Thought I would revive this thread since shows seem to be coming back. Our SoCal Garden show has orchid vendors like Andy , Cal-Orchid and others. Too bad Sunset didn't make it
Andy told me that they were nearly completely sold out by the end of the first day. And that was this past Thursday. Good crowd and a lot of pent up buying I think.
Dendrobium cochliodes x Den johannis var nigrescens

Dendrobium tangerinum x self

Pleurothallis palliolata

Phragmipedium lindieyanum

Great!
Ted, you are right, it is time again for a new thread on Orchid shows and Orchid shopping! Nice to hear there is some normalcy coming our way!
Nice loot too! The Pleurothallis palliota is huge!!

On the Other side of the Country... https://tamiamiorchidfestival.... is gonna be HUGE ! Like a bunch of Women at a Barney's Bargain Basement Sale

I'll post more purchase picks later. Buy here is one of Andy's area

Wow, smack in the shopping center? No wonder Andy was smiling?

Three floors at the center and the top 2 were about 50% show items with patio stuff on the first. And it was still crowded. And this is a large mall

Here are the last from our run yesterday. As we used to say, the buying shoes were smokin'
In addition we bought half a dozen small Tilly's I have been building a ball of them for a bit now. And of course Lynda bought a few for her garden.

Pleurothallis tarantula Large form


Pleurothallis viduata
;

Cirrhopetalum (Bulbophyllum)-longissimum

Wow, that's a fabulous display by Andy isn't it? You got some gems to grow, too.

Don't know about where you are, but the shopping malls are nearly deserted down here these days. At my local mall there are about 5 stores still open out of probably 40 or more formerly. So they're great for shows like this. The vacant Sears store was used for a Covid vaccination site last year, which was tremendously nice and efficient - lots of parking, lots of room for social distancing. A huge improvement over the outdoor sites originally used here, in summer heat, thunderstorms and other joys of weather.

Still, outdoors in Florida is much better for orchids, I would think. Shocking to the plants to spend 3 days indoors in air-conditioning when they're grown in our lovely humid air for the rest of their lives.

However, you've been having some pretty chilly weather so I suppose indoors is better in California at the moment.

Don't you love it when the buying shoes are smoking! ? Ted, you got some awesome stuff! And Tillandsias are always fun!

Elaine, it really was not that chilly in the mall. Maybe all the people or just a nod to the growers. Many smaller malls, including the one here in Brea have lost shops and are not all that busy. But there is an uptick in mall traffic. I am on the board of directors of the Covina Chamber of Commerce where the shop is, and the shopping numbers are going up. More people out and spending. Problem is getting people to work. Now hiring signs everywhere. We actually have had restaurants shorten hours for lack of staff.
Seems I have always had some Tilly's around, Ursula. Just like sticking them in spaces and not have to do anything else. The just get watered and fed like the orchids. I also have some CP's under the pergola in a small terrarium. They seem to love it, even flowering.

Ted, exactly! They wind up next to the Orchids in baskets or just hanging amongst them. They are happy!

Well I know that out here people seemed to be "orchid starved". It might be a combination of a Covid response, cabin fever, pure lunacy or something else.
The sales area at the Grand Rapids Show in late January did a pretty good business from what I understand. In Lansing, 80% or more of the sales area sold out on the first half day of the show!!
Now both the Akron Show and the Michigan Show got off to slow starts, but I think that by shows end, the vendors did fairly well.
Now this most recent show I did in Strongsville Ohio, out near Cleveland, with many of the same people from Akron, did very well!! I went in the sales area and my goodness, I have "seen more meat on the bone after vultures have been on a roadkill!! There were 10 vendors which is a lot for out here, and several of those had huge holes in their sales booths!!

I judged with someone who is a Big Wig in the AOS, I asked about overall membership. When I was in Florida up until 2018, membership nationally in the AOS was back over 9,000. It had bottomed out at just over 8,000 in around 2012. Now gaining one thousand or so members is not a big deal, It is better but not great. There was even talk at its low point that the AOS and its judging system might disappear at that point. So drumroll please.................. Membership now sits at well over 11,000 and is climbing steadily post pandemic. I was happy to hear that!!

I couldn't afford to lose my volunteer job as a judge if they folded!!!

I didn't make it to our orchid show here this year, so I don't know how everybody did. But I do know that prices I've seen at a couple of places are way higher than they used to be. This seems odd to me as I'm not sure the price of growing and marketing orchids has gone up too much for long-established growers.

I suppose potting supplies are more expensive now, and of course fuel to get to the shows and sales is higher as well. But the prices are higher than what would reflect those costs.

I'm just not buying any new ones right now. Growing and nurturing what I have and enjoying everyone else's beauties.

Being a small shop owner, I can tell you EVERYTHING has gone up. All our suppliers have raised prices, and some as much as 30%!! And in some cases that is if you kind get what you need. The supply chain is still very slow. And with the recent increases in minimum wages all over the country, the total cost of labor is through the roof. With higher wages come higher employer taxes and workman's comp insurance. We raised prices at the start of the year and will have to do so again mid-year.
OK, I'll stop ranting It is what it is.
I also noticed higher prices but to be honest, not as much as thought I would see.

Both Deep Cut and Northern NJ Orchid Society Shows were canceled, so I am waiting to next Winter to attend a show! Unless Silva holds an Open House or something....

I think you will just have to put on the flying variety of those buying shoes.

Hmm, was there a female version of Hermes?

Here's a nice Video Tour of the Vero Beach Orchid Show/Sale in Dr. Ken's community.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Very nice. And now I have more on m lookout list

Thank you for a lovely magazine -I thoroughly enjoy every insert.I would be happy if someone could give me information on where to get a vanda orchid in Nanaimo.It is a climbing Vanilla planifolia orchid .Thank you.Kind regards-Vee.Happy season of gardening now that Spring has finally sprung all of into action.