On Friday I visited the Pacific Orchid Expo in San Francisco, at the Fort Mason Center on the bay. It was simply stunning. The event is held annually by the San Francisco Orchid Society, and it is a show and sale. As many as 50 vendors gather and many of them present specimens for judging. 150,000 flowers are at the show, and this years attendance was estimated at close to 25,000 visitors. 

The orchid world and the hydro world overlap in many ways. Orchids naturally grow without soil, generally they are attached to the bark of trees. They require attention to environmental controls like humidity, excessive salts in the root zone and pH, and so many hydro hobbyists are suited as orchid growers. Also, orchids love premium liquid nutrients. 

While I was there I was able to meet many orchid growing enthusiasts, and they were so friendly and helpful. It seems the entire goal of the show is to progress the diverse world of orchids. Workshops were held throughout the weekend, but besides that, people with experience and knowledge were dying to share their information. Tomorrow I’ll be posting some practical how to tips I picked up while I was there. Today I just want to share some of the amazing images I brought back. Besides being a haven for growers, the event was a photographer’s dream. All types of people were capturing amazing images of orchids.

One part of the exhibition hall:

The theme was Green with Envy. Coco is one of the most sustainable, and perfectly suited growing medias for orchids.

Stunning displays of blooms were everywhere.

These flowers looked like they were carved from Ivory:

This flower might have been my favorite, and was one of the more unusual flowers. It was presented by Hanging Gardens.

I took dozens of close up images. Here’s a collection of cymbidiums: 

A collection of Cattleyas:

Check out the rest of the photos on Flickr.