Paul Gripp, one of the last great orchid explorers and hybridizers, dies at 93

After retirement, Paul Gripp inactive visited the nursery often, helping with weeding, arsenic he’s doing present successful this record photo, oregon conscionable talking with customers.

(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)

Orchid adept Paul Francis Gripp, a renowned orchid breeder, writer and talker who traveled the satellite successful hunt of antithetic varieties for his nursery, Santa Barbara Orchid Estates, died successful a Santa Barbara hospice halfway connected Jan. 2 aft a abbreviated illness. He was 93.

In a Facebook station connected Jan. 4, Gripp’s sister, Toni Gripp Brink, said her member died “after suffering a encephalon hemorrhage and nonaccomplishment of consciousness successful his longtime Santa Barbara home. He was surrounded by his loving family, time and night, for astir a week successful a Santa Barbara hospice earlier helium passed.”

Gripp was renowned successful the orchid satellite for his expertise, talks and galore prize-winning hybrids specified arsenic the Santa Barbara Sunset, a striking Laelia anceps and Laeliocattleya Ancibarina transverse with affluent salmon, peach and magenta hues that was bred to thrive extracurricular successful California’s warmer climes.

In a 2023 interview, Gripp’s daughter, Alice Gripp, who owns and operates the concern besides known arsenic SBOE with her brother, Parry, said Santa Barbara Sunset is inactive 1 of the nursery’s apical sellers.

Santa Barbara Sunset is 1 of the astir fashionable orchids that Paul Gripp bred astatine his famed orchid nursery, Santa Barbara Orchid Estates a.k.a. SBOE.

(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)

Gripp was a fashionable speaker, writer and avid storyteller who talked astir his experiences searching for orchids successful the Philippines, Myanmar (then known arsenic Burma), India, the precocious Andes, Mexico, Guatemala, Brazil, New Guinea and different parts of the world, fostering exchanges with planetary growers and collecting what plants helium could to propagate, breed and merchantability successful his Santa Barbara nursery.

“Working successful orchids has been similar surviving successful a dream,” Gripp said successful a 2023 interview. “There’s thousands of antithetic kinds, and I got to question each implicit to find things radical would want. But the archetypal orchid I found? It was successful Topanga Creek, Epipactis gigantea, our autochthonal orchid, and you tin inactive find them increasing successful [California’s] streams and canyons today.”

Gripp was “one of the past orchid radical who went looking for these plants successful situ — wherever they occurred successful nature,” said Lauris Rose, 1 of his erstwhile employees who is present president of the Santa Barbara International Orchid Show and proprietor of Cal-Orchid Inc., a neighboring nursery that she started with her precocious hubby James Rose, different SBOE worker who died successful January 2025.

These days, Rose said successful an interrogation connected Thursday, orchids are considered “something to heighten the quality of your home,” but erstwhile she and her hubby archetypal began moving with Gripp successful the 1970s, “they were thing that wholly captivated your involvement and instilled a wanderlust tone that made you privation to research the taxon successful the works kingdom, arsenic they grew successful nature, not arsenic produced successful assorted colors from laboratories.”

She said Gripp’s charm and self-deprecating demeanor besides helped substance his success. “People flocked for the acquisition of walking astir that nursery and learning things from him,” Rose said successful a 2023 interview.

“Paul lectured each implicit the world, teaching radical astir antithetic taxon of orchids successful a precise accessible way,” Rose said. “He didn’t enactment similar a professor. He got up determination with anecdotes like, ‘One clip I climbed up this histrion trying to scope a works successful different tree, and each these reddish ants infested my full body, truthful I had to instrumentality disconnected each my apparel and hitch each these ants disconnected my body.’ A batch of people’s lectures are boring arsenic dirt, but Paul could bid a room. He had charisma, and it was infectious.”

Gripp was calved connected Oct. 18, 1932, successful Greater Los Angeles and grew up successful Topanga Canyon. He went to Santa Monica College and past UCLA, wherever helium earned a grade successful horticulture, and worked arsenic a gardener connected weekends, chiefly for Robert J. Chrisman, a affluent Farmers Insurance enforcement and hobbyist orchid grower who lived successful Playa del Rey.

After college, Gripp served a stint successful the Navy aft the Korean War, and erstwhile helium got out, helium called Chrisman, his aged boss, who invited him to travel to Santa Barbara and negociate the orchid nursery helium was starting there.

After retirement, Paul Gripp inactive visited the nursery often, helping with weeding, arsenic he’s doing present successful this record photo, oregon conscionable talking with customers.

(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)

The nursery opened successful 1957, with Gripp arsenic its manager, and 10 years later, aft Chrisman died, helium purchased SBOE from the Chrisman family.

In 1986, Gripp and his then-wife, Anne Gripp, divorced. In the settlement, Gripp got their cliff-side Santa Barbara location with its breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean, and his erstwhile woman got the nursery. When Anne Gripp died, her children Parry and Alice inherited the nursery and took implicit its cognition successful 1994, Alice Gripp said successful 2023.

Gripp officially retired from the nursery, but helium was a predominant helper respective times a week, weeding, dividing plants, answering lawsuit questions and regaling them with his orchid-hunting stories.

“Paul loves plants, but what helium loves most successful beingness is teaching different radical astir orchids,” Alice Gripp said successful 2023. “He chats with them, and I effort to instrumentality their money.”

Gripp wasn’t a immense instrumentality of the ubiquitous moth orchids (Phalaenopsis) sold en masse successful astir market store floral departments, but helium was philosophical astir their popularity.

They’re bully for indoor plants, helium said successful 2023, but don’t expect them to unrecorded precise long. “A location is simply a house, not a jungle,” helium said, “so there’s a 99% accidental they’re going to die. But they’re beauteous inexpensive [to buy], truthful it works retired beauteous good.”

“He utilized to say, ‘I’m an orchid man. I emotion each orchid equally,’ and helium does,” his girl said successful 2023. “I don’t cognize if helium would tally into a burning gathering to prevention a Phalaenopsis from Trader Joe’s, but helium told maine once, ‘I’ve ne'er thrown retired a plant.’ And that’s astir apt true. When helium was moving things, the aisles were truthful crammed radical were ever knocking plants disconnected the benches due to the fact that they couldn’t locomotion through.”

Gripp is survived by his children and his 2nd wife, Janet Gripp, arsenic good arsenic his sister Toni Gripp Brink. In a station connected the nursery’s website connected Jan. 5, the Gripp household asked for privacy.

“We are inactive precise overmuch grieving Paul’s abrupt passing,” the connection read. “If you would similar to stock your memories of Paul, delight nonstop them by message oregon email for america to work successful the days to come. We volition invited your remembrances and stitchery these into a scrapbook to support astatine SBOE. We admit your knowing of our request for peaceful reflection astatine this time. In the coming weeks, we volition denote our plans for honoring and remembering Paul with our orchid friends.”