An orchid moment

By Emma Sun
GEOFF Bailey loves to grow orchids, a passion that makes him a very busy man.
The 61-year-old Cranbourne resident may only have been retired for about two years, but he’s already busied his life with many extra-curricular activities that revolve around the orchids he’s grown over the past 25 years.
He runs a nursery in Officer, enters orchid shows, is training to be an orchid judge and is a member of a variety of gardening and orchid clubs.
Geoff said his hobby was what led him to starting up a nursery,
“Basically, I decided to turn a hobby into a bit of a business,” he said.
“Not that it’s meant to create a cash flow, but it’s basically an extension of a hobby.”
He has more than 5000 plants of all sizes and about 20 different varieties of orchids.
“What I love most about growing orchids is the expectation of seeing something new flowering,” Geoff explained.
“You don’t know until the flower opens. It can look fantastic as a bulb but it can look as horrible as anything when it opens.”
Being a part of clubs keeps Geoff active in the orchid-growing scene, and he is a member of the Berwick Orchid Society, the Dandenong Orchid Society, the Cymbidium Club of Victoria, the Mornington Peninsula Orchid Club and he is on the executive and show committee of Orchid Societies Council of Victoria (OSCOV).
Back before he retired, Geoff was a school teacher and spent 40 years in education, 12 of which he spent as principal of Selby Primary School.
His love for teaching still remains, and he even manages to mix teaching with his passion for orchids by speaking at other clubs throughout Victoria.
“It’s good carry on from teaching, to find something where I could still pursue the love for education,” Geoff said.
“But you never learn everything from growing orchids; you can always learn from novice or experienced growers.”
Geoff spends an average of three to four hours a day tending to his orchids, and spends most of his time at his nursery.
“It is time consuming and it does become quite physical as the plant becomes bigger,” he said.
“But like anything, you only get the result if you put the time into it. I really do find the hobby very satisfying.”
He admitted he doesn’t always stick to his main hobby, especially when the weather beckons him get out of his nursery.
“When the weather is good, quite often you’ll find me out fishing,” he laughed.
“I could easily put in about 12 hours per day if I wanted to, but I don’t want it to become that big and I don’t have the room to go that far anyway.”
Other than fishing and orchid growing, Geoff used to be a top-level lawn bowler.
“I was one of those bowlers that took it on at a young age,” he said.
“I don’t consider myself too old, but fishing and orchid growing has taken over.”
It’s obvious orchid growing will be one of the more consistent things in Geoff’s life, and he said he would certainly continue to tend to his beloved orchids.
“It’s probably growing at a rate faster than I envisaged when I was teaching but a lot of people are showing interest in the orchids that I grow – the cymbidiums,” Geoff said.
“It’ll be something I’ll pursue.”
Geoff and his wife run free Saturday morning workshops at their nursery about orchids. Anybody interested can give him a call on 0488 088 138.