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You can safely say Ken Karb has bloomed into an unabashed orchid lover.

What began as a casual hobby in the 1970s for this Greensboro oncologist lay dormant for nearly 20 years until Karb -- on a whim -- purchased a single orchid as a gift for his wife. 1,500 orchid plants later, a casual hobby has turned into Karb's passion. Or, as he puts it, "the start of his madness."

Karb tinkers with his orchid plants several days a week at his rented greenhouse space, where he constantly tweaks the growing conditions to entice his orchids to produce their prized blooms -- blooms which can provide weeks, if not months, of pride and joy for its grower.

Karb, along with 60 other members of the Triad Orchid Society and several commercial vendors, will gather this weekend to exhibit, compete and educate others about these spindly, gawky yet wildly spectacular flowering plants. You probably have oohed and ahhed over these flowers before without ever realizing orchids are among the largest family of plants with nearly 30,000 species.

Joining Karb at this weekend's show will be Reidsville orchid grower Keith Davis. A former horticulturist and property manager at Chinqua Penn Plantation, Davis tends to about 8,000 orchids at his Rockingham County greenhouse. The bulk of Davis' collection is the orchid variety Cattleya, commonly known as the corsage orchid.

"It's my favorite orchid because of their wide variety of color," Davis said. "They put on a great show."

Davis has channeled his horticultural degree from N.C. State into a love of orchids that puts him in touch via the Internet with orchid collectors across the globe.

"It's a hobby, kind of like stamp collecting, but it has connected me with a group of upper level collectors," Davis said.

One of his contacts is a multi-millionaire from Chile. "He wants to have the largest collection of Cattleya orchids in the world," Davis said. "He is helping support my greenhouse."

Davis said joining a local orchid society, such as the Triad Orchid Society, is the best way for a novice to learn more about orchids. "That's what helped me get started."

The Triad Orchid Society's annual show starts Friday at the Greensboro Council of Garden Clubs building on Lawndale Drive behind the Natural Science Center. The show runs through Sunday afternoon. Admission is $5. Visit www.triadorchidsociety.org/events/2010/show/index.html for more information.