FEBRUARY 2008

Wild About Orchids

Festival Pavilion

You don’t have to be an orchid thief or a flower fanatic to enjoy the brilliant blooms at the Pacific Orchid Exposition held in Fort Mason Center’s Festival Pavilion in late February and early March. All you need to appreciate the show is an eye for glamour and adventure and the desire to stroll through wonderful displays of rare foliage from all over the world.

Orchids Gone Wild is the theme for the 56th annual exposition, which features more than 150,000 specimens from more than 50 local, national, and international nurseries, hybrid cultivators, and growers. Expo participants range from dedicated professionals with decades of experience to talented amateurs just discovering orchid mania.

The orchids on view come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and patterns — from jungle behemoths with massive, complex petals to tiny, delicate flowers that grow in cloud forest canopies. Many blossoms mesmerize viewers with fantastic markings in stripes, spots, or swirls of color. Some orchids draw attention with vivid shades, including scarlet, fuchsia, orange, violet, and green. Others express more subtle qualities through quiet pastel palettes, appearing almost translucent in certain lighting conditions.

The San Francisco (SF) Orchid Society sponsors the expo and offers tours and educational demonstrations throughout the event. The prestigious American Orchid Society certifies local and national judges who select the award-winning orchids on view at the expo. The SF Orchid Society also organizes an expo preview gala on Thursday night, February 28. This reasonably-priced affair raises funds for the California State University Horticulture Program.

Gala attendees sample tasty appetizers paired with premium wines poured by 24 California wineries, including four winners from the 2008 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, held at Fort Mason Center in mid-February. Live music by The Lost Cats jazz quartet enhances the orchid-filled ambiance. Bay Area celebrity broadcaster Cheryl Jennings of KGO-TV and other KGO radio personalities host a lively wine-themed auction and door prize giveaway. Each guest also receives free Reidel Crystal stemware for tasting the wines.

Get in touch with your wild side in an orchid adventure to remember at the Pacific Orchid Expo. See February 28 and www.orchidsanfrancisco.org for more information.

— Claudia Willen

Images:
Cymbidium Hybrid, Photo: Eric Hunt