“I grow plants for many reasons: to please my eye or to please my soul, to challenge the elements or to challenge my patience, for novelty or for nostalgia, but mostly for the joy in seeing them grow.” — David Hobson

The orchid is an addictive plant with the most captivating blooms. For Jason Hollar, there’s depth to orchids. For him, plants “symbolise emotions, ideas and actions”.

His-tory

Jason’s passion is hereditary. He tells us, “My great-grandparents operated a farm and garden store and as a young boy growing up, my summer holidays were spent working with them. It was there that I developed a love for nature and plants. My mother loved gardening and kept a beautiful garden. She loved rose plants and orchids. Once there was a plant show or fair on the weekend, we were always the first to arrive and would buy as many of the rare plants as possible…From I have known myself, I have always had a connection to plants, one that is not easy to explain.”

The discovery

All orchid lovers have a “my first orchid” story with a similar collection growth trajectory. Jason’s orchid beginning, if you’re an enthusiast, should make you feel nostalgic on this blessing of a Sunday.

“Ten years ago, a good friend of mine introduced me to sun vanda orchids,” he explains. “I was clueless as to how to care for these delicate yet beautiful plants. I started my collection with two and to date, I have a few hundred. Orchids can be addictive. You’ll tell yourself when you go to a plant show or fair that you’re just going to look around and possibly buy one or two. However, in most instances, you always leave with your car trunk or backseat full of them.”

Love language

As American actor Beau Bridges once elegantly put it, orchids aren’t simply grown, they’re raised.

And, for his prized possessions, Jason has a daily schedule. “Every morning when I get up, there’s a routine that I follow as well as in the evenings,” he states. “As an orchid grower, you have to ensure that your orchids do not become dried out, so you have to water at least once or twice per day to keep them hydrated. From there, I go to taking pictures and posting them on my Instagram page @orchidsinjamaica. I have learned, over the last 15 months, that so many people in the world are going through so many tough situations and if I’m able to share something with them that they can enjoy and possibly brighten their day, then I’m happy… I believe sharing is caring. It’s rewarding to know that at the end of the day you inspire and help others along their journey.”

There’s an emotional reciprocity in the garden similar to that of a marriage; it goes through stages and phases, each beautiful and distinguishable from the other. You grow together with your plants in the garden and receive a kind of affirmation through acts of service not only to nature but to yourself, to your soul which revels in this personal quality time wherein you receive gifts from God as you physically touch and tend to His creations. This conjures Alfred Austin’s fabulously penned depiction of the garden activity — “The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. To nurture a garden is to feed not just the body, but the soul.”

Jason revels in the quietude of it all. He says, “After a long day at work when I get home, my garden and farm are a medium for me to just unwind and chill. Sitting on my garden bench and having a cool drink and enjoying the views of all the colour and cheer that I am surrounded by relaxes me spiritually and emotionally.”

Raising vandas

“Gardening is one of those hobbies that is ongoing. The work never ends and there is always a lot to do and accomplish in your day. For me, prepping works. Planning ahead is always good and with global climate change affecting everyone, I always try to get an early start by 5:00 in the mornings… enjoy the cooler climate. Plants require a lot of care. Walk through your garden daily and inspect your plants as they are prone to a lot of pests and fungus. For me, as an orchid grower, I recommend spraying once a week and fertilising twice per week. I would encourage persons to harvest the rain water which they can use to water their plants as it’s proven that rain water is more ideal and beneficial for the plants,” Jason says.

A blooming market

As the war against COVID-19 rages, as the pressures and pain of the pandemic cause depression, grief and irreparable damage, for many of us, gardening has been a haven. It was reported in the Financial Times that the novel coronavirus has “changed gardening forever”.

Jason identifies with the headlines. “Since the pandemic last year, many persons, like myself, who had to work remotely, had to find more than one pastime to cope with boredom. Persons who were affected by the pandemic also had to find new ways to pivot so they could earn an extra income. With the construction industry at an all-time high, the landscaping industry is one that is becoming very fruitful as persons have become more conscious of their outdoor surroundings.”

It was during the pandemic that his Instagram page @orchidsjamaica876 pivoted from plant diary to a pursuit which seeks to meet the market demand for orchid blooms.

I must confess that I have purchased a couple of stellar sun vandas from Jason’s @orchidsjamaica876 and am quite thrilled by the blooms.

While the market for blooms booms, Jamaica’s COVID-19 numbers are exploding and many families and businesses, as a result, are imploding. Vaccines are safe, effective and available, and yet we are withering due to COVID-19. We will only bloom again if we are all vaccinated.