The Sofiero orchid show came with sunny blue skies and nice spring temperatures this year. Dear husband and I set out early in the morning to get there when they opened at 10 am. Well, we made it by 10:45 but who’s counting. The whole Sofiero park was in bloom, and the castle by the ocean looked almost like a fairytale in the morning dew.
Waaait a minute!!!
You really think I noticed the dewdrops and fairies with two cramped tents full of orchids on the horizon?! Right… heh.
Well, in either case. The exhibition tent was filled with beautiful orchids, the growers’ pride. But the one that really stood out was absolutely the 2 meter tall (!) Vanda Kapiolea grown by Tommy Ljunggren. Stunning plant!! Surprisingly enough it did not win any awards at the show… hmmm is there a vanda conspiracy brewing in Helsingborg, Sweden?
Next, we were off to the sales tent. There were a decent selection of orchids for Sweden. Roellke and Orchideen-Garten (Karge) from Germany were there, Brandorff Orchide and Orchidehuset from Denmark, Orchideeën Wubben from Holland and Orchidéhuset from Sweden. Not bad. Personally I think Karge had the nicer selection and I bought most of mine there.
The haul….. I came home with a Vanda Kultana Indian Incense x Kultana Fragrance, Masdevallia Amazone ‘Tala Sca’, Paphiopedilum lowii, Phalaenopsis pulchra, Cattleya Dandenburg Mini, Leptotes bicolor, Neofinetia falcata, a flask of Sedirea japonica babies, and finally… my new pride and joy, a young plant of Euanthe (formerly Vanda) sanderiana v. alba. The alba form is a very rare plant in cultivation and I am very happy to own one.
I was visiting the Orchid Show in Hbg for the first time last Saturday with my daughter. One of her comments was that she was one of the youngest (22 years) visiting the exhibition at that time! Comment please!
Hmmm… well. I have been thinking and I think your daughter is right. There were not a whole lot of really young people at the show. But that said, I do not think the average age (on Thursday when we were there at least) were as high as one “not initiated” might think. If I am a good judge of age (which I am not) then I would say that most of the people in the crowd ranged from slightly young 😉 (early 30’s) to moderately young (late 50’s). Not too bad I think. We ARE talking flowers here… lol.
A lot of people think that only little old ladies grow orchids, but I believe there might even be more guys doing this than us ladies, or at least just as many. And the age is certainly not as “old” – orchids are cool! I have been growing orchids in some capacity since I was about 24, so your daughter is not that out of place.
Hope you both enjoyed the show! Thanks for stopping by the blog Nena.
About Nena comments of younger or older people in a Orchid show, I think that it´s a cultural understanding and folkway of living in contact of Nature. I mean that in Brazil there are a lot of orchid shows everywhere in different months of the year. So..here it´s quite common we meet plp with different ages apreciating those beautiful plants and flowers…from the youngest one to the older. Take a hit in my blog and see the pics at this link: http://www.orquidariocuiaba.com.br/?p=90 – and see some pics of plp in Morrinhos Orchid Show, small town in Goias State, West-Center of Brasil. In that page, an orchid album at Flickr. Invinting you to know my native country and our Orchid Shows!!! See you!
Sorry…some words more! Another detail about orchid cultivation in Brazil! A lot of people think that loving and apreciating flowers, specially orchids and its cultivation it´s a female action…WRONG IDEA! In Brazil, the majority of people growing orchids in their domestic nursery are MEN! Of course, a lot of women are doing that, but men are majority. As I am…in my 50´s…growing orchids since my 27 y.o. See my page above as “QUEM SOMOS” – “Who I am”. Nice to meet you Nena and Karma!
Nice reflections Jose, and nice to hear from you! I think it is the same here, about half or more of the people I meet who are growing orchids are men. Unfortunately we are not spoiled with orchid events here in Sweden. It is getting better but still there is not much going on. Not very easy to get a hold of nice orchids here either, why we have to order most of them from growers in Germany… We actually had the first “Gothenburg International Orchid Show” here last October and it was wonderful!! …But the event might only happen every other year – if we are lucky. I did see the lovely photos from the orchid show on you blog. Very nice!