HANAPEPE — The mayor’s office will have to wait, said Caryn Sakahashi on Friday during the opening day of the Garden Island Orchid Society’s Spring Fantasy orchid show and plant sale at the Hanapepe United Church of Christ social hall.
“This one was supposed to go to the mayor’s office,” Sakahashi said. “But it will have to wait until the next time we go in to switch plants.”
Sakahashi’s dendrobium earned Grand Champion honors following the judging Friday. This was not her sole win as a veteran orchid sprawled across the Best Flowering Specimen sign, and bright orange clusters of cattleya exploded over the Best Orange Cattleya signage.
“We just don’t have enough room,” said Al Sugano, recipient of the Reserve Grand Champion honor for his “Den. ‘Ceasar’ Java Candy” specimen. “I would love to let plants grow out to where they have a lot of spikes, but we just don’t have the space. On top of that, we sell orchids, so we need to split them and get more.”
His phalaenopsis, “Phal. Golden Sands x Phal. Masahino,” earned a Best Yellow Phalaenopsis honor.
“It’s not fully bloomed yet,” Sugano said. “Only one blossom was opening, and it’s not fully opened yet.”
The Spring Fantasy orchid show and plant sale continues from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. today at the Hanapepe United Church of Christ social hall with presentations from Dennis Olivas of Pleasant Hills, California, the show’s “doctor,” taking place throughout the day.
“I usually don’t have a specific format,” said Olivas, who served as one of the show judges. “Usually people come with questions, or have problems with their plants that I can look at and help them correct.”
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
