PREVIEW
Orchid Fair
Alberta Orchid Society
April 5 to 7
Enjoy Centre
101 Riel Dr.
Admission: $10 per day. Children under 12 free.
Growing orchids in Alberta’s numbing cold seems pretty bizarre. But there’s a very dedicated group of local horticulturalists who nurture these exotic blooms throughout Alberta’s harshest conditions.
Just as nature’s spring buds are about to burst outdoors, the Alberta Orchid Society’s popular annual exhibition and sale returns for a 42nd year at the Enjoy Centre from April 5 to 7.
Both hobby and commercial growers, eager to display their prized plants, are filling the glass-roofed centre with thousands of brilliant blooms. Expect to see everything from vivid yellows, oranges and reds to fuchsia purples, delicate pinks and snowy whites.
Irresistible to photographers, most of the showcase orchids will be artistically placed in 28 elaborate displays with wood, mounds of moss and tropical trinkets used as stage props in telling a narrative.
The three-day event also features a visual arts display of photographs and paintings as well as a vendor area with 14 sellers from Ecuador, Taiwan, Vancouver and Alberta.
Dr. Freddy Pon, a retired St. Albert family physician who operated Family Medical Clinic at Gateway Village, is a society member who will be on board this year exhibiting and selling some of his extra plants.
The award-winning hobbyist first picked up a few orchids after moving into his Regency Heights home nearly 30 years ago. He was growing beautiful tropical greenery, but decided to add colour to his home.
“I saw an advertisement and went to the Muttart. I bought a few plants and that led to more and more,” said Pon. Today, the passionate hobbyist grows 160 orchids, mainly in the kitchen and on windowsills.
He nurtures numerous varieties including the Phalaenopsis, Cattleyas, Cymbidiums, Dendrobiums and Maxillarias.
While orchids’ massive floral colours place them in a unique category, their fragrances are also a big draw. One of Pon’s favourites is Beautiful Morning, a white hybrid with a yellow lip.
“It’s the most fragrant. When it flowers, the fragrance is not just in the room but the whole house.”
Unlike the rare man-made Shenzhen Nongke Orchid that sold for $200,000, Pon’s cultivars range from the $20 to $100 varieties.
“They’re more exotic than garden flowers. They’re more enriching. They not only have a visual appeal, but they also have an emotional appeal. That’s how you become addicted.”
The emotional appeal he speaks of is an orchid’s bilateral symmetry like a human face. He explains that if a line is drawn vertically down the middle of the flower, the two halves are mirror images of each other.
Not only is there symmetry in the orchid’s face, but Pon also discovered symmetry in healing patients and growing flowers.
“I enjoyed taking care of people. I enjoyed taking care of plants. Both are living organisms. They require the same things: good food, fresh air, clean water. Growing orchids gave me a pursuit away from medicine. I could forget my problems at the office and take my mind off things and relax.”
As a physician Pon could also attest first-hand to the health benefits of toiling with orchids.
“Here in winter people get what used to be called cabin fever. Now it’s seasonal affective disorder. With the lack of sunlight, moods go down. People become depressed or suicidal. A non-medical benefit is exposing people to higher intensity light.”
To help control plant health and trigger the blooming spikes at the right time of year, Pon switched to LED grow lights. They are environmentally friendly and produce increased light.
“For some, this type of light intensity is enough to improve seasonal affective disorder.”
Pon also champions the beautiful orchid’s ability to absorb toxins from the home, in particular xylene, a colourless, sweet-smelling liquid that depresses the nervous system.
Orchids are also toluene eaters. Toluene is a solvent added to some types of paint thinners, contact cement and model airplane glue. As a recreational inhalant it can cause severe neurological damage.
“It’s used mainly in newly built homes and renovations.”
Like Pon, many orchid society members will be walking the fair’s floor this weekend answering questions, offering tips and free tours.
For instance, Paul Paludet, the fair’s display and venue co-coordinator, enjoys giving off-the-cuff fragrance tours.
“It’s not official. Sometimes I announce them, but if I see people interested in that topic, I’ll take them around,” said Paludet, a multiple American Orchid Society award recipient.
This is the Orchid Fair’s fifth year at the Enjoy Centre and he is encouraged by visitor responses. Last year, the fair attracted 2,600 aficionados eager to witness new possibilities.
“We really appreciate the Enjoy Centre. It has allowed us to elevate our show to a world-class level. This is such a special venue and Hole’s has gone out of their way to help us.”
During the orchid fair, society members will wander through exhibits happy to provide free advice on growing conditions and plant suitability to the region.
Exhibition hours are Friday, April 5, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturday, April 6, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, April 7, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
