The Santa Barbara Orchid Show

The Santa Barbara orchid show, reputed to be the biggest in California and perhaps the second most prestigious in the U.S. San Francisco currently has an orchid display at its Conservatory of Flowers and my wife asked me to take a couple of photos at the show. I did find these flower displays to be quite remarkable and recommend a visit if you are in the San Francisco vicinity. I'm even beginning to understand the obsession (some say madness) of the orchid hunters. As for the Santa Barbara show, I'll be taking another look at the hobby that has driven people to devote money, and sometimes literally their lives, to acquiring rare orchids.

At the San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers, from the left: African water lily, and orchids: Cattleya hybrid ("impressionist" image),  Miltonia Lillian Nakamoto, Cattleya Lemboglossum Uro-skinneri, and Vanda Taylor Blue.