Photos by Leslie Keller
By Gina Malone
Orchid lovers and growers—and those with a curiosity about the enchanting flower that boasts around 30,000 different species—are invited to The North Carolina Arboretum Friday, April 12, through Sunday, April 14, for the 23rd Annual Asheville Orchid Festival House of Orchids. Co-hosted by The Western North Carolina Orchid Society (WNCOS), the event includes exhibitions of hundreds of flowers in more than 10 crafted displays, an American Orchid Society sanctioned judging event, sales by vendors from Ecuador and across the US, and programs and educational lectures. Hours are 4–8 p.m. on Friday, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
Graham Ramsey, show chair and president of the non-profit WNCOS, discovered orchids when he met his wife Leslie Keller, who along with her mother had an appreciation for the beautiful flowers. “When Leslie and I married 20 years ago, her mother gave me 18 orchids from her back porch in Florida,” Ramsey says. “Not long after that, I joined the WNCOS, and I have been obsessed ever since. Orchids have always had an exotic allure,” he adds. “The variety, colors and fragrance are like no other.”
Photo by Leslie Keller
Highlights of the festival include programs on Saturday and Sunday. “The two morning tours by Marc Burchette [Biltmore’s orchid horticulturist] are always a favorite,” Ramsey says. “He is quite the expert and always entertaining. I will also be hosting two repotting clinics, as how-to programs are perennial crowd-pleasers.”
Mark Reinke, owner of Marble Branch Farms, is a long-time participant of the festival and looks forward to selling orchids each year at this event. “More than that,” he says, “I look forward to seeing all my orchid friends again, both members of the local club and other vendors. I also still look for things to add to my personal collection from the other vendors.”
Reinke’s interest in orchids dates back to his teenage years. In 2004, after selling his travel agency in Atlanta, he built a commercial greenhouse in Oconee County, SC, and Marble Branch Farms opened in 2005. “I even do some of my own hybridization, which requires an orchid laboratory and lots of patience,” he says. “Many orchids take very special handling and tiny seedlings will take 5 to 7 years on average to reach blooming size.” When not participating in shows or the TD Saturday Market in Greenville, SC, Reinke stays busy with mail orders from his online store.
“I think people with only a passing acquaintance of orchids, usually limited to the few varieties available in grocery and big-box stores, are blown away when they come to a show like the Asheville Orchid Festival and become introduced to multitudes of species and hybrids they had never dreamed of,” says Reinke. “They may start out looking for a few pretty flowers to add to their windowsill collection, but the vast selection of exotic beauties often leads them to start to branch out to more challenging varieties. Luckily, there are orchids to suit every level of interest.”
Admission to the Asheville Orchid Festival is $5, with children 12 and under admitted free, and includes all exhibits, sales areas, programs and demonstrations. Those who become members of the Western North Carolina Orchid Society will be admitted free. For all non-Arboretum members and non-WNCOS members, there will be a parking fee for NC Arboretum. Learn more at wncos.org.
