Bunga Orkid: Mount Baker Orchid Society Show

Saturday, March was spent at Skagit Valley Nursery working at the annual Mount Baker Society Orchid Show. Our society is quite small and the show accordingly small, with six displays and about an equal number of vendors. It is usually the only show I in which I put in a display and one of only a very few I attend, so it is especially enjoyable for me. The photos below show some of the displays including that put in by our society, a display which won the American Orchid Society's show trophy.

I put in my showcase, as I do every year, but instead of the mountain scene I've used the past few years, I put in something a little more formal. It included 35-40 plants and I won two American orchid Society awards, a Certificate of Botanical Recognition (CBR/AOS) for Dryadella pusiola 'Erin', awarded with around 200 flowers and a Certificate of Cultural Merit (CCM/AOS) for Effusiella cypripedioides 'Ashlynn' awarded with sixty flowers and buds as Stelis cypripedioides.

Dryadella pusiola 'Erin' CBR-CHM/AOS

Stelis cypripedioides 'Ashlynn' CCM/AOS

Photography is always a challenge at a show. The lighting is variable and sometimes poor, in this case not very strong, the backgrounds tend to be cluttered and in large displays the flowers are often beyond reach. I enjoy the challenge, however, and spent quite a bit of time at it, since this is likely the only show I will be able to attend. These are some of the better pictures I was able to get, the flowers identified wherever possible and divided into different types of orchids.

PHALAENOPSIS

Dtps. Sin-yuan Golden Beauty 'Fairy Tale'