Rod Rice is a 39 year old, highly experienced and qualified horticulturalist and orchidologist, and respected by many senior botanists and scientists. His hands on and consultation,lecturer/speaker experience, in the horticultural/landscape trade, and orchid science field, spans some 20 years.
Rod is presently the only qualified horticulturalist in Australia, who has such vast knowledge of orchid species, palms and ornamental trees and shrubs etc. and has researched how combined, they can be successfully used in the landscaped garden, in almost any given situation. Rod is also the founder and editor of a new quarterly orchid journal, dedicated to species and natural hybrids from all corners of the globe, of their conservation, cultivation, identification etc. and a special section for orchidscaping. The journal is due to be in launched in July 1999.
Rod has well deserved recognition and respect from senior botanists here in Australia and abroad, as an orchidoligist who specialises in the education, and amateur botany and morphology of wild orchids. Rod's peer's and botanical friends include senior international botanists such as
- Dr Leslie A.Garay Ph.d.(ex Harvard University USA) ,
- Dr Carlyle Luer(Research Associate, Missouri Botanical Gardens Florida
U.S.A.),
- Dr John T. Atwood Ph.d.(Director Marie Selby Identification Centre, Florida, USA),
- Dr Mark Whitten Ph.d.(Museum of Natural History, Florida USA),
- Dr Gunter Gerlach Ph.d.(Director of Munich Botanical Garden,Germany),
- Dr Geoff Stocker Ph.d. MSc.(Cairns, Australia. Ex Director Forestry Research Institute Papua New Guinea),
- Dr Peter Western Ph.d. (Senior Research Scientist and Directorof Sydney Royal Botanical Gardens Herbarium)
- Mr Gary Backhouse B.Sc. (Research officer for National Parks and
Wildlife Service Victoria, author of Orchids Of Victoria),
- Mr Roger Kramer B.Sc. (Founder and director of the Paphiopedilum and Phragmipedium Research Collection, Wilton N.S.W. Australia),
and the list goes on.
Rod is also one of Australia's best known speakers on the subject of orchids and landscaping, and regularly receives invitations from all over the country, to speak at garden clubs, orchid societies, botanical and horticultural institutions etc.
Rod is presently working on a number of books dealing with certain orchid species groups aimed at the novice grower and experienced orchid botanist, and another book on landscaping with orchids and other ornamental plants, designed and aimed for architects, horticulturalists, landscape designers and general gardeners.
Work History
1978; Graduated from Kuring-gai High School
Sydney, with School Certificate.
1979; Started a general garden maintenance
business, known as "Gumnut Lawn and Garden
Service". This business remained so until 1986,
where Rod converted it to mainly landscape
construction and design, also changing the name of
the business to "Gumnut Landscapes".
1986; "Gumnut Landscapes" was formed, and
remained so until June 1992, when the recession at
the time, no longer made it viable to run the
landscape business full time and it was reduced to a
part time enterprise. Gumnut Landscapes was
contracted for both commercial and domestic work,
specialising in water feature construction i.e. water
falls, ponds, streams, fountains etc. in many garden
themes including, English Cottage Gardens,
Tropical and Sub-Tropical Gardens, Japanese
Gardens, Australian Native Gardens, Pebble
Gardens, Interior Plantscaping etc.
1988-1990; Accepted into the Ryde School of
Horticulture, graduated with a credit pass, in the
Higher Urban Certificate. This higher certificate
course was more intense than the original Diploma
of Horticulture, and is duly recognised as such by
Horticultural authorities. Due to the very high drop
out rate of students(approx 84%) during its 4 year
trial, that exact course was abolished, and an easier
course was designed and put in its place. This
decision of course, severely reduces the appropriate
skills and qualifications required to maintain the
integrity of the industry and the Australian Institute of Horticulture.
Rods electives included with "A" grade passes,
indoor plants, indoor plantscaping, permaculture,
and fruit & vegetable culture.
Upon graduation, Rod was asked by several of his
lecturers from Ryde, to apply for an available
position as a teacher at the Ryde college. Which,
although very honoured, he turned down, as he
already had a very busy landscape/maintenance
business.
During the above period, Rod wrote, and had a
number of articles written about himself and his
landscape work and ideas, in many publications
including the North Shore Times, House and
Garden magazine, and the Australian Horticulture
magazine.
1993; Accepted as a member into the Australian
Institute of Horticulture.
Established and opened "Gongora Productions",
Australias only independent, general orchid species
research nursery, specialising in the morphological
research and artificial propagation of wild orchids
from around the globe, and the supply of rare and
unusual orchid species via mail order. The main
purpose of this nursery was to act predominantly as
a research, consultation business, however, the mail
order side of the business became so big, it had to
be temporarily closed and scaled right
down(March1998), so some serious botanical work
could be completed.
1994; The opportunity arose for Rod to write for
The Australian Orchid Review.
1995; Rod took on the role of writing some major
articles for The Australian Orchid Review, and he
also had his own gardening column in the "Hills
District T.V. Times" in Sydney.
1996; December/January, Rod moved the research
nursery from Annangrove, rural North-Western
Sydney, to Dora Creek at Lake Macquarie, where
it is now permanently situated.
1997; The opportunity arose from The Australian
Orchid Review, to become the head orchid species
consultant and regular writer, i.e. to contribute to
every issue on any subject of Rods choice with text
and photographs, which he gladly accepted.
Further, the rival competition to that magazine,
"Orchids Australia" also asked Rod to make a
contribution to their magazine. Rod ceased writing
for the Australian Orchid Review in January 1999,
to take on the role as editor and to establish a new
orchid journal dedicated to species conservation
and landscape use, to be launched in July 1999.
1998; Rod's first original scientific papers were
published here in Australia in the "Australian Orchid
Review", and in Europe, in the very prestigious
German magazine "Die Orchidee".
1999. Rod starts the task of establishing a new
Australian based, quarterly orchid journal for
international distribution.
All of the horticultural and orchid services supplied
by Rod, including the mail order orchid nursery,
(but not the new orchid journal), have been
combined under the one business name
"Orchidscape".
Rod has been working on a number of articles and
other projects for publishing in other journals and
magazines for the U.S., Europe and Australias own
"Australian Horticulture" magazine, and for the
journal of "Friends of the Botanical Gardens" in
Sydney.
Rod is also involved in a pilot radio programme of
interviews and talk back on the conservation of
orchids and their use in the garden.
Presently Rod is still involved in the scientific
research of orchids, and is in full steam ahead mode
to help convert and educate the general public on
the use of orchids in the garden and their
conservation. Rod has very good communication
skills, and will gladly be of assistance to all clients.
A List Of Some Of Rod's Most Recent
Publishings, and Front Cover Photo's
- Rice, R. 1996. Stanhopea The Unknown Orchids. Australian
Horticulture, 94 (2): 122.
- Rice, R. 1996. Gongora (Ruiz and Pavon). Australian Orchid
Review, 61 (1): 4-7.
- Rice, R. 1996. Photo Gongora truncata, front cover
Australian Orchid Review, 61 (1) February 1996.
- Rice, R. 1996. Oncidium Sw. Australian Orchid Review, 61
(3): 6-9.
- Rice, R. 1996. New Gongora and other Stanhopeinae
Species. Australian Orchid Review, 61 (3): 12-14.
- Rice. R. 1996. Photo Oncidium pulchellum, front cover
Australian Orchid Review, 61 (3) June 1996.
- Rice, R. 1997. Some Species of the Sub-Genus Gongora.
Orchids Australia, 9 (5): 46-52.
- Rice, R. 1997. Maxillaria Ruiz & Pavon. Australian Orchid
Review, 62 (5): 4-12.
- Rice, R. 1997. Maxillaria Ruiz & Pavon. Part 2: Australian
Orchid Review, 62 (6): 6-11.
- Rice, R, 1997. Photo Maxillaria notylioglossa, front cover
Australian Orchid Review, 62 (5) December 1997.
Ri- ce, R. 1998. Dendrobium rhodostictum L. Muell. &
Kraenzl. 1894. Australian Orchid Review, 63 (1): 14.
- Rice, R. 1998. Bifrenaria atropurpurea (Lodd.) Lindl. 1832.
Australian Orchid Review, 63 (2): 17.
- Rice, R. 1998. Mormolyca ringens (Lindl.) Schltr. 1840.
Australian Orchid Review, 63 (3): 17.
- Rice, R. 1998. Orchids of the Forgotten Land. Australian
Orchid Review, 63 (4): 4-9.
- Rice, R. 1998. Restrepia schizosepala Luer & Hirtz. 1996.
Australian Orchid Review, 63 (4): 17.
- Rice, R. 1998. Photo Angraecum magdalenae, front cover
Australian Orchid Review, 63 (4) August 1998.
- Rice, R. 1998. Orchids of the Forgotten Land. Part 2:
Australian Orchid Review, 63 (5): 10-12.
- Rice, R. 1998. Gongora alfieana Rice sp nov, A New
Gongora. Australian Orchid Review, 63 (5): 14-15.
- Rice, R. 1998. Staurochilus fasciatus (Rchb.f.) Ridl. 1872.
Australian Orchid Review, 63 (6): 16.
