A much-loved flower will be in full bloom for all to see this week in Nanaimo.
From Friday to Sunday, March 4-6, the Central Vancouver Island Orchid Society is hosting an orchid show at Nanaimo North Town Centre.
Sheila Wilson, society president, said her group is very excited to hold the show, the first since the pandemic started. The flowers will be judged separately by both society members and accredited judges from the American Orchid Society.
“Right now so many of them are in bloom…” Wilson said. “This time of year is a big time for orchids to bloom because it’s when they would be blooming in the tropics.”
She said growers look forward to showing off the flowers they’ve been tending to for so long. Being at home so much during the pandemic, she said she’s enjoyed the “ritual” of taking care of her orchids, placing them on a cart, wheeling them to her kitchen to give them a good soak, inspecting them, and wheeling them back.
“It’s a very interactive preoccupation – it’s a mania for some people – and you can get really involved with them,” Wilson said. “They are a great source of enjoyment and I just love looking at them.”
The Central Vancouver Island Orchid Society has been meeting for nearly 50 years, offering support and encouragement, education and social opportunities, and there are currently around 50 members. Some have just half a dozen plants, while others have a greenhouse full. The hobby appeals to amateurs and experienced growers, Wilson said, and the flower is widely admired for good reason.
“They are so unique, they are so diverse, they have always had this aura of mystery to them. They’re fascinating and it’s such a challenge to give them the conditions they want in order to get them to bloom…” she said. “A new spike, as they call the flower shoots, is cause for excitement because you know you’ve made that plant happy.”
The orchid show will be held during mall hours March 4-6 and is a free event.
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