Photos and commentary from the Fort Worth and SWROGA Orchid Show November 11-12, 2022.
It was a milestone for me as it was the first show where I was an exhibitor, vendor and AOS (student) Judge. On a personal level, it was a good time to reconnect with many old friends, make new ones and also have some necessary conversations with a couple of good people to gain common understanding and continue on sharing the hobby we love.
As was the case with the Dallas show earlier this year, Fort Worth's first post-COVID show was of significant size compared with my general experiences over the past 10 years, and another sign that orchid growing as hobby is ready for a resurgence that can bolster the position of the current institutional structure as long as we continue to be open to change. Specific to the show circuit, that means being open to the presence of vendors of aroids and other families of plants that are good companions to orchids and bring in a tremendous amount of foot traffic that inevitably leads to even more newcomers trying orchids for the first time.
The exhibits were numerous and very nicely done, with some very clearly reflecting a level of effort and design that one saw regularly 20 years ago. The tabletop format is a good idea in the long run to encourage more entries, but seeing quality exhibits as a priority is a great thing.
After almost 4 decades of clerking at shows, the ribbon judging was not too much of a new experience- but it was so fun to do it as a judge, even if a student. Ribbon judging is my favorite show activity, and to be a full part of the discussion and awarding process was terrific.
On the vendor side, I did very well with my usual tray of Den. Blue Twinkle plants plus blooming mini-Cattleyas in addition to a handful of rarities. While most customers are still heavily focused on blooming plants, I am noticing that is now well outside the bounds of Phalaenopsis. Many customers I spoke to were already growing Phals they got at grocery stores and hardware chains- and were looking for something different, but also still in flower. The real volume movers were Oncidium Alliance intergenerics- specifically plants with tall and showy spikes. Ecuagenera also did a really nice business with a magnificent array of select Cattleya species clones. They certainly sold me a lot of plants!
And for anyone out there looking to boost your show attendance, Fort Worth followed the path we took in Dallas this year by inviting a major aroid vendor to come. Aroids and carnivorous plants are really hot commodities right now, and it drove a lot of traffic to the show. Not all of that audience bought orchids- but some did. And many of the orchid vendors had some more common and less expensive aroids for sale that were a nice alternative to the collector’s items brought by the specialist vendors. A win-win for everyone.
Here are some shots of the Exhibits,
This was the one floral arrangement exhibit and very nicely done. I was kind of wondering what it was at first, until I remembered that the show theme was "The Shocking Beauty of the Orchid World".
In the center top of this exhibit you will see a massive plants of Maxillaria picta. It had a wonderful fragrance (to me- some found it rather strong) that filled the entire room and even travelled a good 20 feet down the hall from the exhibition room. And guess who got to count the flowers and pseudobulbs when it got a CCM? Just as I got to count almost 100 blooms on a Pleurothallid that could fit in the palm of my hand my first time as a student judge, so did I get to count this one with a fellow student at the first orchid show where I was a student judge. It was actually good practice. We did the ribbon/string method and were done in less than 20 minutes.
It was a milestone for me as it was the first show where I was an exhibitor, vendor and AOS (student) Judge. On a personal level, it was a good time to reconnect with many old friends, make new ones and also have some necessary conversations with a couple of good people to gain common understanding and continue on sharing the hobby we love.
As was the case with the Dallas show earlier this year, Fort Worth's first post-COVID show was of significant size compared with my general experiences over the past 10 years, and another sign that orchid growing as hobby is ready for a resurgence that can bolster the position of the current institutional structure as long as we continue to be open to change. Specific to the show circuit, that means being open to the presence of vendors of aroids and other families of plants that are good companions to orchids and bring in a tremendous amount of foot traffic that inevitably leads to even more newcomers trying orchids for the first time.
The exhibits were numerous and very nicely done, with some very clearly reflecting a level of effort and design that one saw regularly 20 years ago. The tabletop format is a good idea in the long run to encourage more entries, but seeing quality exhibits as a priority is a great thing.
After almost 4 decades of clerking at shows, the ribbon judging was not too much of a new experience- but it was so fun to do it as a judge, even if a student. Ribbon judging is my favorite show activity, and to be a full part of the discussion and awarding process was terrific.
On the vendor side, I did very well with my usual tray of Den. Blue Twinkle plants plus blooming mini-Cattleyas in addition to a handful of rarities. While most customers are still heavily focused on blooming plants, I am noticing that is now well outside the bounds of Phalaenopsis. Many customers I spoke to were already growing Phals they got at grocery stores and hardware chains- and were looking for something different, but also still in flower. The real volume movers were Oncidium Alliance intergenerics- specifically plants with tall and showy spikes. Ecuagenera also did a really nice business with a magnificent array of select Cattleya species clones. They certainly sold me a lot of plants!
And for anyone out there looking to boost your show attendance, Fort Worth followed the path we took in Dallas this year by inviting a major aroid vendor to come. Aroids and carnivorous plants are really hot commodities right now, and it drove a lot of traffic to the show. Not all of that audience bought orchids- but some did. And many of the orchid vendors had some more common and less expensive aroids for sale that were a nice alternative to the collector’s items brought by the specialist vendors. A win-win for everyone.
Here are some shots of the Exhibits,
This was the one floral arrangement exhibit and very nicely done. I was kind of wondering what it was at first, until I remembered that the show theme was "The Shocking Beauty of the Orchid World".
In the center top of this exhibit you will see a massive plants of Maxillaria picta. It had a wonderful fragrance (to me- some found it rather strong) that filled the entire room and even travelled a good 20 feet down the hall from the exhibition room. And guess who got to count the flowers and pseudobulbs when it got a CCM? Just as I got to count almost 100 blooms on a Pleurothallid that could fit in the palm of my hand my first time as a student judge, so did I get to count this one with a fellow student at the first orchid show where I was a student judge. It was actually good practice. We did the ribbon/string method and were done in less than 20 minutes.
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