The Johor Bahru International Orchid Show is an annual event held in Johor, West Malaysia. This year's International Orchid Show is the 6th one since the first show in 1999. This show is reputed to be the largest of its kind in the region and lasts from 25th May to 3rd June 2007 at Danga Bay. Having missed the show last year in 2006 due to other commitments, I told myself that I had to go this year to visit the region's biggest orchid show. So Chong Ren and I went to Johor together on a weekend morning hoping to spend a fulfilling day at the show. Located near the Woodlands causeway at the southern tip of Johor, the orchid show was easily accessible via taxi and we arrived there around 9am in the morning. The show comprises of 2 sections, one being floral displays by international societies all over the world and the other being the retail section. I felt that the international floral displays were really interesting and the variety of landscape designs and types of orchids used to create these displays were amazing. Below is a pictorial tour of the various displays at the show.
It was really amazing to see the mouthwatering temperate orchids not usually found in our tropical climate, though it was noticeable some of the displays were suffering from the oppressive heat. Other than orchids, there were also other plants used to make the displays more vibrant, as shown in some of the displays:
The retail section was the place where most people looked forward to, as there were many nurseries selling all kinds of orchids there. However I noticed that most if not all of the stalls were from Malaysia itself, thus it might be even more interesting if overseas nurseries brought their plants to sell, attracting more international tourists. Nevertheless, Johor is the world's second largest exporter of orchids so no worries about the variety of orchids sold there. The variety of orchids available ranged from commercial hybrids to orchid species such as the more common Bulbophyllum, Cattleya, Phalaenopsis and the lesser seen Habenaria, Gongora and Slipper orchid species.
There were also many non-orchid plants available to cater for those who would want more variety in their purchases. They include cacti, Hoya and other houseplants.
Comparing this show with the Singapore Garden festival held in Suntec city last year, I must say that there are pros and cons of having a show indoors and outdoors. Though the lighting in an outdoor display is poorer, an outdoor show has a more realistic feel to a horticultural show. An indoor plant exhibition enhances the visitor's experience with the comfortable air-conditioned hall but faces limitations in the transportation of larger plants. This orchid show has more international displays but the Singapore Garden Festival features more international retailers. Overall, this trip was a memorable one with so many interesting orchids to admire. Looking forward to visiting more plant exhibitions in the future, I hope that this show, as well as those around Asia would continue to improve so as to boost the image of South-East Asia's horticultural endeavours and encourage more people to pick up the hobby of gardening. ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR Xuan Hong is an active member of the Green Culture Singapore discussion forum. He started his interest in plants when he was in primary school and has been collecting and growing plants since. He started off growing ornamental plants but have since been collecting, cultivating and experimenting with Tillandsia, orchids and Carnivorous plants. He also cultivates a wide variety of plants such as Amorphophallus, African Violets, Cacti and Succulents, Gingers and edible plants, and hopes that more people will pick up interest in gardening and enjoy the rewards it brings.
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