Joan Soulliere, editor
It all started with a move to Miami. Jonathan Estrin, Doctoral Candidate and Teaching Fellow, has an active interest in raising orchids. Jonathan and his wife Heidi lived in Miami prior to their move to Pittsburgh. A bit cramped in a small apartment, Jonathan started thinking of ways to bring life, nature, into an urban world. His interest in horticulture reaches beyond the confines of orchids and into landscape gardening. While in Miami he started first reading about gardening, then moved onto garden design, and then history. He knew his interest had reached "disease" proportions when he started collecting books including antique Andrew Jackson Downing folios. Downing was an urban landscape architect who designed suburbs and public areas.
Jonathan’s interest in orchids bloomed when he attended the Miami Orchid Show. His first plant was an Oncidium, or Dancing Lady orchid. He has also raised Phaleonopsis, or Moth Orchid, and Dendrobium. Jonathan is enchanted by the plants’ zealous blooms and challenging environmental needs. Growing orchids in Pittsburgh is a bit of a challenge. Jonathan has constructed environmental enclosures consisting of grow lights suspended above the plants and surrounded by plastic. The plant area must be misted according to a schedule, because in their natural environment, orchids obtain water through moisture condensation in the air. Orchids are epiphytic, air feeders, and send out large meaty, rather unattractive roots, into the environment and osmotically absorb condensation forming in cool tropical nights. Direct heavy watering causes root rot. So is Jonathan living in a hot house? At the moment he is nurturing two Lady’s Slippers and two mini Phaleonopsis. Jonathan’s interest in encouraging natural growth in an urban environment also expresses itself in raising butterflies.
Again, while living in Florida, Jonathan built a butterfly box and raised Zebra, Monarch, and Gulf Frittillary butterflies. He tells the story of preparing to leave on vacation just as butterflies were starting to emerge from their cuccoons in the box. He couldn’t just leave them and made a mad dash to a Miami butterfly sanctuary to release them into the sunshine in an environment providing feeding stations and some protection. An interesting tidbit of information is that butterflies require sunshine, heat to fly. Moths, on the other hand, can be night fliers because they do not have the same heat requirement. Where can you see orchids in Pittsburgh - besides Jonathan and Heidi’s apartment? Take a trip to the Phipps Conservatory and indulge in their chocolate scented Oncidum. You can also to to the American Orchid Society Website. We all need some beauty in our lives.