Orchid Show

The Orchid Show in Fort Lauderdale opened this morning, and I went to see it.  In the center

of the large auditorium hall were 24 large displays of thousands of orchids in exotic

arrangements.    Then around the outside walls were display booths for hundreds of

orchid growers from Florida and many other places, including Hawaii, to sell thousands of

gorgeous flowers.  Prizes were awarded for "best" in a number of categories.  Great fun!

Here are some of my favorites.

There are thousands of varieties of orchids, and horticulturalists are constantly developing

new "cultivars."  So you will see flowers in every size from very tiny to very large, 

and in every color and color combination imaginable.

Some orchids have no odor, but many have beautiful and distinctive aromas.

Some of the orchid nurseries specialized in aromatic orchids and invited you to

smell their many beautiful flowers.

Poeple come to orchid shows prepared - with special carts to carry away the new specimens

they purchase.  They know their varieties and are often looking for a particular flower

shape or color.  Each nursery specializes and they seem to be very cooperative in

sending you to another dealer who has your special kind of flower.

This is one of the 24 displays.  Orchids are the only flowers included.  Each year

there is a theme, and this year it is "An Orchid Masquerade."

Some of the orchids look like space ships or aliens.

A large cluster of cranberry orchids was a prize winner.

Orchids are the largest group of flowering plants in the world and are found on every

continent except Antarctica.  There are currently 29,800 recognized varieties.

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A delicate pink frilled variety.

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A large display with many varieties of white orchids.

A delicate white and yellow variety.

I first met this bearded variety at Longwood Gardens; it comes only in green.

This was a prize winner for clusters of yellow.

Many orchids do not grow in soil but hang from trees, and their roots are able to absorb

moisture from the air.  Booths were filled with gorgeous plants just hanging from hooks.

There were also booth selling pots and other equipment.

This was one of the grand prize winners.  All dealers tell you that orchids are very easy

to grow; they bloom several times epr year; and they hold their blooms for months at a time.

A display emphasizing yellow orchids.

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A large prize winning display jam-packed with hundreds of orchids.

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A new cherry and lemon variety.

One of the booths offering orchids for sale.  Most plants sold for $15 - $45 dollars,

although there were a few very special and unusual varieties which sold for more.

a display emphasizing blue and lavender orchids.

A star-burst variety.

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All of these photos were taken with my little automatic Nikon Coolpix camera,

hand-held and using only natural light, no flash.  They show what you can achieve

with little digital cameras these days.

When shooting indoors like this, I try to shoot against a solid dark color background;

it makes the photo clearer and more dramatic.

Those are roots of orchids hanging behind; they are the ones which can absorb moisture

from the air - no soil needed.

A beautiful cherry-and-lemon orchid.

If you watch the SOTU speech on Monday night, you are aware of the dramatic dress

Mrs. Obama wore - in this color = "marigold."

Raspberries-and-cream is another popular color combination.

Spotted orchids came in many colors.

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This was a new cultivar in marigold, which only one dealer had since they had developed it.

It is slightly edged in red.

Some of the displays used dramatic lighting on their flowers.

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The show continues tomorrow and Sunday.  If you are anywhere in South Florida,

I recommend it highly.

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