Susan Rawlings sells her plants at Orchid Extravaganza at Queens Park

Susan Rawlings said her love of orchids began as ‘a hobby that sort of got out of hand’. Now she and her husband run a full-time business.

Vivid pinks, bright oranges, creamy whites – a stunning array of colours were splashed against a backdrop of every shade of green at the Orchid Extravaganza.

Susan Rawlings has been growing orchids for 38 years.

“It’s just a hobby that sort of got out of hand,” she laughed.

Sarina woman Susan Rawlings holding a stunning phalaenopsis Allura King Jupiter. Photo: Janessa Ekert

She said the interest began with her husband Max when the pair lived out near Blackwater.

“There’s nothing to do out there,” she said.

“We joined a club where a lot of people were growing orchids and Max decided it was something he was interested in.

“He learned how to do pollination, he learned about all the heritage … because you can’t just cross any one flower with another.”

A stunning orange Cattleya orchid. Photo: Janessa Ekert

A Cattleya Marie Song orchid. Photo: Janessa Ekert

The Sarina couple had a stall outside the Orchid Display House at Queens Park on Sunday for the Orchid Extravaganza.

They began selling their orchids at markets about 25 or so years ago and for the past 10 years have run it as a full-time business MnS Orchids.

“We actually enjoy the hunt for the plants, and then we enjoy selling them to people because they get all excited,” Mrs Rawlings said.

Susan Rawlings with a phalaenopsis Fullers orchid at the Orchid Extravaganza at Queens Park. Photo: Janessa Ekert

“We travel a lot to actually source new and wonderful plants. Covid has put a halt on that.”

For the past 11 years, the couple travelled to Taiwan for the annual orchid show.

“We actually import (plants) from Taiwan,” Mrs Rawlings said.

“We have sourced plants through America … we were supposed to go there last year.”

Much like the Rawlings, Andergrove couple Gordon and Joyce Crichton said their passion for orchids was a “hobby gone mad”.

Gordon and Joyce Crichton with their plants for sale at the Orchid Extravaganza at Queens Park. Photo: Janessa Ekert

“Orchids have beautiful flowers, so we’d go to shows and you always go home with one or two plants,” Mrs Crichton said.

“That’s how it starts.”

The couple had been growing orchids for about 45 or 50 years, Mrs Crichton said.

“They have beautiful flowers, and a lot of them do not need a lot of care, they are really quite hardy,” she said.

A Phalaenopsis orchid. Photo: Janessa Ekert

A Phalaenopsis Fuller's Black Mask orchid. Photo: Janessa Ekert

Growing orchids was never boring, Mrs Rawlings said.

“We do stick to growing certain orchids, but every now and then we find other orchids that take our interest,” she said.

The couple also created their own hybrids.

Mackay orchid lovers were “a very eclectic bunch”, Mrs Rawlings said.

Since Covid, Mrs Rawlings said they had been forced to do mail orders but before would travel up and down Queensland to various orchid shows.

“We don’t sell the same thing over and over again – we always make sure we’ve got something different,” she said.

“We’re finding a younger market coming along, it used to be a lot of older people but there are young people now really getting into plants because, well, they brighten your life.”

Originally published as Susan Rawlings sells her plants at Orchid Extravaganza at Queens Park