First-timer sparkles at orchid show

WESTERN BUREAU:

Sunday’s staging of the Montego Bay Orchid Club’s 29th annual orchid show and sale saw a first-time attendee reaping the reward of his natural green thumb as an orchid plant he found growing in the wild won three awards out of the event’s 12 categories.

Lance Guthrie, grounds manager at the Round Hill Resort in Montego Bay, St James, was quite pleased and overwhelmed as he accepted his awards at the end of the two-day event, which was held at the Pier One Restaurant in the western city under the theme ‘A World of Orchids’.

“This was my first time entering this show, and I won three awards for my first time. It goes to show that you’ll be successful with hard work,” said Guthrie, who was convinced by members of the Montego Bay Orchid Club to enter, despite not being a member himself.

Guthrie’s entry was a Trichocentrum Ungulatum orchid, otherwise known as the Popcorn Orchid or the Spotted Mule Eared Orchid. It beat out over 300 other orchid entrants to claim the prize for the show’s best overall orchid, the best Oncidium orchid, and the best Jamaican orchid species.

“I didn’t expect it to bloom so early, because when I did research on it, I expected it to bloom in April. As soon as I saw signs of it blooming, I kept on working on it so it could come in full bloom for the show, and it bloomed three days before the show began,” Guthrie explained.

“When most persons grow plants, they don’t try to see what the basic requirements for the plants are. But I have a passion for landscaping, so what I do is that I find out what the plant needs and make sure I can provide a perfect environment for it to grow. When I found this orchid, I realised that it likes the swamp.”

DIVERSE WORLD

Audry McIntosh, president of the Montego Bay Orchid Club, said that orchids can grow almost anywhere in the world under various conditions.

“The orchid world is diverse, as we have miniature plants and giant plants, and we have plants growing all over the world. The only place orchids are not found is Antarctica, which is much too cold. Orchids are in swamps, forests, the mountains and plains, and we also have orchids growing underground,” said McIntosh.