HAVANA, Sept 8 (Reuters) – Outside the home of Lorenzo Suarez in San Miguel de Padron, a rundown neighborhood on the outskirts of Havana, trash piles up on street corners, sidewalks are cracked and paint peels from the facades of storefronts.
Inside, a jungle-like beauty pervades.
The blossoms of 100 different species and hybrids of orchids, exquisite in their delicate beauty, some yellow, others blue, some spotted, others striped, create a splash of color at each glance.
“Every flower is different. Their colors, their sizes, the way in which they are cultivated. It drives me wild,” says Suarez, a 50-year-old orchid expert and agricultural engineer whose large greenhouse is an urban oasis in a country whose economy has been stricken by blackouts and shortages.
Almost anywhere else, an operation the size of Suarez’s would constitute a commercial venture, mass-producing flowering plants for sale to other dealers and consumers. But in Cuba — with little market for orchids and few garden shops — Suarez finds his motivation elsewhere.
Originally an agronomist, he learned his trade while trying to genetically improve tomatoes, rice, cassava and taro — items that are popular in Cuban households. His passion was fired by the thrill of creating new varieties.
“The cultivation of orchids was a huge leap,” he said as he tended his orchids, which require very specific light and humidity conditions to thrive.
In 2009, he bred Cuba’s first ornamental hybrid, a pink, yellow and white beauty he called “Bella Lorena.”
He has now turned his attention to combining native Cuban orchids with varieties he imports from abroad — in the hope of discouraging the harvest of rare wild species of Cuban orchids.
His latest hybrids are blends that can adapt to rising temperatures on the island while still retaining the exquisite beauty of a native.
“I’m obtaining hybrids that are more resistant to current climate conditions, but at the same time more attractive and eye-catching, so that people no longer turn to the forest.”
There are approximately 300 native orchid species in Cuba, many of which are endangered according to the Cuban Botanical Society.
(Reporting by Anett Rios and Alberto Fajardo; Writing by Dave Sherwood; Editing by Paul Simao)
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