Joan MacLeod describes growing orchids as a nice addiction, one that started for her as she was raising five children and searching for a hobby that offered tranquility and silence.
“Life was pretty hectic, and so when I started growing orchids, I used to call it orchid therapy,” MacLeod said. “My opportunity to just chill out, look at the plants. They didn't talk back to me or anything.”
MacLeod now serves as the show committee director for the Gainesville Orchid Society, a nonprofit organization that provides a place for experienced orchid growers to exchange knowledge and new orchid growers to learn.
The society hosted its annual orchid show and fall plant sale Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Kanapaha Botanical Gardens. The show included food vendors, gardening supplies, plants and orchids and lawn decorations.
Many of the orchids displayed took about a year to cultivate. Members were also welcome to submit their orchids for a competition judged by the American Orchid Society.
Judges assessed each species of orchid differently, considering the number, shape and position of the flowers. Guests were invited to purchase the orchids and other plants from vendors and enter a raffle to win a free orchid.
MacLeod said the work that goes into growing an orchid makes the end product more awe-inspiring. Orchids require a balance of shade and sun, frequent watering and moderate temperature and humidity levels.
“I enjoy seeing plants grow and flourish,” she said. “You can check on them [and] it's got a little shoot coming up, and then all of a sudden, it's got a spike, and it's going to bloom. The time you spend with your orchids, it's rewarding.”
The Gainesville Orchid Society installed a year-round orchid pavilion at the Kanapaha Botanical Gardens in 2022, and its annual show highlights the work that members like MacLeod put into maintaining its orchids.
Ghislaine Carr, a board member who leads the garden’s Kanapaha Exhibit, said maintaining the orchid pavilion can be time-consuming.
Volunteers have to water the orchids, check on them daily and consistently move them to different locations to prevent damage from inclement weather. Different species of orchids require different growing conditions and care, so volunteers give attention to the specific needs of each plant.
“The show is like the culmination,” Carr said. “We see all those flowers and it's beautiful, but it takes about a year for most orchids to bloom. So you have a whole year where you really have to love your orchid and the different stages.”
Carr finds the spectacle of the pavilion, which has a wide variety of orchids, to be a main point of interest for new members. One orchid in the pavilion, the oncidium sharry baby, emits a chocolate smell from its flowers at night.
Carr believes the various orchids draw in those who might be interested in growing the plant but don’t know how to get started.
As a volunteer, Carr often spoke with visitors about her work with the plants, which sometimes prompted them to join the organization and grow their own collection of orchids.
The Gainesville Orchid Society hosts monthly meetings at the botanical gardens, where members are encouraged to give lectures, advice or tutorials on how to grow a particular species of orchid.
It is common for different members to specialize in different orchid species, and the ability to learn from others is one reason Stephanie Herrera, a 29-year-old UF biomedical engineering graduate student, became a member.
Herrera is one of the youngest people who attends the society’s meetings and open houses, an event when one member offers a tour of their greenhouse or garden.
Herrera said she understands that orchids require time and patience. She described her favorite orchid, the vanda, as a “retired person’s orchid” because it demands so much time and effort.
Despite the long hours of maintenance, Herrera said the orchid society creates a welcoming and open environment for people who are passionate about orchids and hoping to learn more.
“When you have this shared passion, this shared goal, there's not this push to know everything about everyone, because you can just fangirl [or] fanboy over the orchids with people who also know about it.”
Julia Graddy, a Gainesville Orchid Society board member and the head of publicity, views annual shows as a way to expand the society’s network and involve more community members. Graddy thinks of the annual show as a way to introduce those interested in growing orchids to the diversity and possibilities the hobby offers.
Having been involved with the organization for 40 years, she has seen the organization evolve as younger people like Herrera join and learn from long-standing members.
“We've gotten bigger, definitely a more diverse membership with more young people,” she said. “We’ve always been willing to learn, but it seems like they're just really there to learn and to understand the orchids.”
Like MacLeod, who became “addicted” to growing orchids during a stressful time in her life, Graddy has seen many new members immerse themselves in the hobby. She said she has gained an affinity for “weird” orchids, including the little ones or orchids that hang down and smell funny.
Graddy finds the wide variety of orchids to be a significant part of their appeal and why so many people continue to grow the plants throughout their lives.
“Orchids are among the most diverse plants, and they're just about everywhere in the world,” Graddy said. “So people tend to fall in love with them if they start to grow them.”
Contact Juliana DeFilippo at jdefillipo@alligator.org. Follow her on X @JulianaDeF58101.
Juliana DeFilippo is a freshman journalism major and General Assignment reporter for The Avenue. In her free time, she loves to read and work on crossword puzzles.
