What's the real deal with Beall's
Howard Ashley
"Growing Hybrid Orchids in the Home" by Jack Kramer. He has extensive
lists (and photo's) of all the orchid hybrids (and species) in wide
cultivation. Particularly mesmerizing were the incredible Odontoglossum
integenerics the vast majority of which were registered by the Beall's
company of Vashon Island, WA. A search through the phone books and later
AT&T information provided no number for Beall's.
Where had Beall's Orchid's gone? I now believe they may have gone out of
business. Recently in this forum I saw someone toss off a comment about a
particular hybrid as "it must be one of those Beall's messes". Today I am
no closer to learning the truth about the whereabouts, history or
reputation of Beall's incorporated but to my inexperienced eyes their
efforts seem impressive.
Now that I know of Potinara's and similar 4 way integenerics in genus
other than Odontoglossum and have discovered that many of these crosses
were made in the late 60's and early 70's!! The term "mess" appears harsh
to describe an ambitous breeding program.
If anyone know's what happened to Beall's Inc. or understands the
principles of complex integenerics, I hope they will be moved to drop us a
note. Thanks in advance.
H.
Venger's Orchids
H.,
Beall's is indeed gone. They did apparently make a brief comeback
primarily as a rose grower but from what I understand it didn't last
very long. I doubt if anyone knows exactly what happened. -Rod-
Venger's Orchids
Email ven...@vengers.com
Website http://www.vengers.com/
Basic Culture CD-ROM: http://vengers.com/demo/cd.htm
Listing: lis...@vengers.com
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Aaron Hicks
With someone else once more taking my silly quotes to heart,
Howard Ashley <ash...@ingress.com> spake thusly:
> I first became aquainted with the Beall's company through the book
> "Growing Hybrid Orchids in the Home" by Jack Kramer. He has extensive
> lists (and photo's) of all the orchid hybrids (and species) in wide
> cultivation. Particularly mesmerizing were the incredible Odontoglossum
> integenerics the vast majority of which were registered by the Beall's
> company of Vashon Island, WA. A search through the phone books and later
> AT&T information provided no number for Beall's.
Yeah; these guys are buried deeper than most the people in the
witness protection program.
> Where had Beall's Orchid's gone? I now believe they may have gone out of
> business. Recently in this forum I saw someone toss off a comment about
> a particular hybrid as "it must be one of those Beall's messes". Today I
> am no closer to learning the truth about the whereabouts, history or
> reputation of Beall's incorporated but to my inexperienced eyes their
> efforts seem impressive.
That was me, mucking about Beall's intergenetics. There are people
that leave their mark on society: Hazlewood and how he painted Alaska's
beaches; D.B. Cooper and lessons on bailing out of passenger aircraft;
Lorena Bobbit and, well... let's just draw that analogy to a close right
now. Beall's did some wonderful work with intergenetics, and they'd always
throw in a gift plant with orders over something like $25. I always got
some unpronouncable intergenetic that got accordion pleats and died within
months. Everyone else I knew of had the same experiences when ordering
with Beall's: nice plants, but weird freebies.
Anyway. Rumor is they just do roses now. The few people I know of
that have bothered to call them up and ask about whether certain crosses
were named, or wanted to know the parentage of a Beall's cross, were sent
on their way with no help at all. A few web searches I just performed
don't kick up anything on "Vashon + Island + roses + orchids," but the
Vashon Island Chamber of Commerce is at (206) 463-6217 if you're
interested enough to ask.
-AJHicks
Orchid Seedbank Project
Socorro, NM
TL S WILSO
In article <Pine.BSF.4.02A.98111...@ingress1.ingress.com>,
Howard Ashley <ash...@ingress.com> writes:
>Where had Beall's Orchid's gone? I now believe they may have gone out of
>business. Recently in this forum I saw someone toss off a comment about a
>particular hybrid as "it must be one of those Beall's messes". Today I am
>no closer to learning the truth about the whereabouts, history or
>reputation of Beall's incorporated but to my inexperienced eyes their
>efforts seem impressive.
In the late 70's and probably into the early 80's I purchased several plants
from Beall's. I was a little sad (years ago) when I heard they had closed. Some
of those plants are still among the favorites in my collection. The first
orchid I bloomed was a Cymbidium I got from them for about $3. It was a
seedling size mericlone that grew so well it was big enough to bloom with in
months. Divisions of that plant are sending up spikes right now.
On the other hand there were at least a few plants from Beall's that I never
was able to figure out how to bloom. I have complained here before about how I
just don't do well with Dendrobiums. The worst of them came from Beall's. Maybe
the problem is all my fault; maybe not. One thing I remember is that they sold
a lot of mericlones of crosses that weren't even registered yet. It always
seemed to me that if they had a plant they liked well enough to give a variety
name to, and to mass produce, they could at least register the cross rather
than sell it under the name of the 2 parents.
Steve
Venger's Orchids
One of the best intergenerics I've had was Aspoglossum Jeanne Marie
'Seattle' which we acquired from Bealls maybe 10-15 years ago. I think
I've still got a photo of it. If so I'll post it to the website this
weekend. Very dark with white lacey markings. -Rod-