Hundreds of orchid fans descended upon Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park 28-29 March for the 2026 Orchid Show & Sale.
The annual event, held every year for over 25 years, allows visitors to not only to enjoy the many varieties of orchids at the Botanic Park, but also to purchase from a range of nearly 40 varieties of the plant to take home.
Cars began queuing to enter the park before the official opening time of 10am on 28 March. The School House at the park, where the orchids were on display, was quickly full of green-fingered shoppers.
One of the first to head out with her purchases was Debbie McLaughlin, who was carrying two bags with her new acquisitions.
“I love orchids; it’s always nice to come to this event because you get such a selection and variety,” said McLaughlin. “I’ve had success with these types of orchids before. These are all for my garden.”
Judy Bulmer of South Sound was another early purchaser. She said she already grew orchids at home and had brought several more to add to her collection.
“They are very easy to look after,” she said. “You just tie them to the outer trunk of a tree and they don’t need much water.”
Hundreds of visitors
John Lawrus, general manager of Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park, said he expected around 1,500 people to visit the orchid fair over the weekend.
“Orchid species are actually the second-biggest family in the world. There are about 30,000 species of orchid,” he said, adding that local orchids would be starting to bloom around this time of year.
“Orchids have this allure of being a tough plant to grow but really they’re not,” he said. “They are collected by people all over the world and become quite a status thing to have. They are a beautiful flowering plant that people admire and they bloom for months and months.”
His tips for new orchid owners were, “Don’t do too much to it. Ignore it, don’t water it too much and let it do its thing while it’s blooming. If you have trouble with it afterwards, put it outside and tie [it] to a tree and let it be naturalised.”
The native banana orchid, Cayman’s national flower, was admired by visitors who were exploring the rest of the park, including the Orchid Boardwalk.
“I’ve got 17 orchids and I’ve just bought two more,” said Ramona Fabrizi who had driven over from North Side for the event. “I try and come here every year for the orchids. They bring me joy and they’re so beautiful, so why not?”
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