US: The orchid man left an unmatched legacy
"Come with me" he said, grinning like a mischievous child, leading the way through the laundry room and into a place of wonder and science.
Peter had a high-tech greenhouse in his basement, a place where he propagated spectacular orchids in all manner of colours and shapes. The man was a genius with a genus. "They call it 'orchiditis'," he told the reporter.
At that time, his basement greenhouse contained 400 flowering plants and 20,000 seedlings. Pipes and hoses snaked out the basement windows to his side yard which happened to be visible from the street. More than once a passing stranger called the police. Yes, it was a grow-op in the basement. No you can't smoke the crop. This was always one of Peter's favourite stories. He liked to surprise people but even more, as a retired high school electronics teacher, he loved to educate.
"I started in '86 with my first orchid," he had said. "I read about propagating from seed and it seemed that was like heart surgery."
Peter purchased high-powered microscopes from the University of Guelph's horticulture department and equipment from a Toronto hospital. His greenhouse looked like a mad scientist's lab but then Peter never did anything in half measures.
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