Al's Orchids

[Ernie]

I just found out that Al's Orchids greenhouse in Leesburg, Virginia caught fire yesterday!!! Al is a great grower- we recently got a Paph Ton-Ton from him at the Paph forum and when we lived in VA, he really fed our habit with awesome Phals. Since I have a first-hand account with fires at work (at my day job pharm lab, not in our orchid range), our thoughts truely go out to Al! Hang in there buddy!!!

-Ernie

 

[Heather]

Oh my god! Do you know what sort of damage there was?
Ki and JohnDC used to go visit Al quite often and post photos. He is a member here but I don't think he's ever posted.

Wow, I hope he is okay, and that there is something salvageable!

 

[Ernie]

The info on his web site is minimal but it doesn't paint a pretty picture.

-Ernie

 

[Heather]

Oh dear, that's just terrible!

 

[Elena]

What a horrible thing to happen.

 

[MoreWater]

and we were just talking about visiting in April. I wonder how bad the damage is - to the gh and to the plants.

 

[Renegayde]

on his website it says......"Late Friday March 21st the greenhouse was (mostly) destroyed by fire."

 

[MoreWater]

... but does that mean the structure is mostly destroyed, or that most of the plants are also gone? Was there damage to the building it was attached to? What about all the the species phals? the ccm plants? :sob:

 

[rdlsreno]

Sorry to hear such tragic event! Hope the best for Al.


Ramon

 

[Ernie]

His house and garage were slightly detached from the gh. What's the weather like there in DC metro??? Maybe you locals could contact him to board a handful of his plants? I'll have to let him know that I have a spare piece of his Phal. equestris 'Keiki Monster' if he needs to replace it. It was one of his early stud plants and he used to brag about the basket the moma filled with its own keikis. If anyone has any of his plants, as they bloom, offer him some pollen OR better yet divisions or keikis. I'd say hold off on extensive communication about filling the gh back up immediately though. He'll have his hands full with damage control then insurance.

-Ernie

 

[MoreWater]

I just got an email from him. Sounds like it's too soon to tell the extent of the damage to the plants - still way too soon since the fire. The main good news is that no people or pets were hurt. The plants will be boarded at another greenhouse. We're still pretty cold here - days are up into the 50+ range, but nights are wandering down to the 30s.

I just lost a bunch of his phal primary x seedlings :sob:

 

[Heather]

Ki, if you speak with him again, please let him know that if there is anything we can do to help from here, we're willing!

 

[NYEric]

Wow, that's bad news. Hope everything works out OK.

 

[kentuckiense]

Hope he (and his awesome Norito Hasegawa) is ok.

 

[MoreWater]

Ki, if you speak with him again, please let him know that if there is anything we can do to help from here, we're willing!

Done, thx. Perhaps there will be something that can be done to help later....

 

[cnycharles]

he said most of the phals were okay but the slippers were not... don't know if that means all slippers but that section was burnt

 

[Terp]

Al posted some pics of the greenhouse on his site.

http://orchidexchange.com/

The first bench in the first pic, is the Phrag bench. The 2nd is the Paph bench; that's where the fire started. The benches all along the left wall also had Phrags and Paphs.

I was in there a few weeks back and can only think of 2 slippers that were not in that section.

 

[MoreWater]

Unless he moved things around, his new phal seedlings (the ones just out for flask) were around there too on the lower shelf like the uber cool primaries....

 

[Terp]

Unless he moved things around, his new phal seedlings (the ones just out for flask) were around there too on the lower shelf like the uber cool primaries....

Well, he did! Most were moved to the back, right section of the greenhouse.

 

[MoreWater]

Well, he did! Most were moved to the back, right section of the greenhouse.

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