South Coast Orchid Society

Carl Franklin Keyes (June 4, 1905, Austin, TX – April 29, 1991, Santa Clara Co., CA) and Libby Imogene Tinsley (May 23, 1908 – January 31, 1996) were married March 17, 1926 in Norwalk, Los Angeles Co., CA. How they became interested in orchids is mentioned in an appreciation on the occasion of Carl’s death, and there is additional information from the family, see below. By 1967, while they were living in Burbank, CA, Carl was conducting orchid culture classes (e.g., San Gabriel Valley Orchid Hobbyists meeting, September 21, 1967; SCOS meeting December 28, 1967, etc.). Carl served as President for the Orchid Society of Southern California for the 1969-1970 term. By 1971, they were planning a 1,000 square foot greenhouse in the Goleta Valley area (More Mesa, in the city of Santa Barbara, CA), on property at the southeast corner of Orchid Drive and Camino Floral (request for permit noted in the Lompoc Record, December 1, 1971, approval reported the next day). This is a property just one block short of the entrance to Santa Barbara Orchid Estate — in fact, it is the adjacent property: Santa Barbara Orchid Estate is 1250 Orchid Drive, the Keyes purchased the property at 1260 Orchid Drive. The completed their move to this property in 1973. Carl was still giving culture workshops in Long Beach, but by that time he was also making the rounds of orchid clubs at least as far north as the Peninsula Orchid Society, meeting in Menlo Park, CA. After they moved to Santa Barbara, Carl continued his speaking engagements. Later, they moved to Arroyo Grande, and then to the San Jose area.

The Keyes made an enormous number of crosses, although, and this is not surprising for the plants involved, it appears only a minority succeeded in producing seed. Of their hybrids, at least 30 have been registered, although there may be some that were registered by others without noting the Keyes as the originators. Their color slides include photos of a number of crosses that were never registered. Their "stud books" have survived, and will be transcribed in due course.

On the occasion of Carl's death in 1991, their good friend Dr. Jack Fowlie wrote an appreciation that traces their remarkable career in orchids:   "Around 1960 Carl and his wife, Imogene, were given a few orchid plants which had grown outside for a number of years, all unidentified. Soon after, a friend offered them divisions of his collection for help in dividing and repotting his collection. Being Camellia enthusiasts, they knew nothing about orchids or how to cultivate them, but they were immediately intrigued. They visited all the local commercial nurseries, joined several orchid societies, subscribed to all publications, read everything available from society and local libraries, and built their first greenhouse.

"In a short time their greenhouse expanded to three controlled greenhouses, a large cymbidium house, and a Saran covered outdoors growing area.

"Carl and his wife became very interested in Paphiopedilums and their primary hybrids, thus acquiring a very select group of plants. Their first hybridizing was in 1969 of Paphiopedilum primary hybrids — remakes of old hybrids, one of which was Paphiopedilum Connie. By 1970 they were doing modern hybrids.

"Carl served as president of the Orchid Society of Southern California in 1969-1970.

"In 1970 they moved to Santa Barbara, enlarged their growing area, and too, the name of "Carimo Orchids" ("Car" for Carl and "Imo" for Imogene) for their collection. They then began to acquire a very good representation of Odontoglossums and allied genera. They started showing plants for judging and received awards from ODC, AOS, and the Cymbidium Society. At one point, Carl and his wife were told that as "private growers" they had received more awards and trophies than anyone else in that category.

"In 1973 Carl began to hybridize Phalaenopsis species and a few miniature Cymbidiums. In 1975, he started a program with his beloved Odontoglossums and allied genera. During the years Carl made some very interesting intergeneric crosses.

"For approximately eight years Carl gave lectures to various orchid societies from San Diegto to and through the San Francisco Bay area, including a few societies outside of California. Ben O. Bracey honored Carl by naming a Paphiopedilum hybrid for him.

"In 1985 they sold the remainder of their collection and moved to San Jose to be near family.

"I first met Carl and Imogene shortly after becoming editor of the Orchid Digest some twenty five years ago. They lived in Burbank and we attended the same Orchid Society and were its only members so far away. [Probably SCOS, even then a long drive! — the Keyes certainly attended our meetings, at which many of their plants were judged]   A ladyslipper flowered in their greenhouses and I went to Burbank on those surface streets they had in those days and finally found their place. Thence developed a lasting friendship. They discovered my orchid library and I discovered their greenhouses, and we all shared enthusiasm looking at pictures in books and plants in life. Although the close friendship ended when they moved to Santa Barbara in 1970, the written letters continued and they kept me informed of new items, as they came on the scene. The ladyslipper that took me there proved to be from the Ang Thong Archipelago. We all called it "P. keyesianum", and plants that would later be called P. acmodontum and P. hennisianum also were first introduced to me there. Later the fates would take me searching for this initial ladyslipper in the Ang Thong Archipelago of Thailand, where we discovered it was a natural hybrid swarm, calling it P. × ang-thong. The tall scape came from P. niveum and the spotted pouch from P. godefroyae."

We are indebted to Liz Marple, grand-daughter of Carl and Imogene, for these memories: "In the mid 70's my grandfather started doing his own flasking. My dad was a research chemist and he helped him (Carl) set up a clean environment to flask and supplied him with the glass flasks. When I was in high school I stayed for weeks at a time with them in Santa Barbara and he taught me how to cook the agar and plant the seeds and then take the seedlings from the mother flasks and put them in grow flasks and then from there into family pots to see what survived to then get its own pot. I loved all of it. He probably started doing that around 1974 — maybe also due to not being close to somewhere that did flasking."

Additional information from the family mentions possible employment or at least privileges at Armacost & Royston, a move to Arroyo Grande and then to the San Jose area, and some early history. The family dates the first orchid given to the Keyes around 1956, from their son-in-law Leland Marple. At that time, they were interested in camellias, African violets (one of the non-orchid specialties of Armacost & Royston in those days), and other plants. The acquisition of a collection from another grower around 1960 seems to have been the impetus for their orchid enthusiasm.

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Access and Copyright for the Carl and Imogene Keyes Archive

Unless otherwise noted, copyright of photos in the archive itself, whether or not shown in these web pages, is attributed to Carl and Imogene Keyes. Copyright attributions of photos from other sources used in these pages are noted where known. Access to materials in the archive is unrestricted. Inventory and other materials derived from the archive are presently considered Copyright South Coast Orchid Society, Inc.

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