Spotlight: Kathy Puckett (Boojum)
By Nancy Polanski (nap) on August 17, 2010
| Boojum, as she has always been known, is an aspiring expert on orchids. That's why I selected her to be in our Spotlight this week. She is the owner of An Orchid Obsession here on Cubits, which includes an ever growing Database. Whether you have orchids, or whether you don't, you will love the photos she publishes! |
When I think of orchids, there is one name that comes to mind. Boojum. I don't grow orchids, but I very much love to photograph them. I've admired her own photos of orchids for many years, so I decided to invite her come into the Spotlight. I learned during our conversations that she has other talents as well as growing orchids, and a rather hectic schedule. Or as she herself put it, "a diverse life." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nancy: I was just looking over the list of jobs you've held in your lifetime. ("Worked as art teacher in a camp/after school program, flute teacher, sang with my college choir and later in a small group, housecleaning business, professional artist, portraiture, head decorator of a custom tile mural company where I painted many murals that exist all over, receptionist for chiropractors, waitress at a Chinese restaurant, photography, etc." ) You hardly seem old enough to have had so many occupations. I bring two distinct qualities to my practice. As a grandmother, I have a broad view of the life cycle. As an artist, I can't help but use creative ways to collaborate with my clients, caregivers, and teachers to achieve pragmatic solutions. Most of all, life experience has taught me that a "safe place" is a prescription for healing and growth, leading to the achievement of one’s potential ....Silliness helps, too!! During my years in this career, I’ve worked with people of all ages who need support to communicate with others. It’s been fulfilling and fun getting to know my clients and to be a part of their growth. I went back to school at the age of 42 and after six years got a Master of Science degree at the University of Arizona. I am fascinated by the human brain and wish I was a neurologist. I wanted to work with stroke survivors, but now w (Oh! I also used to sell make up, do make overs and color analysis, then advise people about styles and colors for their wardrobes. I almost forgot about that career. I really helped people with self esteem in that business.) As for the plusses and minuses of my jobs, I always do best if I'm autonomous. My own businesses are best. But I make a lot more steady money now than when I had more creative jobs. Nancy: You seem to have grown and changed quite a bit in many ways over your lifetime. Can you summarize for us just who you are now? Kathy: As a teen people thought I was a beatnik, then a hippie, now I don't know!! We'll have to ask others. I once visited a craniosacral therapist who said I was all passion. That sorta unifies my mess. I live in a converted double barn, which includes our professional offices, on three acres. It's an old dairy farm. I have at least 15 garden areas, including two very large areas, woods and a stream, stone walls, etc. It had some gardens that were neglected for six years, mostly bushes. I took out a lot of bushes because my emphasis in the garden is color combinations (colored sculpture changing over time). I am an active member of my local Western New England Iris Society and grow/love beardless irises. Nancy: You are pretty much synonomous with your Orchids. What got you so involved with them, Kathy? Kathy: I started growing orchids five years ago to keep the winter blues away. I couldn't stand the garden season ending so I started growing orchids. I have up to 400 orchids and I own the orchid cubit, An Orchid Obsession, here on Cubits. I started the orchid cubit because I could set it up to have all my orchid resources that I use constantly (photo database, online databases, pronunciations, abbreviations, videos on care, culture pages, etc.) at my fingertips on my home page. I couldn't have done this on a generic garden website. I love how much I can tweak the basic cubit to become perfect for an orchid nut like myself. And having a programmer to help me achieve the best website that I can for orchid growers is so great! (a tip of the hat to Dave) I also included a forum for other plants so we can share our gardens and houseplants as well as our orchids. One of the reasons I love autonomy is because I don't get bogged down in beaurocracy and can create what I need easily and quickly. So my cubit is exactly what I would want to find as an orchid grower: great photo sharing, great company, in depth discussion, and great resources. ~I'm a happy girl~ As to growing them, I started with a hard orchid and it just got worse. (Nancy: Read a detailed and interesting description of Kathy's orchid adventure on her Orchid Cubit intro.) I have some easy ones but I would be bored growing only easy orchids so I take on the challenges. The majority of my orchids are mounted, which means I mist them daily and deep water weekly. I fertilize every other week. Some love the water, some die from it. Every June 1st they all get put against the north side of a small barn for the summer, on shelves and tables. I use screen cloth in late afternoon to protect them from sunburn and a tarp to cover them from late rain. They do best when watered in the AM and dry at night. I also have a reverse osmosis water system and a warm and cool room in winter for them. I bring them outside in summer. Here are three videos of me watering inside and out. I have lots of collections of houseplants, too. Hoyas, amaryllis, epis, iris, cacti, succulents, passionflowers. Nancy: Here's a left-field sort of question for you. If you could meet anyone in history, who would it be and why? Nancy: And finally, at the end of the day, what is it that really makes you the happiest? Kathy: What makes me happy at the end of the day? A meaningful encounter with a fellow human being...... Hours of timeless moments in discovery of nature...... Beauty of any kind...... Listening to jazz, opera, Bach, or Beethoven, or Purcell, or women singing Balkan music...... A wonderful poem...... Films/books that surprise me...... A good belly laugh and silliness...... A new flower opening......... but NOT IN THAT ORDER! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ..... And I can't think of a better way to close our conversation with Boojum than with that powerful thought. My sincere thanks to you, Kathy, for sharing your life and your feelings with us. Now I hope you will come back often to answer any questions or comments that our readers may have for you. |
| art, artist, autism, cubits, database, garden, jazz, opera, orchid, photography, photos, Purcell, silent movies, speech-language pathologist, stroke |
 My husband and I live in Buffalo NY with our cats Daisy and Lucy. I love Western New York and all it has to offer. Some fabulous people live here. Photography, gardening and Cubits are my favorite hobbies. Nancy is the owner of the Who's Who Spotlight cubit. Thanks to Nancy for allowing me to reproduce her article on An Orchid Obsession cubit! |
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Comments and discussion:
| Subject | Thread Starter | Last Reply | Replies |
|---|---|---|---|
| What else do you grow? | kevin51 | May 11, 2011 6:24 PM | 4 |
| Beautiful! | sandnsea2 | Sep 4, 2010 6:06 PM | 2 |
| Lovely - | AlohaHoya | Aug 30, 2010 1:46 AM | 5 |
| Lovely Lady and a Greta Cubit! | NEILMUIR1 | Aug 21, 2010 7:55 AM | 10 |
