The Harbor Room ballroom at Marriott’s Frenchman’s Reef Beach Resort was filled with color and perfume as the St. Thomas-St. John Orchid Society’s 28th annual show wrapped up last weekend. Orchid Society President Norma Burke has been growing orchids at her home in Estate Tutu for more than four decades. Her flower display – which featured 15 orchid varieties – was one of more than 40 displays showcasing the work of Orchid Society members. Burke won the society’s Most Outstanding Display award and she was one of four growers honored with an American Orchid Society award of merit.

Three judges from Florida and two from Puerto Rico came for the event. They gave top honors to Burke, for a green-lipped Ladyslipper; Dolores Velasquez, for a tiny bloom with a blackish purple heart called Little Green Apple; Beryl Spencer for a King Cobra, a skinny flower with swirling maroon petals; and to Alrid Lockheart, for a petite purple-petaled species called Tetramilca, which is native to the Virgin Islands.

Founded in 1964, the St. Thomas-St. John Orchid Society currently has 45 members, 30 of which are active. Burke said the orchid society is accepting new members for a $30 annual fee. To learn more about becoming a member, you may call Ms. Norma Burke at (340) 775-0384.

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