Orchid Show and Sale at The Huntington

On a rare Sunday off, I traveled to Pasadena to The Huntington  to visit their fifth annual orchid show and sale. Every orchid society in southern California participated with displays and volunteer staff during the event. 

The Huntington has served as the location for American Orchid Society judging for many years. To become an A.O.S. judge, requires six years of training and mentoring before one receives accreditation.  Long-term judges have faced a tremendous learning curve since the advent of DNA technology. Many plant species have been shifted to other categories or been re-named based on their DNA profiles. A.O.S. judges also receive yearly continuing education to maintain their status. 

Flowering trees in the parking lot.

Closeup of the Silk Floss Tree,   Chorisia speciosa 'Monsa'

The display halls were in upstairs and downstairs rooms, and represented Orchid societies and several vendors. Orchid shows often have a preview night where photographers can work their craft unhindered by spectators. I find people to be a charming addition to photos as they admire the exotic displays.

The website for the San Fernando Orchid Society has adopted the motto: "Learning about Orchids in the company of friends," which should be the essence of every Orchid society. Their fine display attracts the attention of a future A.O.S. judge.

The reason why there are Orchid shows all during the year, is the seasonality of different flowers. Cal Orchid of Santa Barbara never disappoints with displays or offerings for sale. This is an assortment of fall-blooming Cattleyas. 

A display by Ambriz Kingdom of Plants, who was also a vendor in the sales tent. 

This stunning display by the Orchid Society of Southern California was big enough to require more than one shot.

I inadvertently missed the name of the society who created this fine display. 

Fine offerings by the Orange County Orchid Society.

A specimen of Cattleya bowringiana var. albescens

The Newport Harbor Orchid Society won many ribbons on their fine display.

A fine arrangement by the Thornton Conservatory

The Conejo Orchid society added to their already burgeoning events calendar with this beautiful diorama. 

The San Diego County Orchid Society not only spent a lot of time and effort on this great display, they had to travel a long distance to do so.

Sunset Valley Orchids of Vista, California set up this fine display, then worked their booths in the sales tent for three days. Ruben and Carlos, who hosts their Youtube channel,  assisted me while I was there in selecting three semi-alba plants of the Cattleya alliance.

A fine specimen by the Vietnamese orchid Society

A beautiful mural background for this display by the Malibu Orchid Society

Norman's Orchids not only provides a stunning display, they always bring irresistible offerings for sale.  Using considerable foresight, Norman acquired the domain name "orchids.com" for his fine website. His nursery, one of the last retail orchid nurseries in California, is located in a residential area of Montclair, California. Presumably he lived during the startup of his operations. Norman's hard work and success makes him an inspiration to all entrepreneurs. 

I attempted no photography in the sales tent, which was a sea of people. In spite of five days of exhausting work, all of the vendors were kindness personified.

A tranquil scene adjacent to a vendor from Ecuador, where I had a pleasant chat in Spanish.

I found this large division of (Blc. Liu's Joyance x Blc. Village Chief Triumph) at Norman's Orchids booth, and brought it home with me. It resembles a plant I had briefly over 40 years ago.

After the show, it was lunch time. I wanted to sample local Korean offerings and found this place close to the Huntington. One of the banchan was an intriguing Zucchini Kimchi that was spicy with an underlying sweet and sour pickle flavor. This dish was a good balance to spicy barbeque chicken, and has already sent me searching for a recipe.

The interior of the restaurant, so typical of those L.A. places that send us Bakersfield people over the Grapevine for a meal.

My Soapbox Rant About Orchid Societies

You will notice that every Orchid society represented in this article is on the Internet with at least a Facebook page. Some businesses and societies have very elaborate web pages that are up to date with latest events and offerings. This requires a volunteer to maintain the web page.

Some of the Orchid Societies are 501-C3 organizations. This requires a lot of work in the beginning, also done by volunteers.

Then there are the events, often hosted in members' homes. To have a successful show, like the Huntington, requires groups of people who work well together.

Every time I go to an Orchid nursery or attend a show, I find myself explaining to a vendor or Orchid society member why we do not have any Orchid societies in Bakersfield. They are always incredulous at my explanation.

I was president of the Bakersfield Orchid Society when it closed after almost 50 years. It was originally chartered in 1946. When I got involved there in the late 70s, it was a healthy society with monthly meetings and a yearly bus trip to surrounding nurseries. By the early nineties, officers were recycled every year, and all the work was done by three people. There were no more trips due to lack of interest. All the other members of the society had plenty of complaints and suggestions, but none volunteered. The dialog, fortified by alcohol,  was even more aggressive at the annual Christmas party and summer barbeques.

I also served as president of the Golden Empire Orchid Society, which had been founded as an alternative to the Bakersfield Orchid Society and survived it by almost 20 years. The two societies, estranged from each other by personalities, existed concurrently with each other for a time. There were some people who held dual memberships. The Golden Empire Orchid Society finally ended by attrition. Members quit using their rare expendable hours to attend a meeting that was always upset by one very obnoxious individual.

Who knows what the future may bring to Orchid growers in Bakersfield?

Santa Barbara Orchid Open House

On July 12th, I went to Santa Barbara to the annual open house at Cal Orchid and Santa Barbara Orchid Estate.

Friday was a good day of the week to go. There was less of a crowd than Saturday or Sunday, and a large selection of plants.

I got to make the acquaintance of the President and other members of the Conejo Orchid Society, who were helping out at the sales table at Cal Orchid. They issued a warm invitation to me to some of  their upcoming events. Upon perusing their website, I was amazed to see such an awesome society. They have a large board along with other chair-people responsible for membership, website and other duties. They do many fun events throughout the year.

Cal Orchid

This is one of the "wet" walls at Cal Orchid. It was noticeably cooler next to this wall. The day was very warm for Santa Barbara.

I am always pleased to see old greenhouse construction in these nurseries, just as it's been for decades.

Orchid hybridizers today  attempt to breed small plants with a large number of flowers.

This is Cattleya Leopoldii, an old fashioned species. This tall plant reminds me of orchids from my childhood in my grandfather's orchid house.

Cattleya Leopoldii's bouquet of fragrant flowers.

One of the benches at Cal Orchid, where many offerings of Orchids and Platyceriums were available.

Like most orchid growers the owners here, James and Lauris Rose,  are interested in many other plants. This trip, I presented them with a Puya Mirabilis from my collection, and they were thrilled.

Since my last visit here several months ago, Cal Orchid has sold through many of their Reedstem Epi's, making room for new hybrids. It does the heart good to see a successful business.



Lycaste Aromatica



A semi-alba Cattleya hybrid





The Santa Barbara Orchid Estate


Both parking areas at Santa Barbara Orchid Estate were almost full, even before noon on a Friday. One gentleman in an Aloha shirt told me he had flown in from Seattle just for this event.



Many orchid lovers have dreamed of collecting orchids in the wild, while slashing our way through the jungle with machetes. We sit for hours and read books about the collectors of old, while romanticizing about what it must have been like. 
Facilities like this one would be considered luxurious in the jungle.



A stand of Knopfia adjacent to the parking area.



Roots hang freely from this orchid. Most of the plants at Santa Barbara Orchid Estate grow out in the open, or under minimal shade cloth.



Orchids for sale are temporarily displayed in a parking lot.



Customers peruse offerings in the sales area.



Since it was lunch time, I availed myself of a picnic table in the shade where I got to share crackers with a friendly Blue Jay.



The picnic area.



Friendly staff members relax adjacent to a Kentia palm. They were happy I shared some tree-ripened peaches from my yard.



Part of the charm here is the architecture. This potting bench is still in use.



A growing room adjacent to the picnic area that features architectural components from many years ago.



After lunch I started touring the growing areas.



Even people who like other plants besides orchids would enjoy Santa Barbara Orchid Estate. A Platycerium grows on a post here. The Gripp family, who owns the estate, told me they have many Platyceriums growing volunteer from spores floating in the air. These can become weeds when they sprout on roofs of greenhouses.



A camera cannot do justice to am area that stimulates many senses at once. The fragrance in the air was hypnotic.



A Sobralia specimen in flower.



A closeup of the flower.



A Cattleya hybrid specimen.



Brightly colored little Masdevalias.



I wanted to obtain some Epidendrum
Parkinsonianum to fill up some beautiful pottery sconces brought to me as gifts from Ray and Paula Romines. I was concerned that they were rare. Actually, they were ubiquitous, with quite a few growing out in the open year round. I obtained a couple of small plants from the mark-down table. They will grow quite rapidly.


Epidendrum Parkinsonianum flowers.



A beautiful orchid in flower. It was hanging too high for me to read the label.

Laelia Purpurata is the national flower of Brazil. Santa Barbara Orchid Estates never disappoints with its display of varieties of the species, hybrids and other summer flowering Cattleyas.

Laelia purpurata carnea

A mounted Laelia for sale.

A Filipina lady and her assistant prepare her massive haul for shipment. It boggles the mind to see the large specimen plants that go on a weekend like this. I often wonder what happens to these plants in the hands of amateur growers with a wide array of experience and skill.

Father and son, Paul and Parry Gripp. They entire family is very hospitable. In fact, Paul took the time to talk to me for over an hour about the old days and orchid growers who aren't here any more. I will be featuring some of these growers in future articles.

My Haul

I was fortunate to bring home several plants.

An oddity of the Orchid world, this is Bulbophyllum Phaelenopsis. It is grown as much for its foliage, which resembles Phaelenopsis leaves, as for its flowers. The flowers will emit a smell of rotting meat and attract flies for pollination.

This is a line-bred cross of Laelia Purpurata. Breeders often cross plants within a species to improve color, form, substance, number of flowers or plant habit.

This is a seedling of Cattleya leopoldii 'Spreckles" by self. It should flower in a couple of years. Sometimes breeders will self a plant to maximize positive traits or improve chromosome counts in the progeny.

This is Dendrobium Victoriae- Reginae from Cal Orchid.

Air Plant Alchemy

In addition to the Orchids, I bought a couple of Tillandsias from Air Plant Alchemy, who had a booth at Cal Orchid. 

Tillandsia concolor x xerographica. The pod parent (concolor) is dominant for plant habit and color. 

I was surprised that xerographica is used as a parent. It is quite plain looking. This is from my collection.

Tillandsia Houston

As always, I thoroughly enjoyed my day trip. I always meet great people at these events. A trip to these nurseries is like a mini vacation any time of year, without the expense of a flight.