A Celebration of Orchids
Explore highlights from our event on June 5th, 2025 at the Caspari Flagship Store in Charlottesville, Virginia. This event included botanical inspiration, expert insight, and guidance for both those beginning to explore the world of orchids and seasoned growers alike.
About the Event
Art Chadwick, co-founder of the nationally acclaimed Chadwick & Son Orchids Inc, joined us for an afternoon of book signing and conversation. Art signed two of his books: First Ladies and Their Orchids and The Classic Cattleyas.
If you weren't able to make it to the event, copies of Art's books are available on our website as well as in the Caspari Flagship Store.
In the evening, guests enjoyed hors d'oeuvres and champagne while listening to a panel discussion featuring Art and members of the local Garden Club. Art shared insights on his involvement in the 2025 RHS Chelsea Flower Show, offered practical tips for growing orchids at home, and showcased several exotic orchids from the Chadwick & Son greenhouses located in Richmond, Virginia.
About Chadwick & Son Orchids
Art holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from North Carolina State and an MBA from James Madison University. He founded Chadwick & Son Orchids Inc in 1989 with his father who had been growing orchids since 1943.
The Chadwick’s first book, The Classic Cattleyas, was released in 2006 and sold out. An updated second edition was released in 2022. Martha Stewart favorably reviewed the book and had both Chadwick’s on her TV Show. Another book, First Ladies and their Orchids: A Century of Namesake Cattleyas, was released in the summer of 2024.
Chadwick & Son Orchids operates 13 greenhouses in rural Powhatan County, two retail stores in Richmond, and board over 13,000 orchids for local clients. The company was recently featured in Southern Living magazine, The New York Times, Bloomberg News, Smithsonian magazine, Better Homes and Gardens, The Washington Post, The CBS Evening News, and Oprah magazine.
RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2025
Chadwick & Son Orchids was the only United States based exhibitor in the RHS Chelsea Flower Show this year. The Chadwick's recieved a Silver-Gilt Medal from the RHS as well as a visit from Queen Camilla.
About the exhbit:
“Advancement of Cattleya Orchids” – traces the history of the genus from the first species described by the English in the early 1800’s to the first hybrids bred by the English in the late 1800’s to all the hybrids named after the royal family, many of which, were made by Chadwick’s.
The exhibit includes rare memorabilia - books, silver trophies, and botanical prints as well as photographs of prominent women with cattleyas.
The show ran from May 19th to May 24th, 2025 at the Royal Hospital Chelsea in London, England.
