Orchid Queen Beverly Tall of the Desert Valley Orchid Society...

"Bev Tall of Fountain Hills... 20-year orchid growing... with a custom greenhouse…orchid judge for the past 12 years.

Her enclosed glass-roofed greenhouse, built six feet underground, is three levels deep...
One descends to its depths via a sturdy network of stained-wood stairs arrayed with plants perched on ledges, shelves and steps, and hanging everywhere from hooks.
...
In the spacious main room of the greenhouse, a network of pipes overhead and throughout the room serve as the misters and heaters...

she says... "we don't want to be tied to the orchids... It's self-contained, so it can take care of itself for several weeks at a time."

On one end is a rocky formation with a waterfall... the water is part of the humidity control, and the small pool contains Koi fish which will eat
some of the unwanted bugs attracted by the orchids.

... the main blooming season is winter and spring...
"This is a hobby," she says, overlooking her tropical haven of more than 2,000 plants [smile...].
...
"As a judge I feel that I have to grow a lot of different (species) so that I understand how they grow and what a good one looks like so that I can
judge them properly," she says, "because you have to be able to judge all different kinds, not just one kind."

It takes seven years to become a judge, and Tall says it is like getting a Master's or a Ph.D.
"You have to do talks and papers and tests, and go to a lot of different (judged shows) to learn," she says.
...
"... it's not just a simple, 'read this book and you become a judge.' It's a lot of experience and a lot of practical application and a lot of studying to learn about all [!!!] the orchids."

Tall judges orchids in shows not just in the states but all over the world. She has been to London, the Rio and Ecuador to judge shows, and the last
World Orchid Contest was in France.

This past spring she enjoyed a jaunt to Taiwan to judge....
"I don't do this for commercial (purposes)," she says of her orchid growing and judging. "I just do it because I like it and I meet a lot of interesting people. It's an international community because you have people from all over the world judging..."
...
"There are 15 orchids native to Arizona," she says. "... Most of them grow in the White Mountains, though, because of the heat here, and those are
terrestrial plants..."
...
Tall and her husband, Wayne, retired to Fountain Hills eight years ago but have lived in Arizona almost 30 years.
"We built this house for a retirement home after our three sons grew up and
moved out, and designed it especially to have the greenhouse," she says....

Tall is a member of the Desert Valley Orchid Society, which meets in
Scottsdale, and she is pleased that there are a handful of orchid
enthusiasts from Fountain Hills who are also members.

She does lectures at meetings for the Valley Orchid Society, as well as for other orchid clubs in the U.S.

She also is on the board of directors for the Orchid Digest... and on the education committee for the American Orchid Society, and has written several magazine articles for Orchid Digest and for the American Orchid Society magazine.
...
Fun Orchid Facts Orchids evolved 40 to 80 million years ago from a lily-like relative...
The first man-made orchid was cultivated in 1856.
Orchids are the largest family of the flowering plant kingdom.
...
In Hawaii... eating the blossoms is said to insure return to the Islands...

In New Guinea, the male Crestless Gardener Bowerbirds keep fresh blossoms
at the entrance to their bowers to impress and win the females of their
species." [some men do it too / smile..]

URL : http://www.fhtimes.com/times/101007/tall.html

Enjoy,
Steve
1888Orchids