ENCINITAS — The San Diego International Orchid Fair drew hobby gardeners and orchid lovers to San Diego Botanic Garden Oct. 4 and Oct. 5.
“There are orchids from all over the world that you won’t find in your local nursery or grocery store,” Sam Ukima, orchid festival committee member, said.
Unique to the fair, growers are on site to provide one-on-one answers to gardeners’ questions, and give lectures geared for beginners.
“The actual growers will be there,” Ukima said. “You need to go to the orchid fair to meet these people and buy their plants, you’re not going to find them easily.”
Encinitas grower Andy Phillips was a speaker on Sunday. Phillips usually sells to gardens and landscaping companies.
“Bring your plants that you’re having problems with, that you’re not sure what they are, or how to grow them,” Phillips said. “I can give you all the corrective advise you need on what culture they actually need to grow in to grow successfully either outdoors or indoors in Southern California.”
Phillips specializes in orchids species, and brought more than 200 different types of orchids to the fair.
“The flowers come in all colors and varieties,” Phillips said. “A lot of these flowers are very fragrant. That’s really why people grow them.”
He said orchids have a bad rap of being difficult to grow.
“With a couple of tricks they become pretty easy to grow,” Phillips said.
Rainbows of orchids were for sale at the fair, including hard-to-find species.
Neighbors Michael LeBlanc and Demetria Zwierzynski, of Hillcrest, came in search of house orchids and left with the perfect plants.
“I see orchids I’ve never seen anywhere,” LeBlanc said.
The fair also hosted two competitions for best flower, one judged by the San Diego International Orchid Society, and the other by the esteemed American Orchid Society.
The competition display area is a magnet for orchid lovers and photographers.
Professional portrait photographer Laura Makenna said she comes to the show every year to photograph orchids for her own personal enjoyment.
“I take the photos just for me,” Makenna said. “It fills my soul.”
The San Diego International Orchid Society competition judges the best orchids on site in 12 flower categories to encourage hobby gardeners.
The American Orchid Society is a formal nationwide competition in which orchids are judged against the top scoring like orchid on computer record.
Plant health, flower quality and peak of bloom are all factors in awarding winners.
