Greg Griffis first became aware of orchids in 2009. He first heard about them through a college friend, who had always admired orchids. Studying at West Chester University, from which he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Music Education, put him in close proximity to Longwood Gardens. He attended the 2010 Longwood Orchid Show where he purchased his first orchid.
One plant quickly became twenty or so, and before long he was hooked. In 2010 he visited Parkside Orchid Nursery for the first time, and by Summer 2011 he was working part time for Tom Purviance and John Salventi. He studied under their tutelage while working for them, and when they sold the nursery in 2012, he was hired by the new owners as the Grower and Manager of Parkside Orchid Nursery. He managed Parkside for one year, before leaving to grow orchids in Hawaii.
In Hawaii he worked for Hilo Orchid Farm for more than a year, spending a large amount of time working with Paphiopedilum, as well as Intergeneric Oncidiinae, and Miltoniopsis. At the beginning of 2015 Greg began working as the orchid grower at Longwood Gardens.
Since his arrival at Longwood, the orchid collection has grown and changed significantly. He has been a part of developing a collection of terrestrial orchids from across the globe, and has initiated a number of breeding programs. Among these are breeding lines in the Habenariinae, Cattleya Alliance, Intergeneric Oncidiinae, Paphiopedilum, Masdevallia, Disa, and more. The Disa program achieved its first successes with the registration of three new hybrids in 2021, Disa Longwood Renaissance Horizon, Disa Longwood Dawning Ever New, and Disa Longwood Advancing Excellence. To date, twenty-three orchid hybrids have been registered from his breeding work there, and there are over 100 crosses still in the labs.
During his tenure at Longwood, Greg continued to work on improving and expanding the collection, as well as networking with great growers and hybridizers across the country. He authored a number of written works, and participated in a number of video interviews as well.
At the end of 2024, Greg was offered the position of Curator at the Eric Young Orchid Foundation on the Island of Jersey. With its ten staff members, eight greenhouses, and well over 30,000 orchids, the Foundation is one of the great global orchid organizations. On January 31, 2025, Greg and his family landed in Jersey to begin their new endeavor of leading EYOF into the future.
Tremendous groundwork has been laid at the Foundation over the last nearly 40 years, and is potent with potential. In progress are the organization’s first Strategic Plan, as well as optimized operations, streamlined protocols, plant sales, more educational opportunities for guests and orchid growers alike, and many new orchid hybrids. Greg looks forward to sharing the love of orchids, and the orchids themselves with growers across the globe!
Greg Griffis 