, striped red distally; exceptional presentation of an unusual species.

Awarded at the Mid Atlantic Center Monthly Judging. April 28, 2010.

Exhibited by Lois and Jim Duffin.

Dendrobium bullenianum ‘Mt. Airy’, CCM/AOS

When I first became familiar with this beautiful orchid it was called Dendrobium topaziacum. It started me off building a collection of other members of the Pedilonum section of Dendrobium. Pedilonum is from the Greek “pedilon” meaning “slipper” or “shoe” and refers to the slipperlike spur formed by the joining of the lateral sepals. There are many fine species in the section suitable for a wide range of culture from cool to warm temperatures. Typically, dense clusters of brightly colored flowers are produced from second-year deciduous canes. Some species will reflower from old canes for a few years providing even more bang for the buck. Most bloom only once a year, but healthy mature plants of some species such as Den. bullenianum can produce an explosion of color in the early spring and smaller puffs of flowers either before or after the main bloom. Some intersectional hybrids such as Dendrobium Kuniko (goldschmidtianum × victoriae-reginae) may produce flowers throughout the year.

The species pictured here is from the Philippines where it is found in low elevation coastal swamps at elevations below 985 feet (300 m). The species was first flowered by Stuart Low & Co. and sent to H.G. Reichenbach who published his description in the Botanische Zeitung of 1862. It was named after Low’s head grower, Mr. Bullen. This name predates Oakes Ames’ later name of Den. topaziacum by some 53 years. The closely related Den. goldschmidtianum is a variation on the theme with similar plant, flowering habit and flowers, but with a flower color of bright orchid-magenta. There is an accepted natural hybrid between the two species known as Dendrobium ×usitae. While their ranges seem to barely overlap in the north, the influence of Den. bullenianum would certainly explain some of the color variation found in Den. goldschmidtianum, which can range into pink or brick-colored tones.

Growers in temperate climates can grow Den. bullenianum in plastic pots filled with fir bark or fir bark mix. In South Florida we grow species from this section in open baskets of sphagnum moss. Regardless of what pot-medium combination you choose, plants must be kept evenly moist while in growth. If plants are allowed to thoroughly dry between waterings, optimum growth will not be achieved. For this reason we find mounts to be a lessthan- satisfactory choice. When temperatures begin to drop in the autumn, plants should be given a cool, dry rest until flower buds appear in late winter or early spring. Gradually resume watering at that time. Lower-elevation species can tolerate quite bright light and grow best when given 2,000–3,000 foot-candles of light. Fertilize once a week while in growth with half-strength fertilizer.

© 2011 American Orchid Society. Reprinted by permission.

February 2011 article

This article appeared on NewsWorks, February 2011:

Photo by Chris Satullo for NewsWorks

Philly-grown flowers, even in winter

By Nicole Juday for NewsWorks

It started with one single plant on a windowsill. Lois Duffin had always been interested in houseplants, and in 1981 she decided to give orchids a try.

"At the time I thought that if I could grow an African violet, I should be able to succeed with an orchid," she recalls.

Within a few years, the windowsill plant led to a thousand orchids under lights in the basement, and around 1990 Lois Duffin Orchids became a business.

>> View the entire article at NewsWorks.org.

February 2004 article

This article appeared in the Chestnut Hill Local, February 2004:

Good health flowers for Mt. Airy former CEO,
Beauty rescues area's largest orchid grower

by Len Lear

Mt. Airy resident Jim Duffin began working in 1966 for the Philadelphia Housing Development Corporation, a city-chartered non-profit corporation which has rehabilitated and sold more than 1,000 houses in the inner-city to low-income families. Federal subsidies have helped families purchase the homes for less than $25,000.However, Duffin, now 75, insists that high-level jobs at the agency were "incredibly stressful". In the mid-1970s the CEO of the non-profit corporation got into an angry confrontation with a man he had just fired. Minutes later, the 52-year-old CEO suffered a heart attack in the office and died right in front of his co-workers, including Jim.

Duffin was then elevated to the post of acting CEO. Two years later in 1981, however, Duffin, then 52, also had a very serious heart attack that nearly took his life, even though he was thin, had never smoked and had appeared to be in good health.

Jim then retired because of ill health and was unable to take a job for 10 years, although still only in his 50s. You might say, however, that Jim's health was completely restored by the smallest, most beautiful therapists imaginable — the colorful orchids grown by his wife, Lois.

Mrs. Duffin, who grew up on a dairy farm in Bowling Green, Ohio, had been a stay-at-home mom, guitar teacher and director of the Guitar Mass at Holy Cross Church in Mt. Airy, where she has been a member for 36 years.

In 1980 Lois, who had always had lots of houseplants, purchased an orchid for $25. "Ten months later it flowered," she said, "and I was completely hooked. The beauty is overwhelming. I had to get more of them. Orchid people are like that. There are so many kinds that you can never get them all." (According to experts, there are more than 24,000 different orchid species and hundreds of thousands of hybrids.)

For 10 years, growing orchids became an increasingly time-consuming hobby for Lois as she continued to teach guitar and give classes and workshops at area churches on how to conduct a Guitar Mass. In 1990, however, Jim and Lois decided to make orchid growing a full-time occupation. They went to Bruce Robertson of Robertson's in Chestnut Hill and began vsiting the homes of some of Robertson's customers to care for their plants.

The Duffins also sold plants at the Philadelphia Flower Show for five years for Waldor Orchids of Linwood, New Jersey. The Mt. Airy couple grew more and more orchids on their own in spaces rented in New Jersey, Pottstown and elsewhere. In 1990 they rented greenhouses from Robertson's in the firm's huge growing facility in Wyndmoor.

In the year 2000, the Duffins built two greenhouses of their own on land leased from Robertson's in the sprawling Wyndmoor complex. It costs a small fortune just to keep the gigantic enclosures heated at the proper temperature, 24/7. "We have thousands of plants here," said Lois. "Some are in two-inch pots, and some are in two-gallon pots. Most orchids cost about $25, but there are some very rare ones than can cost hundreds of dollars."

The Duffins also board plants belonging to others, including people from New York and Connecticut who occasionally come down to visit their plants. The Duffins work at the greenhouses seven days a week to care for the inhabitants, even when they are not in flower. The plants all have to be watered once or twice a week, and the temperature, light, humidity and fertilizers all have to be monitored as well. Most of the plants are in flower once a year — some more often — for about one month or more.

For Jim, who some people say bears a striking facial resemblance to former President Richard Nixon (but Jim has never been impeached), the orchids have been a virtual fountain of youth. "Ever since I began working with orchids, my health has improved consistently," said Jim. "My doctor even says they are a great stress-reducer. To be surrounded by such beauty every day is clearly good for the heart.

"Also, they give off pure oxygen, and many of them have such a fragrant aroma. When a new flower blooms, it's always a thrill. I guess you could say I 'pump orchids.' These plants reward you without your even asking."

Lois is now president of the Greater Philadelphia Orchid Society, which has about 100 members. They bring in speakers from all over the U.S. and the world to talk to the membership. Those experts who come from other countries stay at the Duffins' home in Mt. Airy. For example, a doctor of botany from St. Petersburg, Russia, who frequently travels to Vietnam for his plants has stayed there as well as visitors from Brazil, New Zealand, Venezuela, Japan, the Himalayan Mountains in India, Ecuador, South Africa and Colombia. "The man from India bought a lot of food at the Chestnut Hill Farmers Market and made a very nice meal for us," said Lois.

The Duffins are now the biggest commercial growers of orchids in the Philadelphia area. They sell plants to Robertson's and other florists as well as garden shops and horticultural consultants. They also rent orchids on a monthly basis to clients who just love having them around, and they even rent some plants for parties. "There are some plants we don't let out of our sight, though," said Lois, "because they are too delicate or expensive."

The Mt. Airyites even have hybrids registered with the proper authorities in their own names, such as the Cymbidium Jim Duffin. For the last 10 years they have exhibited at the New York Orchid Show and for the last 15 years at the Philadelphia Flower Show. Last year they won a trophy at the New York show for the "Best Phragmipedium" out of hundreds of entrants. Three times in recent years they won the "Best Orchid Display" award at the Philadelphia Flower Show. One year their names were listed second on a plaque of winners, right under that of Walter Annenberg. (But the Duffins have yet to have a university building named after them.)

Last week, from February 5 to 8, the Duffins and other growers exhibited their plants at the 21st annual Orchid Show and Sale, sponsored by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Orchid Society, on the first floor of the Court of King of Prussia Mall.

© Copyright 2004, The Chestnut Hill Local