Ode to orchids

NORTH LIBERTY - About 25 years ago, Nile Dusdieker bought an orchid for his wife Lois's birthday.

'From there, everything was downhill,” he says.

That single flower was the start of what would become a very big hobby for the North Liberty couple, both 65. Today, the Dusdiekers have more than 900 orchids growing in a small greenhouse attached to their house.

The couple, both retired doctors, built the greenhouse on top of a garage in the mid ‘80s. At first, they used it to grow vegetables in the winter, but now the space is dedicated to orchids. The flowers crowd shelves and hang from every available surface

'You get addicted,” Lois says. 'But it's a healthy addiction.”

In the summer the plants grow in pots outside, but with their greenhouse, the Dusdiekers have found a way to keep a slice of summer warmth and greenery alive during the cold months. Last winter, even during weeks of subzero temperatures, the greenhouse stayed around 85 degrees.

'You can just walk out here and enjoy,” Nile says. 'The orchids bring a lot of joy when they bloom.”

Along with other members of the Eastern Iowa Orchid Society, the couple will show off some of their flowers next weekend at the Third Annual Eastern Iowa Orchid Show and Sale at Noelridge Park Greenhouse in Cedar Rapids.

Other orchid clubs from around the region will be at the show along with the Eastern Iowa club, which has about 35 active members. Lois, a master gardener, is club president, and Nile is show chairman.

The majority of the Dusdieker's orchids come from about 15 different varieties, Nile says, but the couple grow a total of around 100 different varieties - often just one or two of each kind.

They range from tiny slipper orchids native to the Midwest to huge cattleyas corsage orchids that used to be popular accessories at dances. Some of the flowers are more appealing than others - the couple also grow bulbophyllum orchids, which smell of rotting meat to attract the flies that pollinate them.

'We like to grow some unusual things,” Nile says. 'We have way too many orchids out here.”

They've also bred a few unique hybrid orchid varieties, including the Lois Lovely, a corsage orchid, which they got to name after it won an American Orchid Society award.

'There's knowledge and some science to it, which is nice,” says Nile. 'That's what makes it addicting.”

He's a certified orchid judge for the American Orchid Society and travels to judge shows around the region. Some travel has been international. The couple have gone to orchid shows in Australia, where one of their daughters lives, and Singapore.

Orchids are judged based on form, color and presentation. Growers strive for round, flat blooms with clear and consistent color. They also try to coax flowers to bloom the same way they would in nature, by using light sources to manipulate the directions the plants bloom.

The most commonly sold orchid in the United States is the phalaenopsis orchid, also known as the moth orchid, Nile says.

They have a reputation for being tricky to keep alive, but that's not true, the Dusdiekers insist.

'They'll stay in bloom for months if you don't overwater them or keep them too bright,” Nile says.

A common tip - using an ice cube to water the plant - should be disregarded, he says.

About three ice cubes of water a week is the right amount of moisture, he says, but the plants are stressed by freezing cold ice cubes.

'The main thing with orchids is leave them alone,” Lois says. 'They're exotic, but they're growable.”

If you go

After the first blooms die, the orchid can be re-bloomed by trimming it back to where the flowering spike starts. It will take a few months but should bloom again, says Nile Dusdieker.

Learn these and other tips for orchid care at the Third Annual Eastern Iowa Orchid Show and Sale from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 19 at Noelridge Park Greenhouse, 4900 Council St. NE. The event is free.

There will be ‘hands on' lectures each day at 1 p.m. Buy orchids from vendors and browse orchid-related crafts.

For more information, go to Easterniowaorchidsociety.org