Orchid growers from across the province are attending the Orchid Magic show and sale at the George Preston recreation centre in Langley at 20699 42 Ave.
Presented by the Fraser Valley Orchid Society, the annual event is a celebration of the beautiful blossoms which grow wild all across the globe and have intrigued people for generations.
Participants have come from Victoria, Vancouver, Nanaimo, Kelowna and the Okanogan, said Society president Yolanda Breck.
“Our aim is to show people the different varieties of orchids, what kind they can grow,” Breck said.
Standing in a meeting hall that housed an exhibition of award-winning flowers, Breck said the displays represent a range of cultivation techniques and all of them are locally grown.
“A lot of people grow on window sills, some grow in greenhouses.,” Breck said.
“The members have managed to get them to grow and flower here in BC. It’s amazing what you can do. Some are difficult to grow and bloom and some are easy.”
During the Victorian era, orchid hunters were sent out to bring the exotic flowers back to Britain, even though few people had any idea how to care for them properly.
More than 20,000 species exist worldwide, including some that grow wild in Canada. Many of them are endangered due to over-harvesting of the plants and to deforestation that has destroyed the trees on which they depend for survival.
The Orchid Magic show also serves as a fundraiser for the Langley Hospice Society.
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The Fraser Valley Orchid Society meets nine months of the year, on the Tuesday before the fourth Wednesday of each month, from 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. (except for July, August and December) at the George Preston Recreation Centre at 20699 42 Ave.
More information is available online at http://www.fraservalleyorchidsociety.com.
dan.ferguson@langleytimes.com
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