‘The Queen’ of Flowering Plants Is for First Ladies
How a Virginia grower is reviving the rare Jacqueline Kennedy cattleya orchid and building a legacy of presidential spouse namesake orchids.
On an early February morning, Art Chadwick walks along the benches of one of his redwood-constructed orchid greenhouses in rural Powhatan County, Virginia, and holds up an orchid.
It’s large and impressive.
“Here’s the orchid that is predominantly named after first ladies,” he says. “The cattleya.”
Chadwick, founder of Chadwick & Son Orchids, gestures to its signature flamboyant bloom, commonly in purples and whites but available in many shapes and colors nowadays. There are two fringed petals and another decorative lip in front of a backdrop of its sturdy, green leaves. It’s incredibly fragrant and in its natural tropical environment it “wiggles in the wind,” says Chadwick.
