The Suffolk Orchid Society was formed on September 5th 1981 when 10 growers met at the Oddfellows Hall in Ipswich. They had all responded to a letter placed in the OSGB Journal by John Heyett seeking to form a Society in the Suffolk area.

Initially meetings were held at the above venue on the first Saturday of the month. This changed after a few years to the last Wednesday and the venue changed to a local school.

The membership was at first very small with sometimes only ten or a dozen attending for meetings. Thanks in part to the Society putting on displays at garden centres and flower shows the membership gradually increased to its present level.

The meetings have always been held during the September to May period and it is only in recent years that we have had enough growers and therefore plants to stage a show of our own, usually in March.

We began showing our plants in the mid-eighties at the Ipswich Flower Show held in Christchurch Park. This show was mainly for roses and fuchsias and was held in July which is not a good month for orchids. It was decided to mount a stand at the Suffolk Show which was a great success and now this has become an annual event.

It is from these humble beginnings that our successful Society has grown.