Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 4424 March Home&Garden Matters 2017 I Orchids in his Genes Fair Orchids continues a three-generation tradition BY ELLEN DONKER PHOTOS COURTESY OF KIM FEDDERSEN It is very common to hear that a friend or neighbor has been laid off. Many look for jobs in their current career, hoping to continue their livelihood in what they know best. But if you’re like Kim Feddersen, you reinvent yourself using the talents that you’ve picked up along your life’s journey. Over the past 40 years, Feddersen pursued a career in international trade. It was a livelihood that he had enjoyed immensely, allowing him to travel to more than 50 countries. When he was laid off in June 2016, he was close to retirement age and decided, after taking an honest assessment of his prospects, that it made good sense to go into the orchid business. Feddersen’s orchid nursery, Fair Orchids, was formally registered as a business this year. On the surface, such an enterprise may seem like an odd choice, but, according to Feddersen, “orchids were imprinted on me in childhood.” In fact, the family fascination with these interesting flowers actually began with his grandfather, Poul Feddersen. Having spent 10 years in Malaysia working for the East Asiatic Company, this engineer who had a passion for all things botanical brought back orchids to his home in Denmark. Feddersen’s father, Gustav, caught the bug and worked as a gardener’s apprentice at Gisselfeld castle in 1940-41. The greenhouse there contained a significant orchid collection. This led to the startup of a small nursery in 1948 on his parents’ property in Sandbjerg, some 15 miles north of Copenhagen. With about 75 percent of the space used for orchids, Gustav eventually expanded the nursery from 5,000 to 11,000 square feet. One of his specialties was wedding bouquets with orchids. Having become a local orchid expert, he was part of a group that in 1960 founded the first orchid society in Denmark, the Dansk Orkide Klub (DOK). As often happens with family-owned businesses, the children usually help out. It was no different for Kim, who spent his early years working at his father’s orchid nursery until 1977 (earning the equivalent of 70 cents per hour) when he left for the U.S. and began his career, eventually making his way to Maplewood. Feddersen stayed away from orchids for 17 years. Work and family life kept him busy. But an innocent Valentine’s Day orchid purchase stirred