Vickie Neubauer, president of the Greater Cincinnati Orchid Society, discovered her love for orchids nearly 10 years ago. She bought a few plants, visited a show in Dayton and purchased a few more.

        That led to her acquiring big, high-intensity lamps for an 8-by-12-foot room in her basement where she keeps orchids in the winter. That room is now home to nearly 400 orchid plants.

ORCHID SOCIETY

The Greater Cincinnati Orchid Society sponsors shows spring and fall at Krohn Conservatory in Eden Park, where there is a permanent orchid display. The fall show is noon-5 p.m. Nov. 3 (sales area 10 a.m.) and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Nov. 4. <   The next meeting of the society will be 7 p.m. Nov. 6 at the Civic Garden Center, 2715 Reading Road, Avondale. The public is welcome. Information: 931-2295.

        Cincinnati is a regional orchid judging center for Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and Kentucky. Once a month, judges travel here to evaluate orchids against the standards of the American Orchid Society (AOS) and award certificates to superior plants. Anyone with an outstanding plant may bring it for judging.

        The longer people grow orchids, the more they become attracted to cultivating unusual and hard-to-grow plants, Ms. Neubauer says. There are more than 25,000 species and 110,000 registered hybrids found on Earth's continents, excluding Antarctica. Wild orchids that grow in Ohio are known as our native lady slippers.

        Most orchids only bloom once a year, but many blooms can last a long time. The range of bloom longevity — depending on type of orchid — is two weeks to nine months.

        “Orchids will bloom only when you please them,” Ms. Neubauer says, smiling.

        Larry Sanford, an accredited AOS judge, offers the following advice for creating the specific environment orchids require:

        • Air is as important to the roots of orchids as moisture. To keep the air flowing, the potting medium should be replaced every two years. Changing the potting medium also prevents any residue of salt, which is found in tap water. Many of our orchids have come from the rain forest, where they grow on tree limbs, and they don't like salt.

        • Most orchids prefer to grow in bark chips, never in regular potting soil.

        • Orchids need very little fertilizer.

        Contact Peg St. Clair by phone: 541-4680; Web site: www.gardenersnetwork.org.

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