Calgary Orchid Show to feature 20,000 species from all over the world

The Calgary Orchid Show kicks off at the Genesis Centre, with vendors from all over the world in town for the event, along with local growers.

The Calgary Orchid Show gets underway at the Genesis Centre this weekend.

The two-day event is hosted by the Foothills Orchid Society and features vendors from all over the world.

“A lot of our international vendors are from Taiwan, Ecuador, California,” spokesperson David Stahl said. “The ones from California – most of the orchids they sell are from places like South America, Central America – so it’s really a very international hobby these days.”

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Alan Koch, owner of Gold Country Orchids from California, says he will be bringing 300 plants to the show.

This year will mark Koch’s third show in Calgary, and he says every time he visits, he makes sure to bring plants that can thrive.

“Because you have a drier climate, I bring things that don’t need high humidity,” he said. “And because of the seasonal time – you have the long daylight, the short winters – so you’ve got to figure that in because if a plant is equatorial, it’s not going to bloom up here, so you’ve got to really be careful."

Dave Sorokowsky, owner of Paph Paradise in California, says he makes a point of bringing orchids that Calgarians don’t normally see.

“I specialize in lady slippers, that’s (the ones) with a pouch, the little cup on them,” he said. “In nature, that’s where the insect would get drawn in and think it’s going to get nectar, and it doesn’t; it gets stuck there, the only way out is back where the pollen is because most orchids don’t want to give nectar away! They’re thrifty so they’re tricking bugs to pollinate them.”

Stahl says there are orchids native to Calgary and the mountain parks west of the city.

“Most of them don’t grow in soil,” he said. “It’s usually different types of bark or some sort of medium that’s very airy because a lot of native orchids don’t even grow in a medium at all, they just hang to the side of trees.”

“People probably don’t realize how many different varieties can actually be grown in the home here; it’s just a matter of understanding the culture, how much light they need, how often to water them.”

The 2025 Calgary Orchid Show runs from noon until 6 p.m. on Saturday, May 31 and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, June 1.