The Deep Cut Orchid Society’s 13th annual show will feature thousands of delicate flowers with rainbow colors from pure white to deep orange, yellows, purples, magenta, green, blue. Even spotted and striped orchids. Tiny flowers smaller than a pencil eraser and large
prom” orchids 3 to 4 inches across.
The show, the largest in New Jersey, will run from Feb. 4-7 at Dearborn Market’s 11,000- square-foot greenhouse on Route 35 in Holmdel. CertifiedAmerican Orchid Society judges will select the best of the best, and national awards will be given.
Deep Cut’s second annual photo contest is open to everyone. The person taking the best picture of a single flower at the show will receive a gift certificate from Dearborn Market, and the picture will be used in the society’s 14th annual show brochure and ads. Entry forms will be available at Dearborn Market during the show.
Deep Cut Orchid Society is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the education about and growing of orchids.
The show will be open Feb. 4 from 1-6 p.m.; Feb. 5-6 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Feb. 7 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Special group tours are available, and an orchid expert will guide the visitors around the exhibit. Special tours must be pre-registered by calling Carol Abaya at 732-536-6215.
Faye Arnett, Deep Cut Orchid Society president, said everyone is welcome to attend the event.
“Our show is a beautiful, colorful event in the middle of an often dreary and cold winter,” she said.
The 25,000 species of orchids grow all over the world and today are more accessible than ever before. Supermarkets, home building supply stores, and even drug stores sell orchids at reasonable prices, according to a press release.
This year there will be exhibits from orchid clubs in the mid-Atlantic region and 12 vendors from all over, including Ecuador. Exhibits will be presented by the North Jersey Orchid Society, Sand Piper Orchid Society (south New Jersey), South Eastern Pennsylvania Orchid Society, Staten Island Orchid Society, Deep Cut Orchid Society, (amateur growers in New Jersey).
Vendors are Lois Duffin Orchids, Philadelphia; Main Street Orchids, Pa.; Orchidphile, Ct.; Piping Rock Orchids, N.Y.; Tewksbury Orchids, N.J.; Waldor Orchids, N.J.; Stony Brook Orchids, N.J.; J&L Orchids, Ct.; Silva Orchids, N.J.; New Earth Orchids, N.J.; Hydro-Orchids, N.J.; and Ecugenera, Ecuador.
Admission and parking to the orchid show are free.
Anne and Dave Safarewitz of Middletown have been fascinated with orchids for more than 30 years. They have more than 2,500 orchids, one of the largest private collections in the mid-Atlantic region.
Anne’s first orchid was a Valentine’s present from Dave. She named the white Cattleya “Be My Valentine” and decades later still has a descendent of that plant.
A novice orchid collector, Carol Abaya of Marlboro is also awed by the diversity of shapes, sizes and colors.
“Nature at its best, most unusual,” she said. “When one sees dozens of flowers on one plant, one can only believe there is a superior being who brings light and joy to us all. Not only are the colors magnificent, but the flowers can last for months, unlike other kinds of flowers.”
For further information about the orchid show, call Faye Arnett at 732-786-8583 or Dearborn Market at 732-264-0256 for directions.