By Mari Radtke
Nancy Hill, a longtime resident of Sutherland and the current library director has mastered several unusual hobbies. One of those hobbies is growing orchids.
Hill began the hobby at her home when she was gifted an orchid from a cousin in Claremont, OK. The cousin has operated a greenhouse for years. She kept an orchid there for some 45 years, finally giving up getting the decades old potted green would produce blooms. She gave the plant to Nancy.
Nancy began nurturing other orchids. Her cousin gave her some. She purchased others from Wal Mart. Many of the orchids can be seen at the Sutherland Library. Currently all are blooming brightly.
Hill kept that first orchid from Oklahoma for 5 years, nurturing and talking to it, watering and fertilizing regularly. It had sunshine and shade. It just would not bloom.
Finally, in the fall of 2021, Hill stopped with the nurturing talk. She told that orchid in very clear language, “You have 2 weeks to bloom or I’m done with you.” Somewhere it those 2 short weeks the orchid produce 1 tiny little bloom. It lasted for a few weeks. Right now that same orchid is showing 3 very beautiful blooms.
Currently more than a dozen of Hill’s orchids are growing at the Sutherland library. All have blooms right now. One has produce 39 bright white blooms. Her care for those orchids is quite simple. She waters the pots once each week. The orchids are potted in bark, not soil. In nature orchids grow in the in tree bark. She feeds the plants commercial orchid fertilizer every other week and gives them a drink of water once each week. She says, “Never, never water them with an ice cube.”