Garden Faerie: Orchid Festival comes to Matthaei Botanical Gardens March 19-20
Many Cattleya orchid hybrids are not only big and showy, but also wonderfully fragrant. (Sorry, scratch and sniff technology not yet available!)
Photo by Neal Foster
The Ann Arbor Orchid Society's (AAOS) annual show features breathtaking displays of thousands of orchids in bloom, set up by area orchid societies and growers.
The festival also features:
- Free talks and demonstrations on many different aspects of orchid growing and care
- An orchid raffle
- A vendor area with orchids in bloom and orchid-related items
Phalaenopsis, also known as moth orchids, are relatively easy to grow on a windowsill.
Photo by Neal Foster
Saturday: noon to 4:30 p.m.
Sunday: 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Sales open at 10 a.m. both days.
On Sunday, there's also a special Photographer's Hour from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. in the auditorium.
Behind the scenes, in the morning before the show opens on Saturday, several teams of American Orchid Society judges will be on-hand to judge orchid entries and declare winners in each of 100-plus entry classes. AAOS president Alex Challis serves as one of the judges.
More Information:
- The schedule for free talks at the festival will appear in an ad in the March 17 print edition of AnnArbor.com.
- The AAOS-sponsored show and talks are free. If you'd like to enter Matthaei's conservatory, their fee is $5.
- For specific questions, see the AAOS website or call 734-663-0756.
Monica Milla, the Garden Faerie, is a master gardener volunteer, instructor, speaker, garden coach, and author of "Fun with Winter Seed Sowing." She is also a recent member of the AAOS and has managed four months of not killing her first orchid.
Comments
ssgardengirl
Tue, Mar 15, 2011 : 6:24 p.m.
The ones you've pictured are really stunning! I'm not having much luck with bloom with my one orchid, since a couple of years ago when I forgot to water it for too long. It's nice and healthy again, but no bloom so far. Maybe next year!