Harrogate Orchid Society

The society was formed in the early nineteen eighties by a small group of orchid enthusiasts based mainly in West Yorkshire. Harrogate was chosen as a location to attract orchid enthusiasts from the whole of Yorkshire. Over the last thirty years the society has continued to meet in the Harrogate and Leeds area, but last year an opportunity arose to have the meetings at the RHS Garden, Harlow Carr, Harrogate. We meet at the recently completed learning centre, a state;of the art modern building.

We are a friendly group with members covering a wide range of orchid growing. Over recent years there has been a big rise in orchids being grown inside the home. Our membership reflects this so we organise our meetings to suit all types of orchid growers, be they experienced growers or people who have just being given their first orchid plant as a present or grow the range of orchids available from a garden centre or supermarket.

The society is involved in exhibiting at a number of orchid shows throughout the year; we hold our own annual show in February, which includes;orchid societies from around the North of England and a number of orchid nurseries that have orchids for sale and will include plants in flower and orchid species.

Each month apart from December and January we meet at RHS Harlow Carr or Beckwithshaw Village Hall Harrogate, we have an interesting programme of speakers which may be a talk about their experience of seeing orchids growing in the wild: some topics will be about orchid culture and some are practical meetings where we have demonstrations on how to repot plants. At two of the meetings we have a plant forum where you can bring along your plants and ask our panel of more experienced members questions which may range from how to deal with pests and diseases to learning about a plants cultural requirements.

Half way through the meeting we take a break for tea or coffee, for which a small charge is made: and this gives everyone a chance to chat to each other. Following the break we hold a raffle, which usually includes some orchid plants donated by the members.

The highlight of each meeting is the table display made up of plants brought by the members and there can be between 30 to 50 plants to look at. During the latter part of the meeting we have a discussion about the plants on display, and is led by one of the members.

One important aspect of the table display is that it gives members a chance to see a larger range of orchids plants other than ones they would usually see in garden centres and supermarkets, A lot of plants on display will have been grown on window sills or in conservatories.The plants on this page are a good example of what you will see. We also cater for members who grow Hardy terrestial orchids.

All photos taken by society members