Faye Rabino
Past President
Having lived in a country where farming is the main livelihood, plants were always a part of my life growing up. Our house was surrounded with fruit trees, veggies and flowering ornamentals. I always admired the white flowered orchid which we in the Philippines generically call a Butterfly Orchid (as the flower looks like a butterfly). My love of orchids got deeper when I was in college. My late brother brought home one day different wild native orchids, species from the mountains where he was working at that time. He collected each kind and brought home around 10 of them. We tried to mimic the slow running water through the roots by placing a used dextrose bottle and tiny hose. We cleaned the used bottle and filled it up with water and suspended it on the tree above the orchids so the water will slowly drip through the branches of the tree where the orchids were tied and the roots get continuously wet. They did survive for a while and I was loving their unique forms, leaves & roots, but there was nobody left at home when everyone went to school and work. They eventually died as the lowland is warm and even with the humid the air, they easily got dried out. Around 1984 while I was rearing my first born, I began to collect orchids again.
I had many Vandas and Cattleyas, and some Phaleanopsis and Dendrobium species, but I can’t remember the names. All were tied around dried tree trunks – about 30 of them with 3 or 4 orchids in each. I was fascinated by the healthy roots every watering time. The root tips are really glossy green when actively growing, and the waxy leaves are beautiful too. The flowers for me were just a huge bonus then and to show off. Now I have learned that the flower also serves as one of the the best ways to identify what they really are – whether genus, family, or species.
I left all of those healthy orchids when I moved to San Francisco in 1995, but as soon as I settled in, I bought my first set of orchids here again – a set of 4 Phals and a “bellina” is one of them. I was able to rebloom the bellina twice until its roots were all eaten by slugs and eventually died. I learned to identify some of the orchids by going to orchid shows and attending the orchid classes and demonstrations during these shows and meetings. I haven’t stopped acquiring orchids since and to date I have close to 300 orchids. Cold growers are kept outside in the backyard, and tropical warm loving orchids are growing inside.
I love all of them, though the orchids that I really like best are Paphs, Phrags, Masdas and Draculas. I am wishing for a Cypripedium soon too; their flowers for me are so unique and I am amazed by them all the time. I have a small greenhouse for my orchids and hoping to put all of them all together soon. I’d love to have more plants, but space is getting overcrowded already.
Volunteering at every orchid event is another way for me to enjoy their beauty and to learn even more about them, and the SFOS monthly meetings are also really educational for orchid lovers like me to learn even more.
Faye previously served as Treasurer (CFO) on the SFOS Board for 5 years, from 2018 - 2023.
I had many Vandas and Cattleyas, and some Phaleanopsis and Dendrobium species, but I can’t remember the names. All were tied around dried tree trunks – about 30 of them with 3 or 4 orchids in each. I was fascinated by the healthy roots every watering time. The root tips are really glossy green when actively growing, and the waxy leaves are beautiful too. The flowers for me were just a huge bonus then and to show off. Now I have learned that the flower also serves as one of the the best ways to identify what they really are – whether genus, family, or species.
I left all of those healthy orchids when I moved to San Francisco in 1995, but as soon as I settled in, I bought my first set of orchids here again – a set of 4 Phals and a “bellina” is one of them. I was able to rebloom the bellina twice until its roots were all eaten by slugs and eventually died. I learned to identify some of the orchids by going to orchid shows and attending the orchid classes and demonstrations during these shows and meetings. I haven’t stopped acquiring orchids since and to date I have close to 300 orchids. Cold growers are kept outside in the backyard, and tropical warm loving orchids are growing inside.
I love all of them, though the orchids that I really like best are Paphs, Phrags, Masdas and Draculas. I am wishing for a Cypripedium soon too; their flowers for me are so unique and I am amazed by them all the time. I have a small greenhouse for my orchids and hoping to put all of them all together soon. I’d love to have more plants, but space is getting overcrowded already.
Volunteering at every orchid event is another way for me to enjoy their beauty and to learn even more about them, and the SFOS monthly meetings are also really educational for orchid lovers like me to learn even more.
Faye previously served as Treasurer (CFO) on the SFOS Board for 5 years, from 2018 - 2023.