Jerry Nishioka joined the Gardena Valley Cymbidium...

Jerry Nishioka joined the Gardena Valley Cymbidium Club five years ago out of frustration. “People had given me several plants,” he said. “They had beautiful flowers, but a couple of years later, they would be dead.” At club meetings, he learned the right way to grow the tropical Asiatic orchids and became an enthusiast. “It’s a beautiful flower,” he said.

If you’re having a similar problem--or just want to see more than 300 cymbidium plants on display--you can catch the club’s free show today from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Gardena’s Nakaoka Memorial Community Center, 1700 W. 162nd St.

Along with the display of plants cultivated by members of several cymbidium clubs, the show will feature plant care demonstrations by Michiaki Kawano, the Gardena club’s instructor. The audience will be taught how to divide plants--which is done if a plant hasn’t bloomed--and repot them. “Novices can pick up some techniques,” said Nishioka, who is show chairman. Made up of cymbidium hobbyists, the Gardena club started the show four years ago, drawing 2,000 visitors last year. The club meets on the second Thursday of the month at 7 p.m. at the Nakaoka center.