KAILUA-KONA — If orchids are your thing, consider heading to the Daifukuji Orchid Club’s annual orchid show and sale Sunday at the Daifukuji Soto Mission in Honalo.
The Daifukuji Orchid Club, formed in 1982, will host its 37th annual show and sale, themed “Wonderland of Orchids,” from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the mission next to Teshima’s Restaurant. The theme highlights the wonders of orchids, including their adaptability and historical medicinal uses. Admission is free.
The colorful event will feature an array of blooming orchids both for show and sale, a display of memorabilia called “Peering Through the Looking Glass of Orchids,” and the chance to learn about the edibility, medicinal uses and adaptability of orchids.
The event also offers attendees a complimentary orchid boutonnière corsage — while they last. A taiko performance will delight eventgoers at 10 a.m.
“Peering Through the Looking Glass of Orchids,” is an exhibit by Carol Zakahi, a self-proclaimed orchid enthusiast and the historian and former secretary of the Daifukuji Orchid Club, overseen by Tomatsu (Tom) Kadooka, a flower grower and plant aficionado. It will include various orchid memorabilia and collectibles.
Zakahi’s enthusiasm for orchids came from two books given to her by Col. Leicester Winthrop Bryan, a Kona resident from Boston who contributed to the growth of 10 million trees on the island.
“My passion for orchids came from Col. Winthrope Bryan,” said Zakahi. “I was only 13 when I met him. I did not even know the word ‘orchid’ and I did not have any interest whatsoever. When I was dusting his books in his library, he asked me if I liked books. Growing up, we had only one big book, so we never really had many of them. He told me that I could have any two books in his library. For some reason, the book ‘Adventures of an Orchid Hunter’ caught my eye because it had some gold trimmings … . But I never realized that I would get involved with orchids until 1982.”
Coming from a coffee farming family, Zakahi’s land in Holualoa produced coffee for decades. It was not until 2010 that Zakahi and her sisters decided to transition from coffee to growing orchids. One of the first orchids she started growing was vandopsis.
“I call it my ‘Man Orchid,’” Zakahi said. “It does not need pesticide, fungicide or any other materials that most orchids need. It gives out this stem that goes out to about 6 feet with flowers. It does not require much maintenance, and I am growing that on my land now. I am trying to make my land a vandopsis plantation.”
In addition to growing vandopsis, Zakahi has been displaying and selling the orchid at the Daifukuji orchid show and sale for around 15 years.
“I can sacrifice the orchids that have grown too tall,” Zakahi said. “As long as they have the root, I can cut it, show it, grow it again or sell it. Being an orchid-grower has five steps. You buy and kill it over and over again, then you grow it, then you might let it bloom, then you might re-pot it and after that you might be able to sell it. Otherwise, you kill them all. I have killed a number of orchids myself.”
Despite being a fan of the vandopsis, Zakahi has grown many other orchids, including vanilla.
Tom Kadooka discovered the orchid on his family’s land in the 1940s and introduced to the Daifukuji Orchid Club years later. As the years went on, he provided the club with cutting and growing instructions for vanilla. Some of the club members succeeded in growing and selling the plant and its beans.
“The pollination process for vanilla is incredibly difficult,” Zakahi said. “You have to be right there, watching it that day. You only have a seven to eight hour window to pollinate the orchid. When the orchid starts to bloom, it is like a little girl just ready to bloom. By 9 a.m, she is a teenager. After all of this, the orchid grows old and dies. It is just like a wahine. It is a life cycle.”
Despite her own passion for the orchid, Zakahi also believes that many people do not understand the importance behind vanilla.
“It is amazing what vanilla does,” Zakahi said. “It is in so many things. People just take it for granted.”
Vanilla is currently the second most expensive spice in the world, right behind saffron. The orchid has been shown in some of Daifukuji Orchid Club’s past orchid shows, and it may just show up at this year’s show, if the timing is right, Zakahi said.
In addition to the show, sale, and more, those with questions about any locally grown species or hybrid can pose their questions to the “orchid doctor.” There’s also the opportunity to take a self-guided tour of the mission’s on-site Orchid Grotto to learn ways to harmonize and beautify a challenging space with orchids.
Info: Facebook.com/orchidsinparadise.