Orchid Society marks 35 years

The Orchid Society vice-president Conrad Coenen holding the grand champion of the show, a Cattleya intermedia var orlata 'rio' grown by Maurice Bycroft. Photo / George Novak

Tauranga Orchid Society celebrated 35 years of blooming success this weekend with their annual show.

Hundreds of orchids were on display at the Tauranga Racecourse which drew almost 1000 people over the course of the weekend.

The local society exhibited hundreds of their best blooms with the Bay of Plenty Orchid Society, the Waitakere Orchid Society and a few others from across the country.

Vice-president of the Tauranga Orchid Society Conrad Coenen said the group started as a small society, an off-shoot of the Bay of Plenty club which was based in Te Puke, with the group fluctuating over the past three-and-a-half decades although it had a vibrant following today.

People were attracted to orchids because of their diversity, he said.

"It's interesting, it's fascinating and when you delve into it there is something for everybody and they are not that difficult to grow."

One of the orchids on display at the show originated from the Himalayas, he said.

"It grows up near the snow belt, it gets monsoonal rain, it gets wind, it get snow on it and I have them at home under my avocado trees and we have just had the coldest winter in the last 20 odd years and this thing is thriving."

With more than 15,000 breeds, not including hybrids and cross-hybrids there was an orchid for everybody, he said.

"We are talking hundreds of thousands of different plants, so there is a lot to talk about. From basic orchid species in the wild, which can cross pollinate naturally or by people who have been doing that for the last 150 years."

Mr Coenen said the society was always open to new members.

"We are plant nutters, if anybody else is a plant nutter too, come on board. The thing is you get so much pleasure over a long period of time, because the flowers last a long period of time."

Orchids

The Tauranga Orchid Society meets at the Wesley Methodist Church Hall on 13 Ave at 7.30pm on the third Tuesday of every month. Visitors are welcome.