The New Zealand Orchid Society is dedicated to the encouragement and advancement of orchid growing in New Zealand through the exchange of information relating to the culture of all types of orchids. This is done through regular monthly meetings, maintenance of an up to date orchid reference library, the publication of a monthly newsletter, exhibitions and shows, the hosting of prominent speakers both local and from overseas, a dynamic judging system and affiliation with other kindred societies.

The NZOS was formed in 1948 by a group of orchid enthusiasts, who had been meeting informally for several years. Thirty members attended the first official meeting on 12 May 1948 under the patronage of Sir Frank Mappin. Geoff Laird was elected president, and A E Brownlie was appointed as the first secretary/treasurer. The first public display of orchids was made in conjunction with the Auckland Horticultural Council’s Annual Show in 1949.

The Society was officially registered as an incorporated society on 23 July 1951.

In 1957 the NZOS branched out on its own and held its first independent non-competitive show. A ‘Panel of Judges’ was formed in 1959, under the chairmanship  of Frank Slatterly, a prominent Sydney Judge. Besides judging for prizes at the two shows, the panel gave the first five awards and compiled the first Judging Rules, a modified version of the New South Wales rules. From 1963, two Annual Shows, Winter and Spring, have been held under the direction of a Show Marshal and a Show Sub-Committee. As the first appointed librarian, J B Douglas in 1952, began the task of  building an extensive reference library which has continued to prove a valuable and much used source of interest and instruction over the years. JW Potter established the format of the monthly newsletter in 1959. It was a publication designed to contain the minutes of the monthly meeting along with descriptions of the plants on display and any other monthly data