Florida Orchids Bloom Despite Harsh Winter

"I lost a tremendous amount of plants with the bad winter we had, because some heaters quit," said Jim Adamson, who has a green-house sporting 20,000 orchids in West Cocoa.

"It did affect everybody in the orchid business to some degree," he told Florida Today.

But there still will be stunning displays of orchids at the Platinum Coast Orchid Society show at Cocoa Expo.

For novice orchid growers, or folks who just want to buy Mother's Day Gift, there will be plenty of resources at the show. "Most orchid people that are in the orchid business, they'll give you their time," said Adamson, who will sell orchids, including some new hybrids, at the show. "They want to see you be successful."

The show also will offer a potting booth to help visitors with repotting orchids, both new or old, for a nominal fee. Adamson recommends repotting orchids once a year, and he says definitely repot if it comes in a clear plastic pot, or else algae growth may lead to root damage.

"If you buy it at the show, and it's a fresh bloom, you don't want to repot it," he said. "Do not repot it when it's still in bloom."

The variety of plants can be overwhelming for newcomers, for their beauty and for their different growing requirements. But if you want to start easy, try a phalaenopsis orchid.

"The phalaenopsis orchid has to be the easiest orchid in the world to grow," Adamson said. It doesn't need much light, for one thing.

"If you pot them in sphagnum moss, they'll grow in spite of you, and you can put them in many different other potting mediums," he said. "The flower's very long-lasting, like a couple of months, which is satisfying to folks."

Adamson recently marked 30 years of growing orchids. "I've gotten into it more every year," he said. "That's the way it is. It's very addictive."