Upcoming programs 2023

Gene Crocker grew up in the northwestern part of South Carolina, not far from where he worked for 25 years as Vice-President of Carter and Holmes Orchids in Newberry, S.C. (He retired in December of 2010, but his home is only a three minute walk from the greenhouses, so he is there frequently.) He obtained his first orchid plants in 1956, when he was 15 years old. These first plants were cattleyas, his first love, but he has an interest in all orchid genera.

 

After graduating from Clemson University in Textile Chemistry, he obtained a second degree in Meteorology from Penn State and served as a weather forecaster in the U.S. Air Force. He worked as Laboratory Manager for Cannon Mills, famous manufacturer of sheets and towels, for twenty years before joining Carter and Holmes in 1986.

 

As an amateur orchidist, Gene developed an interest in hybridizing, producing his first cattleya hybrids in 1961. The creative aspects of orchid breeding have been very enjoyable and rewarding for him, always giving something to anticipate. For over 28 years he carried on the breeding program at Carter and Holmes started in the 1950's by Bill Carter. Many of his hybrids have been awarded by the AOS, including two that received FCC’s and one cross that received an Award of Quality. His Doritaenopsis Newberry Parfait ‘Picotee’ received an Award of Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society and has been popular in the “pot plant” trade throughout the world. Gene has traveled extensively, representing Carter and Holmes at various orchid conferences around the world. Perhaps his most enduring claim to orchid fame is the fact that he coined the term, "mericlone", in 1964. In 2014 he was recognized by the American Orchid Society for outstanding accomplishments in orchid hybridizing. In 2014 he was also recognized by the Orchid Digest Corporation for outstanding achievements in the world of orchids.

 

Gene and his wife Kitty have three children and seven grandchildren.