Her last name may be Rose, but Goleta’s Lauris Hawkins Rose has spent most of her life devoted to a different flowering plant, so much so that she’s dubbed the “Orchid Queen” by her colleagues in the local orchid trade.

She is a mainstay and current president of the Santa Barbara International Orchid Show, running this Friday through Sunday at the Earl Warren Showgrounds, with associated evening events starting Thursday. It is the longest-running orchid show in the United States, celebrating its 78th year, and features elaborate orchid displays, workshops, shopping and more. For tickets and details, visit sborchidshow.com.

A self-proclaimed “farmer,” Rose overflows with the energy of a woman a third her age. Plain spoken and assertive, she quickly rattled off a concise history of orchids, the major local players past and present, and Latin names of orchid varieties, all peppered with fascinating sidebars.

She was also quick to laugh and to reflect, especially when speaking about her late husband, with whom she founded Cal-Orchid in 1987. 

However, her romance with orchids and with James started years before that. 

“I had always loved exotic flowers, and was shopping at Santa Barbara Orchid Estate with my mother in 1973,” she recalled. “I saw him in the greenhouse and wondered, ‘Who is that tall blond man?’”

James Rose was working there while a student at UCSB. The two bonded after Paul Gripp, owner of the Orchid Estate, offered her a part-time job.

“I was the first girl they ever hired, and I think it was symbolic,” she said. “But after three days, he hired me full time.”

She pointed to the large white boxes on a nearby table.

“I harvested cymbidiums and put them in long shipping boxes, called ‘coffin boxes,’ which I then had to lift from the floor,” Rose said. “They weigh about 50 pounds full, and there was no asking for help, but I was oriented to sports and strong.”

She has since had two back surgeries and a shoulder replacement, the repercussions of the physicality of her profession.

Rose’s family had moved from the East Coast to the West Coast when she was 5 years old, and she grew up in a house on Las Palmas Drive in Hope Ranch with horses in the backyard.

“I am grateful that I had a semi-rural childhood,” she said. “There was nothing but gardens and landscapes in Hope Ranch, and I developed an interest in them.” 

James Rose, her future husband, grew up similarly, but surrounded by orange groves on Balboa Island in Newport Beach.

“We were so young and excited about orchids,” she said. “We were learning everything we could about them and started collecting orchid prints. That was an expensive thing, as we were earning $3 an hour.”

An orchid dealer in San Luis Obispo offered them a copy of what Rose calls “the Holy Grail” of orchid growing — “Reichenbachia, Orchids Illustrated and Described”, a set of four volumes published by Henry Sanders from 1888 to 1894 and dedicated to Queen Victoria.

“We drove up there, and he quoted us something horrendous, but we bought it,” she recalled. “Coming home, James said, ‘If we’re going to do things like this, we should be married.’”

The pair wed in 1981 and acquired Orchids by Rowe, a 2⅓-acre nursery down the street from the Orchid Estate, in 1987. 

“John Rowe knew we were looking around and we struck a deal,” she said. “He grew mostly cymbidiums and moth orchids, which were sold en masse in grocery store floral departments. After we bought it, we sold his hideous plants and brought in our own.”

The Roses hybridized and pollinated by hand. Dust-sized seeds were exchanged with other breeders via mail. Rose revealed that they take four to five years after planting to bloom.

“We knew the parents of each plant, and had expectations for breeding, just like with dogs and horses,” she added. “But sometimes a simple bloom has the breeding characteristics that you want, not necessarily the flower. That helps you guarantee a degree of excellence.”

That excellence has made Cal-Orchid an internationally regarded operation. It has produced thousands of new hybrids, received top prizes in competitions around the world, and lectured and published extensively.

It is known as the “EpiCenter” for its 30 years as the premier breeder of reedstem epidendrums, with 200 new hybrids registered with England’s Royal Horticultural Society. The American Orchid Society awarded James with top honors for this hybridization, which is now judged in competition.

Walking through the greenhouses was like a whirlwind round-the-world tour. Rose pointed out plants from around the world — Japan, Mexico, Africa, New Guinea, South America and others — in various stages of growth. Some are best suited for outdoors and others for indoors.

“I say that this business was a lifetime sentence,” Rose said. “As a little girl, I had gone to the Orchid Show with my father. He taught me about photography at the show.” 

The Roses enjoyed 44 years of marriage until he passed away in early 2025, just three weeks before the Orchid Show. Cal-Orchid’s display design was updated with a memorial sign. He had served as the show president for many years, and with Lauris, was a vital member of the orchid community.

“We never had children, but we’ve had hundreds of thousands of children, all of them green with no legs, and no tuition payments,” she said, laughing before turning thoughtful. 

“Running any business with a husband can be fraught with discord, be it selling cars or growing orchids, but we based our lives on love and respect. We were kids when we started and grew up together. The business has gone up and down, but we experienced it together.”

Evening Events Added to Show 

Rose is especially enthusiastic about three evening events that have been added to the Orchid Show. More information is available at sborchidshow.com/special-events. 

“The show is ready by Thursday nights, but used to sit in the dark in its party dress. I had the idea to do an evening yoga event and sound bath among the flowers,” she said.

Orchid Serenity also includes tea and crowd-free access to displays.

Friday’s Orchids After Dark features a cash bar, DJ, and three hours among the blooms.

“I couldn’t sleep after going last year,” Rose said. “I was all pumped up! It’s a great date night.”

Saturday night is an elegant fine-dining event in the exhibit hall with a four-course meal prepared by chef Amy Baer of Epicurean Santa Barbara.

“It’s elegant,” she said. “During the day, the show is lit up like a ballpark, but this event has special lighting.”