Your reporter has spent the day going round and round – the exhibits, the sales stands – and met many orchid enthusiasts who are, well, all enthusing about the flowers on display, the displays themselves and swapping ideas and information, and generally having a whale of a time.
Winners were announced last night so it was great to see the ribbons beside plants and on displays today (one of the rosettes was pinned on to the Leroy Orchids display by yours truly – but just because I happened to be passing!).
Bob Hamilton from northern California was the first speaker and gave a fascinating talk about the history of orchids in cultivation, particularly Odontogloussums, which are his speciality.
But enough from me – I’ll let a few photos do the talking. The expo forms part of the Orchid + Flower Show and is at the ASB Showgrounds in Auckland, finishing on Sunday.
Jenny’s had her champion plant for years and was thrilled with its success, especially as the contingent coming from New Plymouth had to deal with roads blocked by slips!
Jenny had several other plants with prize certificates, among them a ball of Dinema polybulbon (below). She told me some funny stories about transporting oddly shaped plants to shows, including standing a tall plant in the toilet of her motorhome to keep it steady.
Coelogyne lawrenceana (below) won Graham Jackson of the Manawatu Society a Champion species rosette, while the display as a whole took out the under 12 square metre title.
Commercial growers have mounted displays as well – one of the largest is by Tropifolia of Auckland, which had passersby ooh-ing and aah-ing at the banks of Phalaenopsis orchids (below, yellow is apparently the trend of the moment for these flowers).
Phalaenopsis OX Little Moon won the Champion award for its class. Photo: Sandra Simpson
Sandra's Garden 