Going Green With Orchids In Kaneohe

Retired teachers (but not really) Walter and Ruby Hiraishi with some of their favorite orchids, called Spathoglottis, which grow easily in the ground without orchid mix. You can pump them for details at the orchid show. Photo from Karen Kim.

Windward Orchid Society’s 32nd annual spring show, “Go Green with Orchids,” opens at 9 a.m. Friday at King Intermediate School gym, offering the best and healthiest orchid plants around, plus displays, demonstrations, talks and plenty of friendly advice from members.

The public is welcome from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday though all plants sales end at 3 p.m. the final day. Admission is a $2 donation, and seniors get in free.

With a talent pool of about 200 members from longtime orchid growers to new fans of the “king of flowers” the society plans workshops during the three-day show, as well as information on plant pests from U.S. and state ag inspectors. Workshops include general orchid culture, as well as honohono, cattleya, adenium and bromeliad cultures. Visitors also can enjoy displays by WOS and other clubs as well as sales of a wide variety of blooming plants and related products.

Among the club’s knowledgeable and hard-working resources are Walter and Ruby Hiraishi, who are longtime area residents and retired Windward DOE teachers and administrators. They have a plant business on their Kailua property, and Walter has raised, created, hybridized or cloned many award-winning orchids over the years. Like others, his passion for orchids was fueled when he joined WOS in the late 1970s.

The society’s mission is to share information about orchids, reward excellence and “strive to promote universal appreciation for this most exotic of all plants.”

Its next monthly meeting is at 7:30 p.m. April 4 in the King cafeteria. Visit windwardorchidsociety.org for more information.