General News
22 October, 2025
Orchid Show wows Cobden
THE Cobden annual orchid show decorated the Cobden Civic Hall with pots of colour over the weekend, inviting the community into a world of floral displays and sweet scents.
The show has been running for 31 years by a dedicated team of orchid enthusiasts from the Cobden Orchid Club, who regularly partner with both the Warrnambool and Colac orchid clubs to put on shows.
Cobden Orchid Club president Lynette Michell said the judging of orchids was a meticulous process which took years of skill building.
“We have lots of talented people within the club and lots of knowledge that they’re willing to share with people like myself – I’m a novice,” she said.
“There are some super talented people who specialise in specific types of orchids that they judge and they look at flowers, the shape of the petals, how they’re all formed and the evenness of the colours through them.
“It takes years to get to that level.
“They’ve spent many years growing and showing themselves and learning from other judges.
“They’re always training new ones, like any organisation, to expand their knowledge.”
Mrs Michell said it was wonderful to see the community of Cobden come together to support the show.
“We have had a pretty consistent number of people through – just over 100 yesterday and a steady stream today,” she said.
“It’s nice to see the local communities come and have a look.
“You say orchids to most people and they think of the ones they can buy in the supermarket.
“There’s a whole variety that you don’t see unless you go either to a show or a specialist nursery.
“It’s showing the community what there is in relation to groups in the community and the different variety of orchids that there are.”
In terms of caring for orchids, Cobden Orchid Club life member David Staggard gave some sound advice.
“Just keep giving it a bit of water – don’t flood it, just give it a bit of water every now and then,” he said.
“Put it where the morning sun hits, not afternoon sun, because it gets too hot and you never know.
“Also, if you’re fertilising, you fertilise weekly, that helps a lot.
“You don’t want to over-fertilise or over water.
“You’ll notice a lot of plants sometimes have white around the bottom of the black pot.
“A lot of them have been fertilised too heavily and it sticks to and crystallises on the bottom of the pot.”
Anyone interested in joining the orchid club is welcome to attend their meetings which are held on the second Friday of each month at 7pm (EST) and 7.30pm (DST) in the Heytesbury Room at the Cobden Civic Hall.
Read More: Cobden