Some looked like deep-sea creatures; others looked like palm-sized butterflies. Some smelled like hyacinth, while others were rumored to smell like rotten fish.
At first glance, the only thing the hundreds of orchids on display at the Botanical Conservatory this weekend seemed to have in common was their power to hypnotize their admirers.
Hundreds of orchid addicts gathered at the Foellinger-Freimann Botanical Conservatory this weekend for the Three Rivers Orchid Society’s juried orchid show. Aside from seeing the displays, onlookers could buy an orchid of virtually any color, shape, odor or size.
“Look at all the different varieties you can find here,” said Trista Rose Miller, a florist who came to see the show with her mom, Sandy Guillaume. “This is really a top class event here in Fort Wayne.”
The show drew nine displays from orchid societies in the Great Lakes region, totaling more than 300 plants, organizers said. Judges accredited by the American Orchid Society judged the plants, handing out several awards to people who could gain national recognition if their plants continue to place well.
Russ Vernon, who developed a love affair with orchids when he was a child in the 1960s, won best of show for his white and green paphiopedilum Pit River Rise.
“They’re amazing, the different stories that they have,” he said of the plants. “And it’s amazing how they manage to con us into helping them reproduce.”
Erich Michel, a micropropagation specialist whose orchid won an award of merit in the show, said judges take the competition very seriously.
A judge himself, Michel said he had to spend seven years training, including writing papers and undergoing several evaluations, before he became an accredited judge. A lover of all plants, he said he found orchids particularly seductive.
“People may start out with African violets and then go into something like cacti or bonsai plants,” he said.
“But I think a lot of plant people evolve into orchid people because they’re kind of exotic.”
