Growing fascination

Alicia Robinson

Talk to people who grow orchids, and many will say they’re addictive.

Thousands of orchid addicts, and people who just like flowers,

will congregate this weekend at South Coast Plaza, which is home to

the 24th annual Fascination of Orchids show. The event features free

seminars about growing orchids and includes more than 100,000 orchids

displayed by 68 vendors.

“It’s gorgeous,” said Barbara Johnson, who came with her husband,

Bruce, from Orange to see the orchid show.

The Johnsons have one orchid at home but expected to buy more

before leaving the show.

“I think the orchids give you a lot more than you give them,”

Johnson said.

The show, sponsored by the Orange County branch of the Cymbidium

Society of America, is the second largest orchid show in the world,

said show co-chair Tony Glinskas.

“The area between Santa Barbara and San Diego is probably one of

the world’s best areas for growing cymbidium orchids,” he said.

Because of the climate in Southern California, cymbidium orchids

grow easily here, but the horticultural community didn’t pay much

attention to them until area enthusiasts formed a society, Glinskas

said.

The orchid show includes orchids from all over the U.S. as well as

Mexico, Japan, Thailand and elsewhere.

The orchid is one of the largest plant families on Earth with more

than 30,000 types, Glinskas said. The local show includes a wide

variety of orchids but focuses on types that grow easily on Southern

California, he said.

A vendor with perhaps one of the more unusual display methods is

Andy Phillips of Andy’s Orchids in Encinitas. He grows orchids the

way they flourish in nature, attached to a tree branch or root.

“I started as a little kid,” he said. “It’s just a hobby that went

wild.”

He saw orchids growing on trees for the first time as a teenager

on a trip to Mexico. When he came back, he took all his orchids out

of their pots and put them in trees, he said.

Now he sells orchids that are tied to sticks with fishing line

until they develop the root system to hang on, and customers love

them.

“They’re fascinated by these odd things that are not in pots,” he

said.

Glinskas and several vendors at the show all said one of the best

things about orchids is that they’re easy to grow.

That’s one of the things that Gail Ayres of Seal Beach, who was

buying orchids, likes about them, she said.

“They’re fairly easy,” she said. “You can ignore them.”

She also likes that they bloom for so long, she said.

Several orchid enthusiasts also agreed that what started out as a

hobby became a passion for them.

“You kind of get addicted to orchids,” Glinskas said. “There’s a

certain seduction of an orchid that gets to you.”

The Fascination of Orchids show lasts through Sunday during South

Coast Plaza’s hours of operation. Visit https://www.ocorchidsshow for

more information.

* ALICIA ROBINSON covers business, politics and the environment.

She may be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail at

alicia.robinson@latimes.com.