Spring might be limping along outside with nary a petal to be seen, but inside the Enjoy Centre in St. Albert, the season is in full bloom for the annual Orchid Fair. This is the 46th-annual show and sale put on by the Orchid Society of Alberta. It features vendors from across Canada and beyond, including Taiwan. The event celebrates the hobby of orchid growing and includes two competitions, one by the Alberta society and another by the American Orchid Society. “They judge to an international standard,” said Darrell Albert, the show chair. “We’ve only ever had one first-class certificate plant here at Edmonton, so you don’t give those away that easily.” This show is the largest of its kind in western Canada, according to organizers. There are more than 26,000 species of flowered plants that fall into the category of orchid, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica. Orchids can be found naturally growing on every continent on Earth except for Antarctica. The challenge of growing a species native to a cloud forest in Ecuador on the plains of Alberta is part of the fun for some gardeners, according to Albert. But some are much easier to grow, no matter the skill level of the owner. “It’s a hobby for all ages. People grow them in all different places, their window sills, greenhouses,” said Ben Rostron, vice-president of the Orchid Society of Alberta. “It’s an addiction or an obsession, and no doubt about it, once you see one, you catch the disease.” Rostron has been growing orchids since the mid-1980s and encourages people not to get discouraged by a lack of success every now and then with the plants. “Everybody who’s been a longtime market grower has a collection of dead plant tags, and the larger the box of plant tags you have, the more you’ve learned along the way,” Rostron said. Tracey Thue travelled to the show from Saskatchewan, she’s the co-president of the Saskatchewan Orchid Society. “To actually come and see this incredible variety of shape and color and growth form, it’s spectacular, and it’s mind blowing, too,” Thue said. “It’s incredible and really empowering that a person can acquire a plant that maybe grows natively in southeast Asia, but you could meet its growth requirements in your own house.” The Orchid Society of Alberta has been around for 50 years now and is always looking for new members. “We bring in, every month, guest speakers, and we have hands-on, how-to sessions as well. We bring in various vendors that sell plants as well,” Albert said. “If you’ve got the curiosity and you want to try it out, then the Orchid Society is the platform that can help you.” The show began Friday and continues until Sunday. With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Connor Hogg
