March II 2017
Who’s ready for the festival?
It is Festival week everyone! The 2017 Asheville Orchid Festival is finally here. It’s going to be an unbelievable event, and we’re going to have more exhibits featuring more blooming orchids in the festival than we have ever had before. I am very proud of this accomplishment, and you all should be too. This is exciting!!! It’s taken a tremendous amount of work by our amazingly talented team to get to this point, but we made it. I for one am ready, and hope you all are too.
I’m sure you’re all ready, but if not you still have a couple days to prepare your plants. Clean your leaves, properly stake flower spikes, put your name on the back or bottom of your pots, do what you need to do to be ready to show off! Get your blooming plants to the Arboretum Wednesday or Thursday, as early as possible. If you want your plants in the exhibit, get them there early….otherwise you run the risk of them not making the cut. Registration info can be found below with links to documents on our website.
You should all be very proud, our festival has become nationally recognized and is one of few premier orchid events on this side of the country. Strong language, but believe me…..it’s the truth! We have earned this reputation through countless years of great success, strong leadership, wonderful partnerships, and you, the WNCOS members who always show up with incredible orchids! So, be ready to have an amazing festival weekend together and don’t forget to tell all your friends!
Remember, we are no longer running our raffle table and have continued along with last years nominal $5 entry fee to the festival. Children 12 and under are free, and our festival is a family friendly one! You may be asked at some point why we are charging $5 for entry to the festival. If so, feel confidant in kindly sharing with folks that this small fee allows us to put together a world class event with the purpose of promoting orchid education and conservation. It also assists us in being able to sponsor experts in the industry and bring them to Asheville and the WNCOS to provide programs and educational opportunities for our region. It is also important to remember we are a 501C3 nonprofit organization, and we always welcome donations!
Cheers!
Mike Mims, WNCOS President
Arriving at the Arboretum
Plants for our exhibit need to be at the Arboretum Wednesday or Thursday. The earlier, the better! Wednesday a few of us will be there all day, so anytime after 9am should be fine. If you’re bringing your plants on Thursday, please get them there as early as possible but certainly before lunch time. Just come up to the education center, and temporarily park in the circle to unload plants and bring them into the building like any other year. Then go down and park in the parking lot if you’re going to stay awhile. We cannot leave unattended, parked vehicles in the circle for long. If you need help carrying plants inside there will be plenty of people on hand to assist. A few things to keep in mind:
- Make sure to clean your plants, stake bloom spikes and check for bugs (plants with bugs will be sent home immediately for the protection of fellow members and guests!).
- Make sure your name is on the pot
- If you are comfortable classifying plants for judging we’d appreciate you doing so. If not, a spreadsheet of the plants names would be great. If you’re not computer savvy, a hand written list will work!
Registration
Here is a link to the webpage where you can find the Show Ribbon Judging Rules and Classes and Registration Entry forms
We’ll have plenty of help on-site to help get your plants in the building, help register them, and assist you in any way we can. See you soon at the Arboretum.