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Kath King, manager of Kew's Tropical Nursery, pollinating orchids in the Princess of Wales Conservatory



Orchid people

“You can get off alcohol, drugs, women, food and cars, but once you're hooked on orchids you're finished.”
Joe Kunisch

Seven Passionate Orchid Enthusiasts

Alison LontayAlison Lontay is a fashion designer who has long been inspired by orchids and sees their structure as little vignettes of human life. For examples of her work visit

John Day scrapbookJohn Day was an intrepid Victorian orchid hunter who devoted his life’s work to the species; entrancing Victorian society with his intricately painted scrapbooks and images. You can also visit Kew's collection of John Day's orchid illustrations online.

Benedict RoezlBenedict Roezl was the embodiment of the passion, danger and excitement inherent in an orchid hunter’s work in the late 19th century. Despite the loss of a hand, Roezl travelled the world in his quest to collect over 800 new species of orchid. Today, over 40 plants bear his name.

Kath KingKath King manages the Tropical Nursery, home to Kew's behind-the-scenes collections of orchids. Kath’s enthusiasm has seen the number of orchids at Kew increase substantially, and there are now almost 8,000 orchids to tend.

Roman KaiserThe renowned fragrance chemist Roman Kaiser has such affinity with the exotic and alluring scent of orchids that he has an orchid named after him in recognition of his outstanding research in the field of orchids scent.

Guy ClarkeCustoms officer Guy Clarke has a very different experience of orchids. He monitors arrivals of plants at Heathrow each year against permit allowances and regulations.

Richard AttenboroughLord Attenborough is a passionate and enthusiastic orchid lover with his own collection.

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