Our Very New, Really Old Orchid
The Truitt House, has turned us into history lovers in ways we never expected. When I asked our dear friend and orchid aficionado, Deborah Fox if there were orchids still around from the turn of the last century, little did I know that our passion for the past would soon make us parents to a clone of the century-old celebrity orchid she found for us!
Thanks to Deborah, and orchid expert and grower Arthur Chadwick, we now have in our care a Firmin Lambeau orchid—one of the most sought-after plants ever to grace a flower pot.
Deborah introduced us to Arthur Chadwick of Chadwick & Son Orchids and it’s fair to say that he has ruined me when it comes to displaying flowers in this house.
Arthur came to the Truitt House this week to share his new book, First Ladies and Their Orchids, A Century of Namesake Cattleyas. It’s an amazing story about an orchid tradition and how Chadwicks brought it back.
First Ladies dating back to Mrs. Woodrow Wilson, have all had a namesake cattleya orchid. For those who want to lean into the flower species, the book details the history of each cattleya and how they were cross bread. For the orchid lovers who are less serious growers such as myself, there is plenty for us as well. You’ll enjoy the funny stories about the first families and all of the shenanigans leading up to the actual presentation that went right and sometimes hysterically wrong. You can see Chadwicks’ First Ladies Orchid Collection at The Smithsonian and at one of Chadwick & Son’s three locations in and around Richmond, VA.
Truitt House host book signing, First Ladies and Their Orchids, A Century of Namesake Orchids
I had forgotten how beautiful orchid corsages were. It was Mamie Eisenhower who really deserves the credit for bringing them into vogue. Many of the photos in the book show the exquisite groupings of cattleyas dripping down the dresses and gowns of our First Ladies. My favorite is a photo of Lady Bird Johnson showing her cattleya corsage being pinned, while a back-up lay in waiting on a silver platter - just in case something went wrong with the first one. That’s exactly how I remember it being done in my house, don’t you?
Cattleyas are the flower that made the corsage glamorous for the First Ladies and the rest of us. The Firmin Lambeau, our new cattleya, was popular because its bloom is white and made for the perfect pinnable bouquet.
In fact, the Firmin Lambeau has been turning heads since it first appeared at the 1910 Boston Orchid Show, where it was sold for a whopping $5,000. To put that in perspective, that’s like buying a Tesla today … but with roots and petals. The lucky buyer, Stuart Low & Co., hand-carried this botanical superstar across the Atlantic, where it earned a First Class Certificate from the Royal Horticultural Society in 1912. Legend has it that when World War I erupted, M. Lambeau fled his home with only three precious items: his rosary, a picture of his mother, and this prized orchid. Talk about keeping your priorities in check!
Fast forward to 1933, when the Dixon family reportedly purchased all five remaining plants from Stuart Low & Co. for another $5,000—and some Coca-Cola stock, for good measure. The Dixons referred to them as “the most famous plants ever to come from the hand of God.”
While this plant’s life story is like something out of a soap opera, passing through the hands of the most famous orchid collectors over the decades, its clone now lives with us at The Truitt House, adding a little extra history—and a lot of pressure—not to let it become a wilted relic.
Arthur has presented these lovely orchids personally to many First Ladies, so I channeled our home’s most famous guest, Elizabeth Taylor, and accepted my Firmin Lambeau like a boss.
Even though my cutting is barely four years old — it hasn’t bloomed yet and won’t for a few years — Arthur still made me feel like the First Lady of the Truitt House.
