2014 Illinois OS & Chicago Botanic Gardens Shows

[goldenrose]

The Illinois Orchid Society is pleased to be paired with The Chicago Botanic Garden in presenting a 5 week orchid show! The show will open Saturday, Feb. 15th and run thru Sunday, Mar.16th. Show hours are 10am-4pm, seven days a week.

Vendors will be present on weekends, if you are interested in vending space contact me ASAP for more info, space will be limited.

The Illinois Orchid Society's spring show will be the weekend of Mar.8-9, judging, more vendors, more displays!

The Longwood Gardens format will now be present in the midwest! Come grow with us! The Hawaiian Islands, Hawaii's department of tourism, has signed on as a primary sponsor. Let the fun begin!

 

[SlipperFan]

Sounds like a marathon!

 

[abax]

Sounds like loads of fun and a credit card buster to me. Wish I could go.
*heavy sigh*

 

[Chicago Chad]

Rose- will Pepe be showing up from Ecuagenera? If so, do you have the date?

 

[goldenrose]

Don't know yet, I did email him the info, they have come to our show in the past. I'll use this thread to update vendors as they sign up, as of now I have no plant vendors but do have artists & craft types.

 

[tomkalina]

We'll be there, Rose; I just emailed you the vendor registration form.......

 

[goldenrose]

Update!

These Vendors have reserved space so far:
Feb.15-16 - SM Artworks, Esclusso Candles, Orchids by Hausermann's and Arnold Klehm.
Feb.22-23 - Esclusso Candles and Arnold Klehm.
Mar.1-2 - Arnold Klehm.
Mar. 8-9 Natt's Orchids, Fox Valley Orchids, Veronica Sax Studio, SM Artworks, Suphattra's Clay Flowers, & Esclusso Candles.
Mar.15-16 - Arnold Klehm

More are considering or shall I say dragging their feet! We thought this would be a no-brainer for vendors, a limit of 3 plant vendors per weekend (except our show 3/8-9), lower table fees, no displays for 4 of the 5 weeks, just sell and the publicity of the CBG, what more could they ask for? CBG does nothing in a small way, thousands are expected to come the gates each weekend, vendors having one or 2 tables of blooming plants will more than likely sell out the first day!
If you're interested in being a vendor, you know how to reach me!

 

[li'l frog]

With the publicity the Chicago Botanic Garden has started already, there should be more than 5,000 people per weekend, including the weekend of the Illinois Orchid Society Show. It's a great opportunity to sell, and for the rest of us, a great opportunity to get at some good plants.

 

[goldenrose]

The 5 week run is now history! Overall it went great! We only had 1 weekend were the weather was probably a contributing factor, otherwise the crummy stuff came during the week & the weekends were very decent! I don't have the attendance numbers from the gardens, we need to schedule a post meeting, but they were VERY pleased with the attendance and will definitely be doing it next year, which should be bigger & better! The weekend of the IOS show (Mar.8-9) was the largest attended, vendors had no time to eat or pee! The locals could restock on Sunday, the out of towners had maybe a third of what they brought left by the close of Saturday.
The show closed on Sunday Mar.16, then the gardens had to gear up for the post plant sale. The sale started Wed., it was open to garden & IOS members, Thurs it opened to the public. Approximately 10,000 plants were purchased for their displays, all of which needed homes. Prices you ask???? $10/ plant! I got 5 vandas, 1 dendrobium, a big yellow flowered oncidium and 4-5 phrags, off the top of my head -Jason Fischer, a JF cross, schlimii, all originated from OZ.
They sold out completely by the close of Thurs!

 

[Heather]

Wow! Nice haul!!! Sounds like an amazing show.

 

[SlipperFan]

I'd be exhausted!

 

[goldenrose]

I wasn't there all 5 weekends, I was there for the opening Saturday, then being show chair, all 3 days of that weekend and the closing Saturday. IOS members really stepped up to the plate and came thru. We normally take 2 days to set up for our show weekend but this year it was a bit smaller. We started Fri. at 9am. with a fantastic set up crew, had it all done by 11:30am, vendors & display exhibitors started arriving at noon, I had a great unloading crew all afternoon, the membership chair & I were the last to leave at 8pm. Yes, it's a long day but it was one of NO stress which makes a big difference! There were 20 displays, Nichols Hall looked fantastic, visitors came thru there first before starting the CBG show section. The crowd was nonstop all day, the WOW factor was there! It was definitely one of the best shows since my involvement with the IOS.

 

[Tom-DE]

got photos? A orchid show held in any of the formal botanical gardens would be nice.

 

[goldenrose]

got photos? A orchid show held in any of the formal botanical gardens would be nice.

photos can be found on FB - Illinois Orchid Society.

 

[tomkalina]

It was a great show! We were one of the lucky local growers who were able to restock on Saturday night. The IOS volunteers were super-helpful with unloading plants, supplying us with an endless assortment of sandwiches and soft drinks and then loading us up on Sunday night. Good job Rose; count us in for next year.