ORCHID SHOW AND SALE
You can buy them at the grocery store now, but orchids haven’t lost their exotic appeal //
Even though we aren’t orchid collectors, many of us have orchids hanging around the house. For months at a time they look less interesting than what’s in the vegetable crisper.
Then they do something useful, they bloom again. It can happen even if we have been mean and neglectful. From a scrawny stalk they produce flowers. For weeks they will look beautiful, your home will look like a page from House & Garden magazine. Orchids used to seem exotic and expensive. Then suddenly, like yearround asparagus, they arrived in grocery stores. Elegance for $20.
Grocery store orchids are usually a type called phalaenopsis, the novice orchid. Easy to grow, easy to keep alive, they bloom endlessly, so even if they die three months down the road you can hardly say you wasted $20.
Phalaenopsis are perfectly respectable and interesting orchids, coming in many colours and with intriguing markings like an abstract painting. But for many, they are an entry level plant to the fascinating world of orchids.
Orchids in all their sizes, shapes and different points of origin will be on display at the Royal Botanical Gardens this weekend at the 37th annual Spring Orchid Show and Sale.
It’s put on by the Royal Botanical Gardens Orchid Society, and runs Saturday and Sunday. Times and the details of the show are on the society website, www.osrbg.ca.
Just the tiniest interest in orchids can easily grow like a wildfire after seeing what’s on display, in competition and up for sale at the show. About 11 vendors will be selling at the show, including several from Hamilton. This is a chance to see the mind-blowing range of orchids from minuscule to monstrous, ones with fragrance, glowing colour or demur white.
From the orchids in competition to the ones for sale, and even in viewing of orchid artwork, it is easy to get in a frenzy and maybe get in over your head. It would be prudent, then, to take a deep breath and go and learn something before plunking down cash on a lady slipper orchid a Cattleya or Dendrobium.
Both Saturday and Sunday, a full day of free seminars will provide a good grounding in orchid husbandry.
At 1:30 on Saturday, Greta Culley, society member and orchid grower from Ancaster, covers the basic care of orchids. Say someone gives you an orchid as a gift and you don’t want to kill it — this talk is for you. Other seminars cover growing conditions including how much light, water and fertilizer orchids like. And when does an orchid need repotting? Sandra Ianiri reveals when and how to do it. The same topics are covered again on Sunday.
I’ve met many orchid growers and orchid judges, visited greenhouses in people’s backyards and in other countries. In addition to a reverence for the beauty of orchids, the challenge of growing exotic types is a common bond. But even with their expertise and deep knowledge, they encourage the novice to give it a try. And some will even say some of their best orchids came from the supermarket.
‘‘ Phalaenopsis are perfectly respectable orchids, coming in many colours and with intriguing markings like an abstract painting. But for many, they are an entry level plant.