Orchid expert Fred Clarke will keynote Orchid Quest, Feb. 1 and 2, in Madison, Wis. Clarke has been growing orchids since 1977 and has been hybridizing for 32 of those years. With over 30 years as a professional grower and manager in the horticultural industry, he applies these skills at his Sunset Valley Orchids nursery, a 40,000-sq.-ft. location with more than an acre under cover. Although developing Cattleya hybrids has been his sustaining interest, he is also actively creating new Catasetinae, Paphiopedilum and Australian Dendrobium hybrids. His pioneering work in Catasetum intergeneric breeding has led to the development of several notable hybrids, most recently the grex, Fredclarkeara After Dark, which produced “the blackest flower ever witnessed,” says Clarke.
Clarke is an internationally acclaimed speaker and travels extensively within the U.S., Puerto Rico, Canada, South America, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. He is an accredited American Orchid Society Judge in the Pacific South region and his plants have received hundreds of quality awards from the American Orchid Society.
http://www.orchidguild.org/orchidquest.html Orchid Quest 2014 is sponsored by the Madison Orchid Growers’ Guild, will be held at Exhibition Hall the Alliant Energy Center, 1919 Alliant Energy Center Way, Madison, WI. Huge orchid displays in the exhibit area and thousands of fragrant orchids for sale from vendors. Also: seminars, quilts, artwork, painted porcelain, raffle, silent auction and everything you need to take care of your new orchid plants.
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