For two days next weekend, the Vintage Gym at Old School Square turns into a greenhouse. The Delray Beach Orchid Society holds its 36th annual Orchids on the Square show and sale on Saturday, Oct. 24 and Sunday, Oct. 25, with 12 growers and vendors selling orchids in colors that run from pale lavender to black. Admission is $5.

A show that started with a few hobbyists

The Delray Beach Orchid Society was founded in 1974 by a small group of orchid hobbyists, according to the society's own site. Since then it has added guest speakers, an annual orchid auction, a holiday party and outings to its year, along with the orchid show it holds every October in downtown Delray Beach. The society says more than 3,000 people attend the show.

The membership ranges from beginners with three plants to growers with large collections, and they grow everywhere: indoors, outdoors, on patios and on trees in the back yard. Members meet on the second Tuesday of each month, except December, at the Veterans Park Recreation and Adult Center, 802 NE First St.

What will be for sale

The Downtown Delray Beach event listing names this year's 12 vendors:

  • Hicks Orchids & Supplies
  • Odoms Orchids Inc.
  • Quest Orchids Inc.
  • Florida Orchid House
  • Bamboo and Orchid Gardens
  • Lady Vanda Orchids
  • So Orchids
  • The Orchid Den
  • Orchids in Bloom
  • Mac's Orchids
  • Atizana Inspired
  • Bold Bungalow

The listing describes a range of colors from the palest lavender to deep magenta, lemon yellow to bold orange and pale pink to bright red, plus less common black, green and brown orchids. Every vendor contributes plants or supplies to raffles held through the weekend, and there is a separate drawing for a prize the society calls A Night on the Town.

Hours, price and where to go

  • Saturday, Oct. 24: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  • Sunday, Oct. 25: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
  • Where: The Vintage Gym at Old School Square, 51 N. Swinton Ave., Delray Beach.
  • Admission: $5.
  • Information: 561-573-7633.

Sources