Oklahomans must really care about orchids, judging from the crowd that showed up at their 2017 Orchid Show. (see slide show at bottom)

All in all, the show was a grand success, with vendors from far and near bringing their beautiful orchids, and with orchid displays to beat the band. All in all, the 2017 Oklahoma City Orchid Society Show was a grand success.

The Miltonia orchids are one of my favorite species, and I was delighted to find my friend Brian Truong of Okie Orchids (okorchids@gmail.com) had brought lots of his lovely plants to sell. Brian gave me one of his special Miltonias, with the agreement that I would make this plant the subject of my next painting. How could anyone refuse an offer like that?

Members of the Oklahoma Orchid Society had worked very hard to create a great show, and their efforts were well rewarded. The show drew good crowds both days, the vendors did some good business, and the society created lots of good will and enthusiasm for orchids.

But because my purpose in being there was to raise money for rainforest habitat preservation, the highlight for me was the $920 that was raised through sales of my prints, orchid coffee mugs, orchid notecards, and the conservation raffle, which always gets the winner a limited edition print of his/her choice.

The Oklahoma Orchid Society was most generous in providing a display table at no charge, all in the interest of supporting conservation. Also, society member Johnita graciously invited me (again) to stay with her and her family, saving me the expense of a hotel. But the good news doesn’t end there. When I returned my rental car to Enterprise the next day, the attendant was not able to locate my contract, and he told me, “this one’s on us.”

Now, that’s what I call a successful trip!