Bill Hutchinson, Orchid Grower, Seller and Educator

I met Bill Hutchinson at a sale of the Amherst (MA) Orchid Society in the fall of 2007 and soon called him to visit his greenhouse and business Larch Hill Orchids. I knew he was a key member of the orchid society and an octogenarian, and although I have enjoyed visiting and buying his orchids since then, I wanted to know more about this knowlegeable orchid enthusiast! So, I asked if I could interview him for this article and he kindly consented.  Here is what he told me:  

COL: What is your backgound?

Bill: Growing up gardening was a family avocation-from my grandmother, to my father, to me. I still have family plants from the family farm in New Hampshire, as well as a Christmas cactus from the Chicago World's Fair that my grandmother got as a young girl. Academically, I started with a degree in Horticulture from Massachusetts State College or "Mass State Aggie" (the University of Massachusetts was not yet in existence) and worked the required out-placement in a greenhouse in Worcester, MA where the owner had a small 14 ft. X 20 ft. section devoted to orchids. As part of my training, I learned how to repot orchids in the CLASSICAL way from England with osmundine [a fibrous mass of dried fern roots] and an orchid pick. Then fir bark came in and we changed over to that. Incidentally, I was working there in 1950. The owner, now in his 90's, came to the last Amherst Orchid Society Show (February 2011).

Uncle Sam then decided I was needed and I went to the Far East, Japan, where I saw some of the native orchid species although at the time, I was interested in any and all types of plants. 

COL: When did you start growing orchids and how did your interest progress?

Bill: On returning home, I received, as all Massachusetts Veterans did, a state bonus of $250. With this, I bought a Lord & Burnham Orlyt greenhouse but did not set it up for several years until I moved to Amherst, MA after completing a Bachelor's degree in Biology and a Master's degree in Microbiology. I started teaching high school in Amherst. Shortly after, I started graduate work at UMass in Botany. When putting up my greenhouse, I started growing African Violets, particularly the species. And eventually I had every species available, except for one which had been destroyed in the bombing of Berlin.

On a trip to Florida, I ran into a display of seedling orchids from Sun Bulb Company and decided that orchids were far more interesting than African Violets.

COL: How long have you been selling orchids?  Where do you sell them? Where have you bought them over the years? When did you start doing orchid clinics? 

Bill: I have bought plants from Australia, (several different growers), Brazil, Maui (several different growers), and Hawaii. I have hybridized several crosses of my own, but the awarded plants I grow are: one from Australia and one purchased because the grower was moving. In the interim, I also picked up an accounting degree because I found the process interesting. I left my work at the high school on completion of a PhD in Botany and went to teach at Holyoke Community College, Holyoke, MA where eventually I became Dean of Science, Engineering and Mathematics. As time went by, I kept adding to my collection and rarely found an orchid I didn't like, although I gradually found the small Brazilian species most intriguing. I now grow many high mountain species in a cold house with a scattering of some of them in the intermediate and the warm house. 

As I got more and more plants, I eventually approached the Hadley Garden Center and have been selling plants to them for the past 47 years or so. When they started doing annual clinics, I was invited to be a presenter and have done so for some 45 years, except for last year when I was recovering from surgery. I was also approached by Annie's Garden & Gift Store on the Amherst-Sunderland line and have been providing plants to them for several years.

COL: Tell us when you became involved in the Amherst Orchid Society?  What are the benefits of joining an orchid society?

Bill: In 1980, a fellow by the name of Phillip Phillips, who had an interest in orchids, invited others that grew orchids to join and form an interest group. I was not able to go to the first meeting, but did go shortly after and became active in the group. The first show that the club held was in the lower hall of the South Amherst Congregational Church which opened in the midst of a reasonably strong snow storm, but we still attracted over 200 people. The society moved next door to the Munson Library, where we still meet. Our shows could no longer be held there when we hit 600 attendees and needed a larger, handicap accessible venue. [They are now held in a local vocational high school.]

The benefits of membership are numerous and include: a source of information on growing, talks by a variety of growers, advocates for one type of orchid over another, and every year when membership is renewed, a free plant.  

Show participation exposes members to the rules and premises of exhibition education and fellowship of like-minded people.

COL: Tell us about local orchid events through the year.  What is the next Amherst Orchid Society event (show/sale)?

Bill: Our annual show and sale this year (2012) is on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, February 24th-26th. We have an annual sale every September which recently has been hosted by the Hadley Garden Center. We also create displays for the Cape & Islands Orchid Show (January 28th & 29th, 2012), the New Hampshire Orchid Society Show (February 10th-12th, 2012), the Nutmeg State Orchid Society Show (March 17th & 18th, 2012) and the Massachusetts Orchid Society Show in November.

COL: What has been your greatest pleasure? What advice would you give to orchid growers?

Bill: The greatest challenge is to find out where an orchid lives and thrives in my greenhouse and my greatest pleasure is when I find that spot and reap the rewards.

My admonishment that orchids are like BEER NUTS, you can never be satisfied with one, is still true!

Thanks, Bill, for all your dedication to teaching so many people about orchids over the years.  And for allowing me to interview you on the COL forum!

BILL ALSO HAS A SERIES OF ORCHID EDUCATION VIDEOS YOU CAN WATCH ON YOUTUBE.