The Eric Young Orchid Foundation

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Another day out on Jersey was a visit to the Eric Young Orchid Foundation. The girls were both keen to go there – maybe they’re not typical children Anyway I was also pleased to go and it was certainly a good choice for a cold, wet and windy day! Eric Young (1911 to 1984) was an avid orchid collector and dedicated developer of new orchid varieties. As he was also a successful businessman he was able to indulge his passion and set up dedicated orchid houses to grow and display orchids from around the world. Today the Eric Young Orchid Foundation exists to develop new orchid hybrids and exhibit at famous shows as well as to promote orchid growing, research and conservation. The place is a bit tucked away in a tiny hamlet so it took us a little time to get there as our accommodation was on the other side of the island and Jersey roads are pretty small. I also noticed that none of the road signs seem to give distances – perhaps it just isn’t worth bothering since nowhere can be far away – the whole island is only 9 miles by 5 (14 × 8 km). We arrived mid morning and paid the entry fee – I realised too late that I could have got in free as an RHS member! At that time we were the only people there. There is a large glasshouse with attractive naturalistic displays of orchids of all sorts among ferns, palms and other tropical plants with a little waterfall and a pool. There are orchids on the ground, on branches and hanging down from above. We spent an hour or so admiring the flowers and examining all the different species and different varieties. Both the girls are very artistic so they especially noticed minor variations in colours and patterns between related types. A few other people came in, had a walk around and left; we hadn’t even got half way around. We had a break for lunch and the staff were happy for us to bring our packed lunches inside and eat at tables in the conservatory part. Then we went back to look around the second half. There are also several large glasshouses where the different varieties are propagated and grown and new varieties developed. These were impressive too; it must be a huge amount of work to care for all the plants and to keep track of which crosses have been made and the outcomes. Each housed orchids from different environments with different requirements for temperature and water. I wondered how they created the amazing displays, with the different varieties all in the one house. I thought they must change them regularly, maybe every month, but a member of staff told me they change the display every week! We finally left in mid afternoon, after Little One had taken over 1,200 photographs! The only disappointment/ lucky break was that they didn’t have plants for sale, as I think I would have found it hard to resist All rights reserved. © Text and image copyright Fleur 2023.