Hamilton Orchid Show- Royal Botanical Gardens

 We arrived at the botanical gardens half an hour before the orchid show and took a short stroll around the Mediterranean garden. Some were new and interesting things from Eastern Australia.

Crimson Bottlebrush (Callistemon citrinus)

 And others were familiar cultivars or american species.

Bird of Paradise

 This natal plum sp. is one I have commonly seen in Central American countries. It is a very fragrant shrub.

Natal Plum (Carissa macrocarpa)

 This is a unique miniature Agave which I quite admired in the less than healthy cactus gardens.

Miniature Agave

 Some of the cacti looked significantly more scarey than others to come in contact with. This one intrigued me a lot because its spines actually do look like fish hooks! You could grow this and use the spines for fishing. I wonder if anyone has ever tried it...

Fishhook Barrel Cactus

And then 11:30 came when we were allowed to go into the orchid show.Naturally we went into the sales area first. I highly recommend this at any orchid show you ever go to because good plants sell out fast!

Phalaenopsis  are one of the most common orchids and you can buy them in grocery stores and superstores like walmart on a regular basis. They come in a huge variety of colours but mostly commonly range from purple to white.

Phalaenopsis orchid

The one orchid I bought was a huge purple cattleya in great shape and just opening for the show. In my experience it is rare for the large cattleyas to be fragrant but this one was mildly so.

The best company I have found for cattleyas (my favorite flower) is Crystal Star Orchids near Toronto. Every orchid show I end up buying one of their plants.

Oncidium- Sharry Baby

After walking around the sales area multiple times and talking to sellers. It was time to check out the displays. These displays are put together by the sellers or by orchid societies to show off their plants and win ribbons or awards.

Paphiopedilum - Screaming Eagle (CCM/AOS)

Dendrobium

This unusual orchid (Habenaria) was one of my favorites at the show. Although not as large or showy as others this one was quite stunning and spectacular.

Habenaria myriotricha

There were a few sp. that I can't remember the names of but don't think should be left out.

And other species which I recognized from my travels in Central America. This Lady of the night although quite dull in colour smells quite nice to attract pollinators.

Lady of the night (B. nudosa)

Some orchids were quite tiny...

Orpha radican (CCM/AOS)

Wils Lisa Devoes

Orchids have a tremendous amount of variation in the flower morphology (basically what the flowers look like) and another one that amazed me was the catasetum orchids.

Catasetum -Alan's Wine (Marsh Hollow)

Catasetum

There were many bright coloured orchids that you could see from across the room even.Chief Orange was one of those for sure. This orchid was in Crystal Star Orchids' display and my mother bought it. Sellers can sell from their displays but you need to arrange to pick things up at the end of the show or after the show because the displays must remain there for the entire weekend.

Pot. Chief Orange

 This was the oddest mini Phalaenopsis I had ever seen....

Phalaenopsis Mini

Cattleya guttata

C. Fort Motte 'Leopard'

Phragmipediums- Sunset Glow

 Another plant m mother walked out with was a very fragrant orchid. This orchid you could smell across the room and it was wonderful. The flowers were fairly large and dark in colour but not too showy.

Cycnodes - Wine Delight (J.E.M. FCC/AOS)

Dendrobium bigibbum

 These Phalaenopsis just looked very photogenic with that lateral line right down the middle. I have seen a lot of odd colours in this type of orchid but this was a first. The plant was also very well trained. By this I mean you can make the plant grow a certain way so that it is more appealing.

Phalaenopsis

 My favorite miniature cattleya was unfortunately part of an orchid society display. In this case the display is put together by people from the society contributing their own plants. I have never encountered someone who wanted to sell any from these displays.

Cattleya- Otaara Caecean X Peggy Sam

Cattleya- Otaara Caecean X Peggy Sam

 The last orchid that I was fascinated with was Bulbophyllum rothschildianum 'Red Chimney'. It looked like very skinny fuzzy drooping hearts.

Bulbophyllum rothschildianum 'Red chimney' (FCC/AOS)

The Orchid Show in Ottawa is the beginning of may and it is quite a bit larger than the Hamilton one. I had never been to it in Hamilton which is held in the fall. It did allow me to see a few unique species which I have never seen at the spring show.

Bulbophyllum rothschildianum 'Red chimney' (FCC/AOS)