GARDENING: Caleb's sold on awesome orchids

Plants can have reputations just like people and orchids are a perfect example.
When we think of their distinctive blooms the words rare, exotic and stunningly beautiful come to mind. And you will see plenty that fit this description at the Tauranga Orchid Society Show this weekend.
Yet, it could be argued that orchids could just as well be described as commonplace and quaint.
To begin with the orchid group of plants (Orchidacae) has many more species than most other plant groups so is not itself rare. Furthermore, orchids grow naturally in every region of the world except the Artic and Antartica.
In New Zealand we have several native species (all of which would be better described as quaint not stunning) and this is one reason why Caleb Lamond, started growing orchids.
It all began when he went along to a show similar to the one this weekend and was "quite inspired" by what he saw. "I picked up a pamphlet there and gathered up enough courage and went along to a (orchid society) meeting."
The 24-year-old, who has a degree in biology, was surprised to see so few young people there but his interest was sparked - not by the stunning blooms that fit that typical orchid image but the more interesting and unusual ones.
He was also drawn to orchids as a group because he was interested in New Zealand natives and we have native orchids.
"The big, colourful ones (like the common cymbidiums) don't do it for me. I go for any ones I see that have interesting and a bit different."
Caleb's collection defies another common misconception of orchids as pampered beauties that need hothouse conditions. While he does have a small heated glasshouse, which he shares with his brother and fellow orchid society member, Ben, most of his collection grows in unheated conditions at their Lower Kaimai home.
He says there a plenty to choose from that fit this requirement. For example, he grows "lots" from Australia and some from the New Guinea highlands and other alpine parts of the world.
Therein lies one of the attractions of orchid growing - there are so many species and hybrids from such diverse parts of the world that you can always find some that will grow in your particular climate conditions.
Because some orchids grow naturally in the ground this means there are also a few attractive ones that will grow readily and multiply in Bay of Plenty garden conditions, such as the bright-pink, spring-flowering bletilla.
However, many grow as epiphytes on trees or rocks or as semi-terrestials in semi-decomposed vegetable matter and have roots that cannot cope with ordinary garden soil.
The latter semi-terrestial group includes many of the popular, dramatically beautiful orchids from tropical and sub-tropical regions, including the "common" cymbidiums that will grow outdoors in containers and orchid potting mix in frost-free places in the Bay.
Once expensive and highly prized, these have become very accessible in recent times due to the development of tissue culture as a means of mass propagation.
Nevertheless, as a cut flower they remain the world's most-beloved orchid and for very good reasons.
They are vastly different from our small, muted, easily overlooked natives, yet share certain bloom characteristics that mark orchids apart from other plants.
These characteristics, which give orchids a distinctive appearance, are related to pollinisation. Most orchids have bi-sexual flowers and have highly specialised structures that guard against self-pollination.
Usually their pollen is carried in small sacs attached by a short strap to a sticky disc. These pollen parts are housed at the head of a fleshy organ called the column and are protected by a helmet-like cap called the anther.
A fleshy partition in the column lies just beyond the pollinating parts and separates them from the stigma.
The column, which is unique to orchids, has other clever design features that ensure that when pollinating insects visit flowers they can transfer pollen only to other flowers, thus preventing self-pollination.
Visitors to the Tauranga society's show will be able to see how this distinctive column structure varies, sometimes widely, from one orchid to another but is always present.
But it will be the stunning massed display, a feature for which the society is well known, and the parade of individual exotic beauties that will demand their attention.
Beside orchids, there will also be bromeliads and cacti and succulents on display and for sale.