April 28, 2013
Blc. Kalei Mist
(That’s 7.5″ of Iowa Cornfed hand in the background.)
The orchids are here for the 2013 Orchid Show & Auction! We have some great orchids ready to go home with you, including some unique surprises like mounted coconut orchids.
Here are just a few more orchids that will be available:
Bln Aka’s Aloha
Bnfd Gilded Tower ‘Mystic Maze’
Den. Salaya Gold
April 20, 2012
For more information, click on 2012 Spring Orchid Show & Auction.
Thanks to all the Volunteers from Sioux Falls Orchid Club who make this sale possible.
*A special thanks goes out this year to Michelle Kats for designing our sale flier. Michelle likes gardening and would love to have more orchids, but is too busy right now being a doggy foster mom for Sioux Empire Pit Rescue. Check out some of the great dogs she has helped find homes!
August 19, 2011
Orchid enthusiasts usually start simply–they go shopping at the discount store or grocery store and get enchanted by a huge rack of blooming Phalaenopsis. Because of the stress of life in a store environment and the potting media wholesalers use that makes orchids easy to ship and display but difficult keep alive in the home, the first few orchids a person takes home might be inadvertently killed before they get the watering just right or learn about repotting. Once the beautiful blooms have faded but our new grower has some success in keeping the plant alive and growing, the spell is cast and the search for more orchids begins.
At least that’s how it started for me and many orchid growers I know. At first I bought whatever I could find at the home improvement stores. These were quite often suffering root rot before I even took them home due to being stuffed in soggy sphagnum moss in tight undrained pots and watered haphazardly by store employees who didn’t know any better. Luckily, I didn’t keep track of how many I killed at first. I began to wonder if other kinds of orchids might be happier in my house. Then I saw dendrobiums advertised in the grocery store circular! By this time I realized it was a good idea to repot orchids right away and luckily I did–unpotting that first Dendrobium was like going on an archaeology expedition. It had never had old media removed but was simply “potted up” with new media thrown around the side, so I got to dig through 4 layers of different kinds of root-killing soggy mess.
Our local greenhouses had about the same selection of Phalaenopsis, but I kept looking. I’ll never forget spying “something different” in the orchid section at the garden center–I really wanted to take it home. It looked healthy enough but it was out of bloom, had no identification label and a $70 price tag. I had no idea what kind of orchid it was or what kind of care it needed, so I reluctantly walked away. (It’s still there, almost 18 months later. The price has come down some, but even after all the orchids I’ve seen and all the reading I’ve done I still can’t guess even what genera it is.)
I tried purchasing orchids online. Sometimes this worked ok, but many times the orchids were tiny and fragile–just barely out of the propagation flask and years away from blooming size. Others arrived with health issues that were impossible to detect when shopping because the seller didn’t show photos of the actual plant they sent me. At best, the good plants I got online were old enough for their first blooming.
But I kept trying to find a reliable way to get healthy orchids that would reward my attention with growth and blooms. And then I discovered the Sioux Falls Orchid Club Show & Sale. . .
WOW.
Orchids of all kinds were huge, healthy and loaded with blooms. Different types of orchids than I had seen available anywhere in our area. Orchids so healthy they were growing right out of their pots with 6 to 10 blooming spikes–the size I had jealously watched sell online for well over $100. The selection was truly amazing. The club members were so friendly and helpful–they patiently answered my questions and helped me select. . .well . . .too many new orchids to discuss in polite company. 
Since then, I have walked out of each Sioux Falls Orchid Club sale with a box full of gorgeous beauties.
After my long saga of trying to find healthy, mature reasonably priced orchids I couldn’t believe my luck right here in Sioux Falls!
SPOILER ALERT: Some of the orchids at our shows are grown right here in South Dakota. Others are hand selected for us by club members who count among their friends some of the world’s finest orchid growers from Hawaii and Florida. If you think I am exaggerating about the quality of orchids we will have available, here is just a small sample of some selected during a recent buying trip for this fall’s sale:
April 30, 2011
What a wonderful sensory experience awaited us when we opened the doors of the Orchid Show & Sale at the Sertoma Butterfly House this morning! So many gorgeous colors, beautiful shapes and delicious fragrances! Folks were waiting for us to open, anxious to enjoy the fabulous orchids. It was so busy right away this morning that I didn’t even get a chance to pick up my camera until many of the orchids had already been sold. But beauty was still in abundance!
Thank you to all who came and made our show & sale a huge success! We enjoyed talking with so many of you and look forward to getting to know all the new members who joined today. By rough estimate, nearly 100 orchids, and many succulents and cacti found new homes today.
We will open again tomorrow from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. There is still a fabulous selection of orchids available. Even if you aren’t looking to buy an orchid, come enjoy the spectacular beauty.
We know many of you agonized over your choices today and others weren’t able to make it to the sale this weekend. If you would like another chance to purchase more orchids, don’t despair! We will be having a one-day Mother’s Day Sale on Friday, May 6 at the Avera Heart Hospital. More on that later.
Thank you all and happy orchid growing.
April 25, 2011
Saturday, April 30, 2011–10 a.m. to 4 p.m. & Sunday, May 1 — 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Don’t miss the Sioux Falls Orchid Club’s Spring Show & Sale! This weekend at the Sertoma Butterfly House we will have over 200 blooming orchids from around the world on display and for sale. Featured in the sale will be Vandas, Dendrobiums, Oncidiums, Cattleyas, Phalaenopsis, Paphiopedilums and more. This is a great opportunity to see and purchase beautiful, quality orchids not normally available in our area.
Orchid club members will also be on hand to answer questions and help you make selections. We will have potting supplies available for sale and free culture sheets to help you care for your new orchids. We will also be selling cacti and succulents. Don’t forget, Mother’s Day is soon approaching. Orchids make a great gift!
Just a few examples from last fall’s sale:
Oncidium 
Cattleya
Beallara 
April 15, 2007
(Click Poster above to see full size)
March 29, 2007
To see the latest updates go to the Orchid Sale Page.
February 17, 2007
The latest information on the 2007 Sioux Falls Orchid Club sale is posted here (also note the link at the top of the page – ** 2007 Orchid Sale **).
More information wil be provided as available, here and on the sale page.
