Flowers create fascination

Andrew Edwards

Orchids come in a wide array of shapes, sizes and colors -- just like

the people who can’t get enough of them.

The 25th annual Fascination of Orchids show is set to open today

at South Coast Plaza, where more than 70 orchid vendors from 11

countries will be on hand for what event organizers are billing as

the nation’s biggest gathering of the exotic flowers.

“We’ve taken this from what used to be a mall show into what we

believe is the largest show in the country,” event co-chair Tony

Glinskas said.

The show started in Anaheim, and after being bounced to

Westminster and then Huntington Beach, it settled at South Coast

Plaza 11 years ago, Glinkas said. The festival is scheduled to

continue through Sunday, and in addition to the many vendors, a

series of workshops are scheduled to teach would-be orchid

enthusiasts how to add the flowers to their gardens.

“We’re talking about orchids that are easy, that you can grow in

your backyard,” Glinkas said, warning that cultivating orchids can

plant the seeds of a prolonged fixation.

“There’s no known cure for orchid fever,” he joked.

On Wednesday, exhibitors were hauling truckloads of orchids into

South Coast Plaza, and workers were busy completing the show’s

centerpiece, a 23-foot giant panda that will be surrounded by orchids

and other exotic flowers.

“It will be a very dramatic bamboo jungle,” said floral designer

Jim Hynd, vice president of Fiesta Parade Floats, a Pasadena company

best known for its Rose Parade entries.

Sun-yellow oncidium orchids sprout from bamboo shoots surrounding

the panda, and red dendrobium orchids are included in the display,

which Hynd said includes about 1,500 flowers.

Newport Beach exhibitor Richard Moriarty, owner of Green Systems

International, has been a part of the show every year, he said. He

described the event as a “crazed madhouse” full of bargain hunters,

who keep the show packed year after year.

“It’s amazing, the orchid fanatics that will drive hundreds of

miles to save a couple dollars on an orchid,” Moriarty said.

What exactly causes people to obsess about orchids is a mystery

even to Joseph Arditti, an emeritus professor of biology at UC Irvine

who has studied the flowers since he was a student at USC.

Arditti, who is slated to speak Friday on the roles of orchids in

mystery, spy and science fiction novels, said he does not know why so

many authors weave the flowers into their plots, except that orchids

have had devotees for centuries.

“When the Europeans were living in trees, the Chinese were growing

orchids,” Arditti joked.

Arditti alluded to the flowers being useful for more than

enhancing a garden.

“I’m an old man now, but when I was young, they were very

effective,” he said.