Orchard creates hybrid Hermanus orchid

Writer: Hedda Mittner.

A retired chemistry lecturer in Oregon, USA has successfully grown a new Disa hybrid, named Disa Hermanus, which was recently registered with the Royal Horticultural Society in England. Although Disa Hermanus is the ninth new Disa hybrid created by the 75-year-old Walter (Wally) Orchard, this delicate orchid holds a special place in his heart and was a real labour of love.

Wally Orchard of Yachats in Oregon, USA, examining one of the hundreds of Disa orchids he cultivates in a greenhouse.

PHOTO: Wally Orchard

Wally and his wife, Christine have been living in the US since 1993, but he still has close ties to Hermanus, where his sister, Anne Kotze lives. “As children, we spent our summer holidays in Voëlklip, in a house that my mother inherited from her mother. When my parents retired there, my father set up a shade house where he cultivated Disas. I thought they were particularly beautiful and started photographing them – and soon decided that I would like to grow them myself.”

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