Orchid obsession
<p>Jojo Cvancara's fascination for orchids first began when she went on a school field trip to the Amazon when she was 10-years-old. She now grows and maintains more than 100 orchids inside and outside of her house.</p>
<p>A Phalaenopsis Orchid is originally from Southeast Asia and grow in moist and humid areas with indirect sunlight.</p>
POST FALLS — A fragrant floral scent wafts through Jojo and Bob Cvancara's Post Falls home.
The inviting aroma leads guests into a room next to the kitchen, where large windows let in just enough light to nourish more than 100 orchids.
"This is a hobby. I like it," Jojo said gently in her Brazilian-Portuguese accent. "Some people like plants inside; I prefer orchids. Why not?"
She reached for a plant with a thick green stalk.
"It's wild, like me," she said, smiling. "This is an orchid. Everything is orchids."
Jojo's orchid collection includes 16 different varieties of Orchidaceae — cymbidium, epidendrum, dendrobium, masdevallia, oncidium and more — and they range from stark white to peach, golden yellow, magenta and dark red. She lovingly caresses them and repositions them, appreciating their different personalities and noticing which ones need attention. She also seems to have a magic touch and can revive flowers that are withering.
"This is dying. Because of bugs, she die," she said, lifting one out of its pot. "Maybe she’s come back. She’s not dead yet. I had another one before and she comes back."
Jojo said the flowers remind her of her native Brazil, where orchids grow like weeds.
"On the farm, I walked everyday," she said. "I saw orchids and they were so beautiful."
Jojo has a special relationship with these ancient flowers. When she was 10, she went on a field trip with her school in the southern Amazon. Her teacher was taking the students to see a special medicinal orchid that grew in the jungle. But Jojo separated from the group and ended up lost in the rain forest for three days.
"I couldn't find the trail," she said. "There was so many, many."
She was stalked by a jaguar and had an encounter with a wild snake. She was fed upon by countless mosquitos. Her school gave up looking for her.
But then she smelled coffee.
"I (climbed) a tree and I saw smoke," she said. "I walked and follow, follow, follow the smell of the coffee."
She was eventually reunited with her school and family, but when she was out wandering in the jungle, two orchids comforted her.
"I found one in the trees and one in a rock," she said. "I put it in my hand and gave it to my teacher. She was so angry."
In the winter, Jojo moves her orchids to a giant window well where they receive ample light and maintain a cool temperature. In the summer, she is sure to draw the curtains so the sun can't damage their delicate petals. She mists them every evening and spends about five hours a week watering and tending to them.
"This is called 'coconut pie,'” said Jojo's husband, Bob, as he held up a smaller reddish orchid. "You know, vanilla is an orchid."
Bob and Jojo met in Denver during their travels and decided to move to North Idaho because Bob has family in Spokane. They recently spent time in China and plan to return to visit Jojo's family in Brazil around the holidays.
Although they do not belong to an orchid group or society, they do attend orchid shows and continue to research the different varieties.
And Jojo is always on the lookout for another floral beauty to add to her collection.
"Everybody likes orchids," she said.