LIHU‘E — Betty Bolosan earned Best in Show honors with her Maxillaria Tenuifolia, and Nancy Nakama captured two of the American Orchid Society merit awards during the Kaua‘i Orchid Society Mother’s Day Show and Plant Sale that was one of
LIHU‘E — Betty Bolosan earned Best in Show honors with her Maxillaria Tenuifolia, and Nancy Nakama captured two of the American Orchid Society merit awards during the Kaua‘i Orchid Society Mother’s Day Show and Plant Sale that was one of the highlights at the Kukui Grove Center last weekend.
Nakama, no stranger to the prestigious AOS awards, had a strong showing at the annual sale, which allows growers to sell plants to shoppers seeking exotic, long-lasting, live flowering plants.
Nakama swept the Best Dendrobium-Lavender class and placed second and third in the Best Dendrobium-Yellow class as well as taking top honors and third place in the Best Dendrodium-Other judging.
Her AOS awards included an Award of Merit for the “Den. Burana Gold x Den Hi Amber,” and a Highly Commended Certificate for her “Den Burana Greenstar x Den Hi Amber” specimen.
Amy Sugano was another strong exhibitor, taking second in the Best Dendrobium-White and the Best Dendrobium-Other categories. But phalaenopsis, or moth orchids as they are commonly known, are her strong suit, earning first and second in the Best Phalaenopsis category.
Al Sugano, a grower from Koloa, started growing orchids after retiring from Oregon, bringing a lot of the more exotic varieties home with him.
“Some of them grow really well and if we can grow them here, it keeps the prices low,” said Sugano, a Koloa Sunshine Market regular. “If you have to bring plants in for occasions like Mother’s Day, the prices go up. The varieties that don’t do well here, I give to friends back in Oregon.”
Allen Yamada, a longtime grower from Kapa‘a, also placed well, getting top honors in Best Dendrobium-White and sweeping the Best Epidendrum class by taking all three places. He continued to reap honors, taking first and third in the Best Miniature class and second in the Best Paphiopedilum class, that exotic division being topped by Neill Sams of Orchid Alley who also took third in the class.
Sams also pocketed second and third in the Best Flowering Specimen Plant category as well as taking first and second in the Best Species group.
Sams’ strong suit, the vanda and asconceda groups, earned him a sweep in the Best Asco and Best Vandaceous classes.
Noel Brooks of Kaua‘i Orchids also had his share of exotics, topping the Best Oncidium and getting a third in the Best Species.
Fely Sams, manning the Orchid Alley shop in Kapa‘a, said this year’s climate was not especially suited to some of the more exotic varieties, but there were more than adequate numbers of other varieties.
Douglas Fujii topped the cattleya orchids, earning top honors in Best Cattleya-White and Best Cattleya-Other as well as second in the Best Cattleya-White.
Gwen Teragawa, a strong exhibitor with the Garden Island Orchid Society’s Spring Fantasy show, topped the Best Dendrobium-Yellow with a magnificent specimen sprouting five sprays of golden yellow blooms. She also took top honors in Best Nobile and third in Best Other Genera.
The next orchid collection will take place in conjunction with the Kaua‘i County Farm Bureau Fair later this summer when the AOS-certified judges will conduct their search for national contenders.
• Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com.
