Show at fairgrounds shares ‘wonders of orchids’

Roberta Fox is devoted to her roommates. She recently moved from her Costa Mesa apartment to a larger house just blocks away to accommodate the 900-member Orchidaceae family living in her home.

The orchids started moving in about 10 years ago when she attended her first orchid show after receiving a cymbidium plant from a colleague. Every year since, Fox has served as the co-chair of the annual Fascination of Orchids show — now on display at the Orange County Fairgrounds — eager to share the message that anyone can grow orchids, and “you don’t need a gazillion-dollar greenhouse to do it.”

“The show is our attempt to share the wonder of orchids with the rest of the world,” she said. “There is nothing quite as spectacular as two buildings that are just chock full of orchids.”

Visitors to the 27th annual Fascination of Orchids show, which features about 50 vendors from 10 countries and numerous professional and hobbyist orchid displays, have the chance to admire tens of thousands of orchid plants while taking advantage of educational tours, seminars and potting workshops.

This winter’s record low temperatures seem to have had little effect on the condition and quantity of blooming orchids, of all shades and sizes, currently on display.

The yellow blossoms on one of orchid hybridizer Loren Batchman’s plants were bright as ever after being completely covered in ice less than a month ago, when they survived a 17-degree chill.

As sellers prepared for the show Thursday, Home Chaovanich carefully unloaded dozens of orchid plants, some of which had bloomed in the three days they spent en route from his home in Thailand. It cost him more than $2,000 to get the flowers and other orchid paraphernalia — including preserved flowers and T-shirts — to Costa Mesa.

Though his plants don’t come from overseas, Andy Phillips’ orchids boast a distinctive quality. They grow on sticks instead of in containers.

“I just do what nature does,” said the owner of Andy’s Orchids in Encinitas. “You will never find an orchid growing in a pot in the wild.”

For this year’s event, show organizers hope to emphasize that Southern California, particularly the coastal area between Santa Barbara and San Diego, is a great environment to grow orchids, the largest and most diverse group of flowering plants.

“Instead of having lots of pictures of exotic species, we want to show people that these plants do extremely well right here in the Orange County area,” said Tony Glinskas, the show’s co-chair. “But we can’t promise that they won’t get addicted.”

Judges from the American Orchid Society will award several prizes over the weekend, including the Grand Champion Trophy and $300 cash prize for the most outstanding orchid on display.

Norman Fang came from Montclair, where he owns and operates an orchid nursery, to help judge the show, one of the biggest in the country. To become a certified judge, applicants go through a seven- to 10-year training and screening process, learning about each of the more than 25,000 known orchid species.

“It takes longer than medical school,” said Fang, who has grown orchids since he was 6. “I’ve known I wanted to do this since I was a kid.”

IF YOU GO

WHAT: The 27th annual Fascination of Orchids International Show and Sale

WHEN: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. today and Sunday

WHERE: Buildings 14 and 16 at the Orange County Fairgrounds, 88 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa

COST: $4 for one day; $6 for the weekend; $20 for potting workshops

INFO: www.fascinationoforchids.com