I beg your garden? 5 orchids score major awards at annual St. Albert fair

Five plants set a new standard for world-class quality at the Orchid Fair in St. Albert.

Orchids on display at an annual fair put on by the Orchid Society of Alberta last week took home some hefty hardware.

The 46th-annual Orchid Fair at the Enjoy Centre, which celebrates the thousands of orchid species in the world, featured displays and vendors from around Canada and beyond.

• Orchid Fair in full bloom in St. Albert this weekend

The fair also included prizes from the Orchid Society of Alberta and the American Orchid Society (AOS).

This year, five orchids received AOS flower quality awards.

“(It’s) an award that’s picked for a plant that’s better than it should be, exceptional or performing beyond what a typical plant like that would be,” said Ben Rostron, a certified American Orchid Society judge.

Some years, only one or two orchids receive that award, Rostron added.

Criteria judges look for in determining the quality of the orchids include how big it is, how many flowers it has, and the colour and shape of the flower.

The judges have access to a database of award-winning orchids going back to the 1800s they can use to compare to current competitors. The database includes orchids from Canada, the United States, Puerto Rico and beyond.

“The trick to remember is that we’re looking for beyond ordinary (flowers), we’re looking for things that are better than the best,” Rostron said.

Award winners are added to the database and then used as benchmarks for future judging.

Rostron, who lives in Edmonton, took seven years of training to become a certified AOS judge.

“Which was longer than it took for me to get a PhD,” he said. “It’s important to remember that all AOS judges are volunteers. We do this just for fun.”

Last week’s show was the first Alberta Orchid Fair to have all the certified AOS judges be Canadian, which Rostron calls “pretty significant.”

There are four such judges in Edmonton. Rostron says it’s becoming more accessible to become a judge and maintain that status.

“We commit to doing eight judgings a year. We used to have to go to Vancouver or go to Seattle, four or five, six, seven, eight times a year,” Rostron added.

“Now that we have a centre in Vancouver, we don’t have to cross the border anymore, and we can access people in Vancouver … on Vancouver Island, Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon.”

More information on how to become a certified AOS judge is available online.

With files from CTV Edmonton’s Darcy Seaton