Sunday Fest Report
I visited Windsong Orchids first since they were open earliest. Lots of neat old country roads and houses leading to the secluded property. It would be very easy to get lost at night. The men of Windsong were friendly, and guest growers were also super nice. I enjoyed talking to everyone, but I did not buy anything.
Not far away, Oak Hill was the highlight of my trip. You could spend the whole day wandering around their property which was filled with many beautiful orchids. They had an entire section of Paphs that I had almost exclusively to myself; I don't think I saw but 3 or 4 other people wandering around in there.
At any rate, I was very excited to find a big seedling of In-Charm Handel (delenatii x hangianum) labeled "white w/pink and green blush" for $28.
Among the guest growers, Cal-Orchid was awesome. The woman, whose name escapes me, spent tons of time talking about orchids. Very knowledgeable. I purchased delenatii 'Hien' x 'Tiffany' which was named after her Vietnamese friend (source of the plant), and his daughter. I also bought a maudiae-type hybrid, Cocoa Cherry 'Vini Cocoa' x fairieanum 'Better than Fair'. These were once again large seedlings (for $15) and she sold them both for $20 on account of it being later in the final day of the sale. She said next up was Denver.
Being the last day of the orchid fest helped me at the Cal-Orchid booth, but I was disappointed to miss out of some really amazing plants that Parkside Orchids sold out. Whoever was lucky enough to buy the Hsinying Switch (Hsinying Sceptre x wenshanense), my hats are off to you. Same with the Paph. (charlesworthii x Hsinying Velvet). These should be amazing plants.
I will try to post pictures if I can figure out how to downsize the MBs of my images.
-Chris