June Meeting - AOS Judging Demonstration
Our Friday, June 22nd meeting will feature a demonstration of American Orchid Society judging by the Pacific Central Judging Center. Bring your best orchids to see if they can win an award. Everyone is welcome to attend this meeting and bring plants for AOS judging, just as they are to bring plants to any AOS judging event.AOS judging is very different from ribbon judging. Both evaluate flower quality, however in AOS judging orchids are judged against other previously awarded clones of the same orchid or against their parents (hybrids only) rather than against a class made up of a variety of somewhat similar orchids.
Judges take into account parentage characteristics as well as the general impression of the orchid in question. Not only are awards given for flower quality but they can also be given to the owner of the orchid for spectacular growth (cultural awards).
Do judges know everything there is about orchids? Absolutely not. Do judges disagree with each other? Certainly. Come and see what happens during a typical judging session.
There is another part of judging we will not be demonstrating and that is the administrative side. For plants that are awarded there are forms to complete-lots of paperwork that has measurements, descriptions and photographs that are taken and submitted for incorporation into the national database. That is not the most interesting aspect of judging so we will do that behind the scenes for this program. Anyone who wants to know more about that aspect of it is welcome to observe after the program.
If you have a plant you would like to have judged, don’t be shy, go ahead and fill out an entry form at the meeting to make sure that your plant is carefully examined. Awardable plants do not always jump out at the judges from the show and tell or the show tables. Sometimes research is needed. If you fill out an entry form (no cost) then that research will be done. If you win an award, then there will be a nominal fee to be paid to the AOS - they will contact you later.
We are always looking for people interested in becoming AOS judges. You don’t have to be a Ron Parsons level orchid expert to join the program. You do need to be willing to put in the time and effort needed to learn the judging system, develop an eye and commit to continuous learning. The PCJC welcomes interested orchid aficionados at any of our judgings. If you let us know you would like to consider becoming a part of the judging group you will find plenty of judges willing to answer your questions about the process of becoming a judge or what is expected of a judge.
May Meeting - Carol Klonowski: 2017 World Orchid Conference in Ecuador
Carol Klonowski has been growing orchids since the 1980’s when a friend in Berkeley, California, gave her a cattleya and it bloomed out with three big, dark lavender flowers and an intoxicating fragrance. She build an entire greenhouse in her backyard to accommodate the precious plant, which only led her to buy more orchids. Then another friend gave her a gift membership to the Orchid Society of California and it’s been a serious hobby and passion ever since.Her talk will describe the activities surrounding the 22nd World Orchid Conference in Guayaquil, Ecuador. This past November, orchid enthusiasts, scientists and other members of the orchid community descended on this coastal city in order to attend one of the orchid world’s major events. She will explain why Ecuador was chosen as the venue for this prestigious event, describe the show and exhibits, and discuss some of the many topics presented at the conference lecture program. Finally, she will try and persuade members to attend the next WOC scheduled for Taiwan in 2020.
April Meeting - Ron Parsons: Back to China
In 2013 I made my second trip to the province of Sichuan (known to most Americans as Szechwan) in China. In 2012 I went with my co-author, Mary Gerritsen on a tour led by the late slipper orchid specialist Holger Perner and his wife, Wenqing, to see various Cypripedium species (the temperate species of slipper orchids, found only in the northern hemisphere, and generally in colder climes) from June 09-23. I enjoyed that trip so immensely that I asked Holger if he could arrange the next tour in 2013 but visit at least a few new sites. He said he definitely could, so we signed up again for the 2013 tour, this time from June 17- July 01! We saw a number of rare and beautiful orchids as well as numerous other amazing flowers and stunning scenery. This talk will feature the diversity of Sichuan, China seen on this trip.Ron has been growing orchids for going on 40 years and has been interested in and has grown species orchids for most of that time. He loves to photograph orchids and other flowers whenever he can, whether it be in collections or trips to see them in nature. Ron has approximately 40,000 digital images, most of which are orchids. He has a slide library of flower photographs that exceeds 100,000 images. He has about 2500 published photos that have appeared in magazines, periodicals, journals and books. Ron has co-authored three books, all with Mary Gerritsen. The first two are Masdevallias, Gems of the Orchid World and Calochortus, Mariposa Lillies and their Relatives. The third book, published in January of 2014, is a two-volume set called A Compendium of Miniature Orchid Species. This set has nearly 1200 pages, 1800 photographs, and features more than 500 species.
You can see some of Ron’s photographs on his website: http://www.flowershots.net
March Meeting - Dennis Olivas: Growing Vandas in the Bay Area
This month's speaker will be the always entertaining Dennis Olivas.Dennis Olivas will talk to us about growing Vandas in the Bay Area and about the different types of Vandas. Some of you may think we can’t grow them here - but we can. Some of them can even be grown outdoors. Dennis will also supply this months opportunity table.
Dennis Olivas was born on the island of Kauai, Hawaii. As a lad, he helped his mom grow her orchids and got hooked. When he joined the Future Farmers of America, his project was raising and selling these beautiful and exotic plants. In1980 he moved to the mainland and swore off the orchid family - but not for long - as he was introduced to Rod McLellan's Acres of Orchids. From there his whole life became one downward spiral. First he filled his home with upwards of 6,000 plants. Later he leased a greenhouse space for his ever-burgeoning orchid collection. Since he's a glutton for punishment, his collection grew, overflowing the 3,000 sq. ft. greenhouse in Half Moon Bay (and now in Daly City). Dennis has been President of the Peninsula Orchid Society, San Francisco Orchid Society, Diablo View Orchid Society, and the Santa Cruz Orchid Society. He is an accredited judge of the American Orchid Society. Dennis belongs to more than 14 orchid societies and tries to assist them whenever possible.
February Meeting - Chaunie Langland: The Uncommon Phalaeopsis
This month’s speaker will be our Vice President, Chaunie Langland. A big fan of Phalaenopsis, aka Phals and Phalies, she will talk about species Phals, fragrant Phals, tiny Phals, huge Phals, and current awarded hybrids. Yes, there will be slides. She will also perform a death defying repotting for your amazement and edification. So sit close to the front if you want to see that. Or sit back by the refreshments if you are the nervous type and can’t take the suspense.Chaunie has been a member of POS for almost 20 years, having served as newsletter editor, show chair, membership chair (before the Janusz era), director, vice president and president. She is in her first year as an associate AOS judge. (That means her score finally counts!) Having retired from materials characterization at the end of 2017, she dreams of becoming current on repotting her orchids which she grows in her 8 x 16 greenhouse and outdoors. No, you cannot grow Phals outdoors!
A co-worker asked her once how to pronounce Phalaenopsis. After taking about Phals several times, the co-worker informed Chaunie that she never pronounced it the same way twice. So let’s just call them Phals.
November Meeting - Ask The Experts!
Have your questions answered in a small group setting. There will be at least four discussion groups addressing: Water quality - bring a sample of your water to have your TDS (total dissolved solids) measured
Pests and Diseases
Diagnosing culture problems
Internet resources
October Meeting - Tom Mudge: "A Little Knowledge is a Dangerous Thing - Thirty Years of Growing and Killing Orchids"
Tom is a current member and past president of the POS, and a Charter Member of the International Phalaenopsis Alliance. He has been fortunate to have traveled extensively and seen orchids growing in the wild and in cultivation on six continents. He has grown orchids indoors and out for over 30 years, and has learned a few things (usually the hard way) in the process. August Meeting - Jeff Trimble: Top Ten Genera You Can Grow Outside
Jeff started growing orchids in 1972 when his mother gave him two flowering cymbidiums that she did not want. He joined his first orchid club in 1975. By 1978 Jeff was show chairman for the Peninsula Orchid Society, a member of the Santa Clara Valley Orchid society, and president of Malihini orchid society. In 1980 he was asked to be the VP and then President of the San Francisco Orchid Society. Jeff took on the task of Show Chairman at the Pacific Orchid Exposition one year and later was a co-founder of Orchids in the Park.
He is currently president of the Peninsula Orchid Society, past president of the Cymbidium Society of America, a past president of the Gold Coast Cymbidium Growers, a CSA judge, and the judging chairman for Northern California for CSA.
Jeff grows Cymbidiums, Odontoglossums, Cattleya alliance, and many species in an unheated greenhouse in Pacifica.
July Meeting - Marni Turkel: Show Me the Plant
How many of us have been disappointed when we finally bloom that plant we bought because the picture of the flower was so beautiful? It turned out to be a very small flower on a very long spike on an ungainly plant."Show Me the Plant" is a presentation that uses slides of blooming specimen plants as well as close-ups to consider the whole plant for a sense of proportion and relationship and not the flower in isolation. Marni will be talking about many of her favorite plants, and will cover some basic information as well as specific needs for individual plants, and strategies for growing specimen plants. This is a chance to see the best of her collection and learn how she grows it.
Marni Turkel (pronounced tur KELL) is a native of the San Francisco Bay Area and has been growing orchids since 1980. She grows in four greenhouses in Santa Rosa with approximately 1250 sq ft of growing space. Her main interest is in miniature species but plenty of larger plants have crept into the collection as well. Marni has been a contributor to Orchids magazine with her series called 'Well Worth the Space' and 'Give It a Rest'. Her articles have been translated into Dutch, German, Portuguese and Swedish for international publication. Photographs of her plants have been feature in articles noted orchid publications including Orchids Magazine, Orchid Digest, Richardiana, The Orchid Review, and The Australian Orchid Review. For the last few years she has been sharing her photographs and knowledge on OrchidsForum.com.
Starting in 2009, Marni expanded her work with orchids to include propagation of orchids from seed and has set up a flasking lab of her own to take the process from start to finish and sell flasks of many of the orchids species in her collection. After working for over 43 years as a potter, she has retired from ceramics to pursue orchids full- time.
June Meeting - Peter Lin of Diamond Orchids: Vandaceous Species and Their Hybrids
Peter started growing orchids over 35 years ago, but then stopped due to school and starting a career. It wasn't until about 14 years ago that the orchid "bug" came back and he is now heavily involved once again! He is an accredited judge with the American Orchid Society, and a hybridizer of mini-catts. He enjoys meeting with other orchid enthusiasts, and can often be found at various orchid shows and societies around the country.Due to limited growing space, Peter likes to specialize in miniature orchids, both species and hybrids, and has received numerous AOS awards. His interests in orchids include Dendrobiums, Angraecoids, and Neofinetias. He is also known as "Mr Sophronitis" as he has a passion for growing and collecting them. He maintains a collection of a thousand or more orchids at his home in Southern California in 3 small greenhouses, outdoors, as well as an offsite greenhouse.
May Meeting - Dennis Olivas: Laelia anceps species and its hybrids
Dennis Olivas was born on the island of Kauai, Hawaii. As a lad, he helped his mom grow her orchids and got hooked. When he joined the Future Farmers of America, his project was raising and selling these beautiful and exotic plants.In1980 he moved to the mainland and swore off the orchid family - but not for long - as he was introduced to Rod McLellan's Acres of Orchids. From there his whole life became one downward spiral. First he filled his home with upwards of 6,000 plants. Later he leased a greenhouse space for his ever-burgeoning orchid collection. Since he's a glutton for punishment, his collection grew, overflowing the 3,000 sq. ft. greenhouse in Half Moon Bay (and now in Daly City).
Dennis has been President of the Peninsula Orchid Society, San Francisco Orchid Society, Diablo View Orchid Society, and the Santa Cruz Orchid Society. He is an accredited judge of the American Orchid Society. Dennis belongs to more than 14 orchid societies and tries to assist them whenever possible.
April Meeting - Dan Newman: Dendrobiums - Jewels of the East
April 28th, Doors open 7:00 PM, Meeting begins at 7:45 PM San Mateo Garden Center, 605 Parkside Way in San Mateo, just off of Alameda de las Pulgas.Dan started growing orchids in 1982. His first successful subject was a Dendrobium hybrid bought as a tiny seedling at a lei stand in the Honolulu Airport. When that plant finally grew up and bloomed a few years later, he was hooked!
By 1996 he had 350 orchids in a one-bedroom apartment. That year he moved his plants into a rented commercial greenhouse in San Francisco. He took over the large species collection of his friend and orchid mentor, Walter Teague, and his hobby evolved into his nursery, Hanging Gardens. Dan started growing orchids full-time in 2000, and moved to a larger greenhouse in Pacifica a few years later. Most of his plants are cool to intermediate growers (really warm growers are challenging in Pacifica, but it's hard to resist trying a few). Species orchids make up his core collection and most of his sale stock. He also grows a variety of "companion plants", which share the natural habitats of orchids. Dan joined the San Francisco Orchid Society in 1987 and served as its president in 1996/97.
In recent years, he has spoken on a variety of topics to orchid societies in California and elsewhere. “Dendrobium is one of the largest and most complex orchid genera of Asia, Australia, and the Pacific, encompassing a great number of horticultural gems among its 1000-plus species. People often ask how to grow Dendrobiums. For such a diverse group of plants, occurring in habitats ranging from the monsoonal foothills of the high Himalayas to the perpetually cool alpine grasslands and steamy lowland swamps of equatorial New Guinea, from the tropical forests of remote Pacific islands to the temperate, seasonal regions of southern Australia, there is no simple answer. The talk will focus on several popular sections of the genus, starting in the Himalayas and Southeast Asia and working southward to New Guinea and the Pacific, with photos of representative species and discussion of their culture in the context of the habitats where they originate. The goal of the presentation is to share my interest in these fascinating orchids and provide useful information about their cultivation.”
March Meeting - Scott Barrie: Sarcochilus - The Latest and Greatest Hybrids
March 24th, Doors open 7:00 PM, Meeting begins at 7:45 PM San Mateo Garden Center, 605 Parkside Way in San Mateo, just off of Alameda de las Pulgas.Scott Barrie, Co-owner of Barrita Orchids (Australia) Barrita Orchids is a commercial wholesale orchid growing business supplying quality potted plants to a few large stores throughout New South Wales, as well as flowers and plants to markets and florists Australia-wide.
The aim of Barrita is to produce high quality cut flowers (mainly cymbidiums), and potted orchid plants, and to develop new varieties. They have a well established reputation for their cymbidiums, with almost fifty years of operation. In the last decade Barrita has established a world class breeding program for varicosum Oncidiums, gaining many awards and taking this style of Oncidinae to new heights.
In addition to the complex breeding programs of cymbidiums and oncidiums, Barrita has made significant advancements in the commercialization of Sarcochilus. This program has produced outstanding results in the refining of the genus, and they are one of the top sarcochilus hybridizers.
Co-owners Scott and Geoff Barrie are Australian Orchid Council Judges, and Scott now travels Australia-wide giving presentations which aim to bring the experience of modern commercial growing to the amateur orchid enthusiast in a relaxed and enjoyable way.
You can visit their web page and see some of the Sarcochilus crosses they are making available in flasks this year: http://www.barritaorchids.com/usa-flask-list.html. You can also view their facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/BarritaOrchidsKulnura/
February Meeting - Weegie Caughlan: Current Australian Standard Cymbidium Breeding
February 24th, Doors open 7:00 PM, Meeting begins at 7:45 PM San Mateo Garden Center, 605 Parkside Way in San Mateo, just off of Alameda de las Pulgas.Weegie's first interest in orchids came as a young girl in the fifties when one of her weekend chores to earn allowance money came from watering her mother’s orchids. When she and her now ex-husband returned to her family home in 1976, most of the Cymbidiums were still alive. Weegie took over their care and started reading all the books she could find.
By 1980, curiosity had turned to passion. By 1990, Weegie had become “a fiercely, out of control, noncommercial, Cymbidium hobbyist”, and still is! Her first love was Cym. tracyanum and the other Cymbidium species. She learned early that she had an eye for award quality and began submitting plants for AOS judging. Weegie is currently a fully accredited judge with the AOS and the CSA. She currently has about 1,500 cymbidiums, including approximately 500 small seedlings and does selective hybridizing for the show bench.
Weegie has served as President of three orchid societies and is currently serving as the GCCG Past President. She was a founding member of both the Gold Coast and the Golden Gate Society Branches of the Cymbidium Society of America.
Weegie has won numerous AOS and CSA awards, several CSA yearly trophies and many Best in Show and Best Cymbidium in Show awards in local shows. She was also fortunate to have won five Grand Champion awards and four Reserve Champion awards at the prestigious Santa Barbara International Orchid Show since 1994. She says her most exciting award was with her own cross of Cym. Tower of Fire ‘Sunset Flame’ AM/AOS, B/CSA which won the prestigious Ernest Hetherington Award for Best Cymbidium of 2013. Three other cultivars from this cross have also been awarded.
Weegie currently lives in Los Altos Hills, CA sharing her historic, colonial saltbox with two adopted champion Great Danes.
January “Meeting” - our annual orchid show!
Set-up, plant entry and judging - Friday, January 13 beginning at 11:00 AM
We get the tables up in the vendor areas and show area, put on the covers and skirts, set up the plant hotel, membership and raffle areas.Show Saturday and Sunday 10:00AM to 5:00PM.
Sunday at 5:00 we tear down the show, then have a dinner.
Every January we hold our show. This is a major fund raiser for our 501(c)(3) orchid society and it is a lot of fun. There are many volunteer positions available, all of them important to the success of our show.
It is also our big chance to help members of our community learn more about how to care for their orchids and where to learn more about orchids.
Everyone at the show can interact with orchid nursery professionals, attend the lectures given to increase our knowledge, and have a fun time with other society members. We always hope to gain some new members from meeting people at the show.
We need everyone to enter plants in the show. When our visitors come to the show, they want to see a lot of flowers! If you don’t have any eligible orchids in bloom (anything you have owned for at least 6 months), then bring in your newer purchases and enter them for display only. We welcome entries from members of other societies and from the general public. POS Perpetual Trophies go only to POS members, but anyone may join at the show Friday to make their entries eligible.
Help is desperately needed for set-up on Friday at 11:00 AM. We need to be as quick as possible in the vendor area since the vendors have a lot of work to do to get their plants into the building in one afternoon and they need to get started as early as possible. More hands make the work much quicker and easier. If you can’t handle crawling around on the floor to run cables for lighting or other heavy jobs, there is still a BIG need for people to put the table coverings on.
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December Meeting, Friday the 16th (yes, the third Friday)
Time: Doors open at 5:30PM for table set-up6:00 PM Happy Half-Hour
6:30 PM Dinner
7:00 PM BINGO!
Place: San Mateo Garden Center 605 Parkside Way, San Mateo, CA Take the Alameda de las Pulgas exit off of Hwy. 92 The Garden Center is located between 26th and 28th Ave.
NO OFFICIAL POS or GCCG MEETING THIS MONTH
This Month’s Meeting is Pot Luck and Bingo Night with an earlier start time of 5:30 PM. Gold Coast members will be joining us for dinner and Bingo, and despite the recently-passed California ballot initiative, Pot Luck means everybody brings a dish and we all share, NOT that we are fortunate that Bob Marley or Snoop Dogg will be sharing their favorite medicinal herb.
The society will provide roasted turkey, ham, coffee and tea, plus all the tap water you want to drink. Should you prefer a different beverage, you will need to bring it yourself. bring your own plates, napkins, utensils, glasses and a table cloth or placemat.
In addition, members whose names begin with: A-J - please bring an appetizer
K-R - please bring a salad or side dish
S-Z – please bring a dessert
Your dish should feed 10-12 people. Please bring and label any serving utensils required.
So we don’t all end up sharing a single salad while we look at a mountain of desserts, please stick to your category. If you are supposed to bring an appetizer, you may bring a dessert as well, but you still have to bring an appetizer (and a cookie on a toothpick is not an appetizer!)
Set up will begin at 5:30. Drinks will officially start at 6:00. Dinner begins at 6:30.
While in the past, Bingo has started at 7:30, you slow chewers will have to pick up the pace, as this year, Bingo starts at 7:00 PM. Mike Drilling has graciously agreed to be our Bingo caller and joke teller for the evening. To play you will need to bring a healthy orchid to donate (something that you would want to win, not a discard), or pay $10. Donations of additional orchids as prizes would be welcomed. Once you win, you will have to sit out until everyone has won an orchid, then all can play again for the remainder of the evening.
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November Speaker, 2016
Speaker this month: Robert Hamilton and John Leathers Robert Hamilton and John Leathers are co-owners of Hawk Hill Nursery, a nursery whose focus is temperate Andean orchids species and hybrids. The name Hawk Hill derives from a location on scenic Table Bluff, an area of Norther California located on the Pacific coast. However, the present location of Hawk Hill Orchids is in Pacifica, CA, a city located on the Pacific Coast immediately south of San Francisco. The nursery’s site is less than a mile from the Pacific Ocean with a resulting mild and stable climate. This location was originally developed as Vallemar Gardens in the 1960’s, an orchid nursery started by famed phalaenopsis hybridizer Herb Hager. It is now part of the Golden National Recreation Area. Bob Hamilton was born and raised in Berkeley, California and began his career at the University of California at Berkeley (UC), in the College of Engineering. Over time Bob’s position evolved from the design and fabrication of electron tubes and lasers to managing the equipment and facilities of a UC Berkeley semiconductor research lab, now UC’s Marvell NanoFabrication Laboratory which provides a laboratory and equipment to more than 400 researchers. John Leathers was born in rural Illinois. After moving to California John fullfilled a career in graphic arts retiring eventually retiring as manager the University of California Printing Services, a printing operation that began operations in 1874 to handle the printing needs of the nine UC Campuses. The predominant orchids grown at Hawk Hill are Odontoglossums, which are Bob’s interest and Draculas and Masdevallias which are breed and raised by John. Hawk Hill’s facilities include an automated 300 sq. meter greenhouse as well as a shaded outdoor area of 40 sq. meters of bench space. The outdoor ambient temperatures seldom exceed 4 degrees C minimum and 22 degrees maximum. Rare extremes are as low as 1.6 C and a high of 32 C. A jacket is seldom needed and with a setpoint of 7.C a heater is occasionally needed between November thru March. Visitors are always welcome. In addition to enjoying the orchids visitors will likely meet Edgar and Lenore, a pair of ravens who have mistaken the greenhouse for a restaurant. In addition to the greenhouse facilities Bob and John have dedicated two rooms in their Berkeley home for the in-vitro propagation of orchids. Bob’s talks will cover the topics of the history, geography, orchid photos, orchid culture and specifics about the raising of cool growing orchids at Hawk Hill. This presentation begins around 1800 and finishes with some of today's challenges facing orchid hobbiests, In 2015 John Leathers received the American Orchid Society’s Gold Medal of Achievement for his hybridization efforts. This same year Bob Hamilton received the AOS President's Award, granted to someone whom the president of the AOS feels has made an outstanding contribution to the Society, for broadly sharing his protocols for doubling orchid chromosomes using antimitotic chemicals.—————————————————
August 26th Speaker
Speaker this Month: Scott Collins: Lycaste, the talk follows the breeding progression from the species to the most recent hybrids. We will also discuss culture with regards to our geographical location. Scott has been growing Orchids for over 30 years. His nursery, Echo Valley Orchids is in the rolling hills of north Monterey County. His plants over the years have been granted over 80 AOS quality and culture awards. He had a successful Phalaenopsis breeding program in the 1990’s where many of his hybrids garnered numerous AOS awards. Currently, his breeding efforts are with Odontoglossums and Lycastes. Scott has been involved in the AOS judging system for 28 years and is currently a Senior Judge affiliated with the Pacific Central Judging Region of the AOS. He enjoys traveling throughout California to the shows and seeing the different orchids that are grown in all the regions. Over the years Scott has given lectures to many local societies and at several large shows and events. Some of these include the Greater New York Orchid Show in Manhattan, the World Orchid Congress in Vancouver, BC, and the Phalaenopsis Alliance Show in Los Angeles. When not involved in orchids, Scott enjoys rambling through the deserts of California with his son rock collecting.July 22nd Speaker
Speaker/Event:Mary Gerritsen Ph.D.Topic:Miniature Orchids and How to Grow Them
Mary will introduce the world of miniature orchids, providing important general cultural information as well as introducing the audience to her favorite species. Mary has been interested in plants for most of her adult life, and has been growing orchids on and off or the last 35 years, despite several cross country moves as part of her “other life” as a biomedical scientist. Her passion for orchids was rekindled when she moved to the San Francisco Bay area in 1997 and attended an orchid show. Returning home with a few plants, she decided to join the Peninsula Orchid Society (POS) to learn more about taking care of them, and from these beginnings, her current passion grew exponentially! Now Mary truly has put her roots down, and has orchids in two greenhouses, three lath houses, her front porch, sun room, and anywhere else she can put them. Her collection of about two thousand plants, mostly species, is rich in masdevallias and other miniature orchids of many different genera. She has co-authored three botanical books with co-author and photographer Ron Parsons “Masdevallias, Gems of the Orchid World”, “Calochortus, Mariposa Lilies and their Relatives”, and most recently, “A Compendium of Miniature Orchid Species”. Mary is also an occasional contributor to the AOS magazine Orchids, and Orchid Digest. One of Mary’s favorite pastimes is to photograph orchids in situ, which also helps to gain a better understanding of their varied habitats. Her field trips have led her Central ad South America, the Mediterranean, Europe, Southeast Asia, Australia and South Africa in addition to the US and Canada. Mary is an active member of the POS, having served as a director, vice-president, president, and show chair, and is a past present of the San Francisco Orchid Society (SFOS). She is currently the vice-president of the SFOS, and in additon, the treasurer and one of the directors of the Orchid Conservation Alliance. She also serves on the board of directors of the Orchid Digest.
June 24th Speaker
Speaker/Event:Steve BeckendorfTopic: Title: Why Are There So Many Orchids?
BIO - Steve started growing orchids in the early 1980s and quickly became fascinated by Odontoglossums and their close relatives because of their beauty and variety. They had a glamorous past as the most sought after plants in the orchid frenzy that gripped Europe in the 19th century. In addition, excellent hybrids were available from growers and hybridizers on the West Coast. He soon realized that few of the species in this group were readily available and began collecting them for propagation and use in hybridizing. His attempt to find unusual or lost species has led to many trips to the cloud forests of Mexico & South America. Steve currently grows about 50 Odontoglossum species and another 30-40 of their relatives, along with lots of Odont hybrids and a smattering of other cool growing genera. He is currently the President of the Odontoglossum Alliance. He is passionately involved in orchid conservation and is a member of the AOS Conservation Committee and a director of the Orchid Conservation Alliance (OCA). Finally, Steve is a Judge in the Pacific Central Judging Region. He has numerous AOS Awards
April 22nd Speaker - Keith Davis
Title: Growing Award Winning Cattleyas Keith Davis was born in California but moved to Mexico with his missionary parents when eight years old in 1959. In 1974 he attended North Carolina State University where he obtained degrees in forestry, horticulture and agricultural education. After school, he moved to Corpus Christi, Texas where he worked on an oil rig and taught horticulture and purchased his first orchid at a yard sale. It was Lc. Molly Tyler FCC which he still has to this day. After moving to Reidsville, NC in 1984, Keith worked 19 years for North Carolina State University as the grounds and greenhouse superintendent at Chinqua-Penn Plantation owned by the university. In 1997, he and his wife Dixie, adopted their only child, April LeeAndra, for which many of his best orchids are named. Keith is now retired and looks after three farms, his greenhouse full of orchids and helps with a new grandson named Bentley. In August of 2002, a disaster struck his orchid collection when the power went off at the greenhouse he was leasing. The temperature soared to over 130 degrees and about Skill Session at 7:00PM Janusz will have a Q&A session helpful to an Orchid Beginner Meeting plus Show and Tell Table - 7:45PM followed by: Speaker: Keith Davis Title:Growing Award Winning Cattleyas Opportunity Table by: Keith Davis 1 Newsletter of the Peninsula Orchid Society April 2016 90% of his large collection of mainly cattleya alliance orchids was lost. Thanks to many friends, the generosity of orchid growers far and wide and his breeding program, Keith is well on his way back to having a respectable collection again. Much information for his programs comes from personal experience, research, trial and error, and gleaning from a host of orchid growers through the years. Keith enjoys the “hunt” for those rare and hard to find plants and gladly helps other growers out. Keith’s talk is entitled GROWING AWARD WINNING CATTLEYAS. Ever wonder how some growers seem to have “all the luck” with their plants getting awards? Well, it is not so much luck as it is skill in knowing how to grow those plants, how to prepare the plants and blooms ahead of time and initial selection of plants to grow for possible awards. Awards can be had on the society show table, an orchid show where hundreds of people will view your plants, or even with the AOS judging system. Some growers just enjoy the blooms for their own satisfaction which is more rewarding if the blooms are of award quality. This talk will cover these topics and many other cardinal rules on growing award winning cattleyas. A handout will be provided with points of topic. Keith’s web site is www.keithdavisorchids.com Davis has written several articles on ghost orchids that delve into the details of his research, many of which can be found online.March 25th Speaker
Speaker/Event:Neal WinslowTopic: Title: Growing Odontoglossums/Masdevallias and other cool growing orchids
Neal, and his wife Sue, started growing orchids in the 70’s, starting with phalaenopsis orchids from the Rod McLellan Co. on the end of his kitchen table. When there wasn’t enough room for Neal and Sue to eat dinner they built a small greenhouse on the driveway. In the early 80’s Neal left his job at SRI to take over the houseplant business at a local nursery. Of course, orchids were heavily featured at the 3000 sq ft greenhouse that housed the houseplant business. After only a few years, the nursery was sold for development and Neal took a job with Zoecon Corp where his friend Gerardus Staal worked. Neal worked in Herbicide Development at Zoecon/Sandoz Crop Protection Skill Session at 7:00PM Meeting plus Show and Tell Table - 7:45PM followed by: Speaker: Neal Winslow Title: Growing Odontoglossums/ Masdevallias and other cool growing orchids Opportunity Table by: Neal Winslow 1 Newsletter of the Peninsula Orchid Society March 2016 until the facility closed 16 years later. In the meantime, Neal and Sue rented growing space from Robert Wescott/Herb Hagar, and later Bob Jones in Watsonville, and sold orchids at orchid sales and fairs. The long drive to Watsonville each weekend eventually wore them down and they built a greenhouse at their East Palo Alto home. Initially Neal grew Cattleyas and other warm growers, but over time switched to growing primarily Miltoniopsis and SLCs under intermediate conditions. About four years ago, Neal switched over to growing cool growers, especially Odontoglossums, which he had always wanted to grow. The talk will include discussion on cool conditions, culture, plants to grow, and some tips on selecting Odontoglossum alliance plants for other temperature ranges. The plant table will include plants suitable for intermediate and cool conditions.
February Speaker
Speaker/Event:Jeff TrimbleTopic: Cymbidium parishii hybrids.
Jeff started growing orchids in 1972 when his mother gave him two flowering cymbidiums that she did not want. He joined his first orchid club in 1975. By 1978 Jeff was show chairman for the Peninsula Orchid Society, a member of the Santa Clara Valley Orchid society, and president of Malihini orchid society In 1980 he was asked to be the VP and then President of the San Francisco Orchid Society. Jeff took on the task of Show chairman at the Pacific Orchid Exposition one year and later was a co-founder of Orchids in the Park. He is currently past president of the Cymbidium Society of America, a past president of the Gold Coast Cymbidium Growers, an CSA judge and the judging chairman for Northern California for CSA. Jeff grows Cymbidiums, Odotoglossums, Cattleya alliance and many species in Pacifica in an unheated greenhouse.
Speaker/Event:Holiday Party and BINGO
Date:December 18th, 2015
This month, we are planning an evening of food and fun with a Holiday Pot Luck and Bingo. Gold Coast Cymbidium Society members are invited to attend also. Bring your family, you know, the ones you usually leave at home on this Friday night, and plan on having a great time. The Society will provide roasted turkey, ham, coffee and tea. The members are asked to contribute to the dinner by bringing a dish to share. If your last name begins with: # # Please bring...........
# # A-G # # # # # Salad or Side Dish
# # H-M# # # # # Dessert# #
# # N-Z# # # # # Appetizer
Please keep in mind that we always seem to have more than enough desserts, but not enough side dishes. If you are in the salad/side dish group and want to bring a dessert, please also bring a salad or side dish. Your dish should feed 10 to 12 people. Please bring it ready to serve, including serving utensils. We can also use some table cloths. You should also bring your own plates, eating utensils, napkins, glasses and whatever beverage you wish to drink. After dinner everyone will enjoy the BINGO games. We have the extreme pleasure of the comedy and bingo calling of Dennis Olivas. Everyone who plays bingo will win at least once. In order to play bingo, each player should bring one orchid or orchid related item to donate to the game prize table. (Something nice, not something you want to get rid of.) The orchids (disease and pest free) or related item should be one you wouldn't mind winning yourself. If you do not have a plant or related item to bring a $10.00 donation will get you into the games. We welcome any additional donations for this evening's fun. The society will also provide some plants in the bingo prizes. (Please note: You do not have to bring one of your own darlings, you are welcome to buy a nice orchid at the store or at one of the local orchid vendors. )# Due to the evening's activities there will not be a sales table, show & tell table, or opportunity table. The Garden Center will be open at 5:30 p.m., so if you want to help set up, please feel free to come early..... we never turn down help. (Bingo - if you win you don’t play again until everyone has won once. Then everyone plays every game for the rest of Bingo.)
Speaker/Event:Pierre Pujol - Deflasking and Growing Seedlings.
Date:Nov 27th, 2015
Skill Session:Ribbon Judging
Opportunity Table: Plants provided by Pierre Pujol.
Pierre will be giving a talk on ”Deflasking and Growing Seedlings”. Pierre has been growing orchids since 2010. He is a self-described orchid geek with a background in life sciences and engineering. Pierre immersed himself into understanding orchid needs in order to give the best possible care to his rapidly expanding collection. Several cultural and quality awards later, he is happy to share his findings with his fellow orchid growers. (Pierre’s plant Cym. tracyanum var. album “Woodside” received a JC/AOS at the 10/19/2015 Oakland AOS judging). The Opportunity table will be provided by Pierre.
THE SKILL SESSION: Held in the Rose Room at 7:00 p.m.
This Month’s session will feature Chaunie Langland explaining ribbon judging and handing out guidelines for ribbon judging in preparation for our January Show.
THIS MONTH’S MEETING IS ALSO OUR YEARLY BUSINESS MEETING AND ELECTION
Proposed Slate for next Year’s Board Members:
President - Tom Mudge
Vice President - Neal Winslow
Recording Secretary - George Spangler
Corresponding Secretary - Judy Evans
Membership - Janusz Warszawski
Treasurer - Sharon Langan
Ways & Means - Roey Shaviv
Director at Large - Susan Tong
Director at Large - Anne Abramson
Director at Large - Eric Levenson
Past President - Mike Drilling (this position is an automatic officer on the board)
October 23rd Meeting
Gary Meyer - Gods and Monsters - Oct 23rd, 2015
The speaker for our October 23rd meeting will be Gary Meyer, from Columbia Orchid Imports (http://www.colombianorchidimports.com).
Gary Meyer’s interest in orchids began when he was a freshman in high school in Michigan. He had already replaced much of his dad’s beloved lawn with hundreds of perennials and North American native plants, partly in an attempt (futile, unfortunately) to attract hummingbirds. Among this plant collection were several Cypripedium species, which ignited his curiosity about orchids from other parts of the globe. He found a photograph of Masdevallia vietchiana in a library book that rendered him helpless to resist the pull to Pleurothallids. Shortly thereafter, he laid eyes on a line drawing of Dracula chimaera in a J & L Orchids catalog, and has been enslaved by Draculas ever since.
Gary started growing Draculas in his parents’ basement in 1990, with some degree of success. However, college, then medical school, and finally graduate school became unavoidable distractions for him. By the time he finished his Ph.D. in neuroscience in 2003, he thought he had managed to completely kick the orchid addiction.
In February 2003, Gary moved from Ann Arbor, MI to San Francisco, CA, and within two weeks of his arrival, found himself face to face with a pure yellow Dracula gorgona xanthina (owned by John Leathers) at the Pacific Orchid Exposition. The addiction was immediately revived, stronger than ever. Eight years later, Gary now has two overcrowded greenhouses in his backyard in San Francisco and several hundred Dracula plants (along with a reasonable dose Masdevallias, Lepanthes, Cyrtochilums, and Anguloas).
Gary has been travelling to Colombia and Ecuador once or twice a year since 2005 to observe Draculas in the wild and visit collections of South American Dracula growers. He has also been putting his science background to work, studying the molecular taxonomy of the genus with Ken Cameron, Ph.D., director of the herbarium at the University of Wisconsin, and describing new species in conjunction with his South American colleagues.
By day, Gary is a Research Manager at IntrinsiQ, LLC, where he tracks the oncology pharmaceutical industry. He is currently President of the Pleurothallid Alliance, owner of Colombian Orchid Imports, which imports orchid species from Colombia for sale in the United States, and runs the marketing and sales for Hawk Hill Orchids of Pacifica, California.
Gary’s talk, Gods and Monsters, will be something of a deviation from the typical orchid talk. Since Halloween is right around the corner, this talk will delve into the mythology behind the monstrous and spooky names used for dracula species.
September 19th, 2015 POS Annual Auction
Auction Action Coming Up!!
Our annual auction will take place this month, September, on Saturday the 19th. This is a chance for you to get divisions from our society members, maybe orchids that haven’t bloomed for them but might do much better in your conditions (one year I sold all of my Masdevallias, all specimen size healthy plants, because they just wouldn’t bloom for me in Fremont), seedlings grown by our members from flasks or compots, and plants from our professional members. There is something for everyone, whether you are looking for easy-to-grow, classics, or rare orchids, we have it all.
The day begins at 11:15 AM at the San Mateo Garden Center with auction plant entry. POS members may bring in up to ten plants to sell for themselves. The society keeps 25% of the auction sales price and takes care of paying the sales tax. Members and non-members may also donate plants for the auction and the society receives 100% of the sale price. This is one of our main sources for operating funds for the year. Your donation is tax deductible since POS is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
At noon Carol Basey will be ready to register bidders. (If you don’t know Carol, she is sitting next to Rene by the windows and they have the computers.) Come on in, pick out your paddle with your lucky number on it, and give Carol your name. Pretty simple! Everyone, members, your neighbors, your friends, your co-workers or people just passing by are welcome to participate in bidding. It would be great if you would tell people about our auction and invite them to attend.
Next start perusing the plant tables to decide which ones you would like to bid on. Each plant will have a code number with two letters and two numbers, which the auctioneers will be using to ID the plant. I like to make a list with the plant ID and the upper limit I would be willing to pay for it. I have been known to go over that limit for something I want badly. And of course I buy things that weren't on my list. I have gotten some great plants this way.
Plant entry ends at 1:00 PM and the auction will begin at 1:30 PM with the incredibly entertaining group of Tom Mudge, Mike Drilling and Dennis Olivas giving you some quick information as they hold up each plant for bidding.
The auction moves at a fast pace. The auctioneers will ask you to hold up your paddle, with the number facing them of course, on any plant you are interested in. They will call out increasing amounts and you pull your paddle down when you wish to leave the bidding. If yours is the last paddle up, please leave it up until your number has been written on the whiteboard next to the plant ID code. A runner will bring you the plant right away.
You may come in at any time during the auction and register to bid and you may leave whenever you are ready. Just go back to see Carol and ask for your bill (if you have won the bidding on any plants), check to make sure that all of your plants are on the list and none that were won by someone else, then take your bill to the cashier. We will be accepting cash, checks and credit cards. You will want to bring a box(s) for your plants.
At the end of the day we all go home happy. We have new orchids to enjoy, we have found new homes for some of our plants, and we have had a heck of a lot of fun. Refreshments will be available at the back of the room as usual. Please bring anything you would like to share. The society will also provide some refreshments.
See you there!! Chaunie
PS Remember there will NOT be a meeting on September 25th. In October Gary Meyers will be talking to us about Draculas!
Instructions for those of you entering plants for sale at the auction
You must be a current member of Peninsula Orchid Society. You may join the day of the auction.
Plant registration begins at 11:15 at the tables in the courtyard.
You are entitled to enter up to 10 orchids for your own account. Donations are unlimited. (Donors do not need to be POS members.)
Orchids must be pest free and appear to be in good health to be accepted for the auction.
Please fill out tags and a list (forms in the Sheath) and attach tag to each entry.
You will chose a two letter two number code for each plant. (e.g. CL01, CL02, CL03…) If you think others may be using your initials, please chose other letters.
You need to supply a list of your entries to Judy at check-in. Rene will use this list to enter your plants into our action data base.
Both on your list and on your plant tag you need to note your minimum bid. It may be none, or it may be any dollar amount you like. High minimums may keep people from getting started bidding. If you are entering something special that you would rather keep than have sell for too cheap a price, then you may want to chose a high minimum bid. Commonly minimums are around $5 to $10 or None.
You should also have a copy of your list for yourself. This will allow you to keep track of the amount your entries sell for. We strive to enter everything correctly in the database, but mistakes can happen!
You will receive a check for your plant sales, less 25% which goes to POS, within a month of the auction.
Thank you for participating in the auction!
August 28th, 2015 SPEAKER: Ron Parsons
TOPIC: Springtime in Western Australia
Ron Parsons has been growing orchids for going on 40 years and has been interested in and has grown species orchids for most of that time. He loves to photograph orchids and other flowers whenever he can, whether it be in collections or trips to see them in nature. Ron has approximately 40,000 digital images, most of which are orchids, and has a slide library of flower photographs that exceeds 100,000 images. He has about 2500 published photos that have appeared in magazines, periodicals, journals, and books. He was co-authored three books, all with Mary Gerritsen. The first two are called Masdevallias, Gems of the Orchid World and Calochortus, Mariposa Lilies and their Relatives, and a third book has just been published in January of 2014, a two-volume set called A Compendium of Miniature Orchid Species. The most recent book has nearly 1200 pages, 1800 photographs, and features more than 500 species.
In the Spring of 2012 Ron visited Australia for a month. Part of that trip entailed a visit to the state of Western Australia to speak at the national orchid conference in Perth. During breaks in the conference, friends and I went out on day trips to see native orchids and other flowers in the area. After the conference we took five days to explore the area between Perth on the west coast, down to Albany on the south coast to find more of this state's amazing flora.
The southwest corner of Australia has one of the world's few Mediterranean climates, the other being The Mediterranean region itself, most of California, Chile, and the Southwest Cape of South Africa. Most of the orchids of this area are endemic, with a handful also being found in southeast Australia, Unlike the orchids of the southeast, all are terrestrial here. This talk will feature some of the country's most incredible and bizarre flora.
The Opportunity Table plants will be supplied from Fred Shull's collection.
THE SKILL SESSION this month will be American Orchid Society judging, taking place in the Rose Room. Plant entry begins at approximately 6:45 and judging will begin at approximately 7:15. Everyone is invited to watch and to enter plants for
July 24th, 2015 SPEAKER: Ivan Portillo, of ECUAGENERA
TOPIC: Cattleya maxima
Ivan is the owner of Ecuagenera, grower and exporter of South American orchids. Located in
Cuenca, Ecuador at 8,200 feet above sea level, their growing operation includes one of the largest
selections of orchids available - including many cool growing species. Their reserves consist of two
huge tracts of high mountain jungle, one somewhat lower in elevation than the other - offering two
distinctly different growing habitats Their efforts with in situ orchid conservation has also
blossomed into an eco-tourist business.Ivan was born April 16, 1969, in a small town called Bomboiza at Amazon base in the southern part of Ecuador. He has been growing orchids for about 15 years and is in charge of doing the international orchid shows and propagation at the nursery. We would like to thank Mark Reinke of the Atlanta Orchid Society for allowing us to use this information from their newsletter.
The Opportunity Table plants will be supplied by Ecuagenera.
THE SKILL SESSION this month will be American Orchid Society judging, taking place in the Rose Room. Plant entry begins at approximately 6:45 and judging will begin at approximately 7:15. Everyone is invited to watch and to enter plants for
Meeting - June 26th, 2015
Ask The Experts
June POS meeting
Ask the Experts!
This month we will have five groups arranged to cover five topics, each group lead by an expert! You may sit with one group the entire time, or you may move from group to group as you wish. We have this type of meeting once each year, and I always wish I could spend the whole time in each group. This is your chance to ask all of the questions you want in an informal setting.Orchid Photography will be lead by well-known photographer and author Ron Parsons. You have often seen Ron photographing plants on our Show & Tell table and also presenting the Show & Tell table plants, able to pull up information from his encyclopedia brain to amaze and inform us with cultural tips and background information. Ron will answer your questions about basic orchid photography - composing your photos, focusing, what ever you are interested in.
Growing Miniatures will be hosted by Mary Gerritsen. Mary is a past President of POS and of SFOS. (I won’t go into more detail - it is assumed that if someone is a past president they have also worn many other hats in the orchid society.) Mary has authored several impressive books with Ron - you can find them on Amazon. This is your chance to ask about cultural conditions needed to grow miniatures, and to find out which ones are suited to your growing environment.
Growing under Lights will be explained by our current, and many times past President Mike Drilling. Mike has a very nice windowless basement growing space. He successfully grows a wide variety of orchids, safely away from the animals that go after his outdoor orchids. Learn how to set up your lights and learn about the types of lights you will need.
Pests and Diseases will be covered by Tom Mudge. Tom is well known for his species Phalaenopsis. Many pests are especially attracted to Phals, so Tom has had plenty of experience and success in the war to keep his orchids in the pink of health.
Deflasking will be discussed (and perhaps demonstrated) by Ken Jacobsen, past President of POS, AOS judge and well known cymbidium grower. Ken will discuss how to find flasks to buy, what to do once the flask reaches your house, and may even have some flasks with him.
Our Opportunity Table this month will be supplied by Mary Gerritsen. We may also have a few of Fred Shull’s orchids on the table.
Meeting - May 22nd
Hanging Gardens: Worts and All
Every growing environment has its microclimates. By developing an understanding of the conditions in different parts of the growing area, we can position individual plants where they have the best chance to flourish. Sounds simple, but in practice, the process is more complicated. It involves a lot of trial and error, ongoing observation of results, and the willingness to make changes when needed - the last part being maybe the hardest!
After 12 years in my current greenhouse, I've made progress in some areas, but fallen behind in others. Whoever said orchids thrive on neglect must have been growing the plastic kind! The presentation will offer a look at different environments in the greenhouse and some of the things that grow there, with a candid discussion of what works and what doesn't. We'll also look at some of the dilemmas encountered in the continuing effort to become a better grower (or at least not a worse one).
Dan Newman started growing orchids in 1982. His first successful subject was a Dendrobium hybrid bought as a tiny seedling at a lei stand in the Honolulu Airport. When that plant finally grew up and bloomed a few years later, he was hooked! By 1996 he had 350 orchids in a one-bedroom apartment. That year he moved his plants into a rented commercial greenhouse in San Francisco. He took over the large species collection of his friend and orchid mentor, Walter Teague, and his hobby evolved into his nursery, Hanging Gardens. Dan started growing orchids full-time in 2000, and moved to a larger greenhouse in Pacifica a few years later. He currently has 12,000 to 15,000 plants, mostly cool to intermediate growers (it's expensive to maintain really warm conditions in Pacifica). This number includes a few hybrids, but species make up his core collection and most of his sale stock. He also grows a variety of "companion plants", which share the natural habitats of orchids.
Dan is a long time POS member and shared his seemingly infinite knowledge as he introduced our Show & Tell Table at many meetings. He is also past president of the San Francisco Orchid Society. In recent years, he has spoken on a variety of topics to orchid societies in California and elsewhere.
Meeting - April 24th
Our speaker this month is Amy Chung. Amy is a long-time Peninsula Orchid Society member, an enthusiastic and accredited American Orchid Society judge, and a fabulous orchid hobby-grower. She grows the majority of her orchids in covered outdoor areas at her home and in an unheated greenhouse on the coast. Her special interests in orchids are Laelia anceps and Cattleya (formerly Laelia) purpurata. She shares greenhouse space with Ken Jacobsen’s (her husband) cymbidiums. Amy’s directs the rest of her attention her two young Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. Many of us find our heated growing spaces, whether in our homes or in our greenhouse(s) to be too limited for all of the orchids we would like to grow. Amy has experimented with growing many orchid varieties outdoors over the years. We are fortunate in the Bay Area to have mild temperatures most of the time and we can grow a wide variety of orchids outdoors - probably many more varieties than you realize. Amy will share her successes and guidelines for growing orchids outdoors. This is your chance to learn how to free up some room in your indoor growing spaces for new plants from the upcoming sales (San Jose Orchid Expo in June and Orchids in the Park in July) and our auction this September! Plant table: Our opportunity table will be supplied by Amy Chung and Ken Jacobsen Skill Session: At this month’s skill session, held in the Rose Room at 7:15 PM, Mike Drilling, our President, will tackle the topic of defeating snails in your growing area!
Meeting - March 27th
March Speaker - Carol Klonowski - South African Orchids
Carol has been growing orchids since the 1980s when a friend in Berkeley California gave her a Cattleya and it bloomed out with three big dark-lavender flowers that had an intoxicating fragrance. She built an entire greenhouse to accommodate the precious plant, which only led her to buy more orchids. Then another friend gave her a gift membership in the Orchid Society of California (OSC) in Oakland, and it has been a serious passion ever since. She can recall going to monthly meetings at OSC and DVOS (Diablo View Orchid Society) when orchid legends such as the late Frank Fordyce and and the late Dick Emory would be available to answer the many questions an eager hobbyist would have. Carol has served as Director, Vice President, and President of OSC for most of the past two decades. She is also an Accredited Judge with the American Orchid Society California Sierra Nevada Judging Center. She often helps out at the AOS Pacific Central Judging Center (including serving several years as their webmaster) and has been seen at many Peninsula Orchid Society Meetings. This talk covers the recent 21st World Orchid Conference (WOC) in Johannesburg, South Africa, and gives an overview of this most-unique country's orchids. From the well-known Disas to rarer but no less interesting Bartholinas, and from fynbo, mountainside and savannah habitats, we will explore why South Africa was chosen as the host nation for this prestigious event. In addition, Carol will offer a preview of the next WOC in Guayaquil, Ecuador and detail reasons why everyone should plan to attend. Thank you to the Stanford at the San Francisco Orchid Society for allowing us to copy his bio and talk description from the SFOS newletter! Our skill session this month will be presented by Ken Jacobsen. Ken will demonstrate the correct way to use virus test kits from Agdia to test for cymbidium-mosaic virus and Odontoglossum ring-spot virus. Some of your infected plants will demonstrate that they have the virus, but some will not. It is a good idea to check your collection from time-to-time to make sure you don't have any hidden carriers waiting to infect your other orchids. Ken will talk about the best method to test a large number of plants, for the least amount of cost. There may be some test supplies available at the meeting for $6 per test, or you may bring in your freshly cut leaf samples to have the test done for $6 per test at the skill session.
Feb 27th Meeting
Paul Chim - Orchid Travels Through China - Feb 27th, 2015
Our speaker for the February 27th, 2015 meeting will be long time POS member and Cymbidium grower extraordinaire Paul Chim. Paul is making a 12-day trip to China first half of February. We will enjoy a fresh-off-the-presses travelog of his trip which will include photos of China and the orchids he finds there. Paul will give us some pointers on Cymbidium culture and show us photos of his awarded Cymbidiums from the past two years as well. Paul Chim has been growing orchids for over 40 years. His specialty is cool growing Cymbidiums; both species and hybrids. Paul is a former President and Vice President of the Orchid Society of California, San Francisco Orchid Society, Marin Orchid Society, and Golden Gate Cymbidium Society. He is a founding member of the Golden Gate Cymbidium Society. (Not sure how he avoided serving on the POS board!) He and his wife, Phyllis occasionally have an orchid open house in San Leandro. Paul has been, and still is, very generous with his support of the Bay Area orchid scene. He was kind enough to enter several plants in our show this year. His Cymbidium Kelly’s Winter won Best Open Cymbidium. He and Phyllis also volunteered Saturday and Sunday at our show. Paul will be providing our plant table, which will include some Cymbidiums, but many other genera as well.The Annual POS Holiday Potluck and Bingo Night will take the place of our regular meeting format. This event takes place on the 3rd Friday of December (the 19th) and doors will open at 5:30. See the December 2014 Issue of the Sheath for more details about what foods to bring, etc.
Speaker:None
Date: December 19, 2014
Time: Doors open at 5:30 PM
Place: San Mateo Garden Center
605 Parkside Way, San Mateo, CA
Speaker Info
The speaker for our November 28 meeting will be Pierre Pujol, Peninsula Orchid Society member and grower.
As many of us, Pierre started growing orchids given to him by friends and neighbors, then became intrigued by the plants and was hooked for good four years ago. Since then, his collection has grown rapidly to about a thousand plants today, many of which are cymbidiums. The 25% non-cymbidiums genera in Pierre's collection is expanding and comprises many genera, mostly cool to intermediate growing.
A graduate of the National Agronomical Institute in Paris, Pierre tries to use his education to understand the cultural requirements of orchids and apply it experimentally to his collection. Over the last 3 years, his efforts were rewarded by several AOS and CSA quality and cultural awards, although he modestly admits that he is still on the learning curve.
Skill Session: “Selecting Plants for AOS Judging” with Chaunie Langland
There are two or more AOS judging events in the SF Bay area every month. Chances are you will need to go to significant effort to attend one of these events. Chaunie is a student judge with the Pac Central Judging Center and has spent time evaluating her own orchids at home. Chaunie will discuss how to determine when you have an orchid that might be awarded at an AOS judging session, making it worth the trip. Do not go into shock. She is going to suggest that you make a one time expenditure of $50. At the current cost for gas, this is not a radical idea.
Opportunity Table: Plants provided by Pierre Pujol and Amy Chung Jacobsen.
October 24th, 2014
Speaker/Event:Peter Lin on “Mini-catts: A Presentation of Miniature Cattleyas from the Past and Today”.Date:October 24th, 2014
Skill Session:AOS Judging
Skill Session: AOS Judging Returns to POS
Bring your orchids to the October meeting for AOS (American Orchid Society) judging. Plant entry will take place from 6:55 to 7:30 PM on the patio. You are welcome to observe the judging and ask questions but if this is your plant being judged or you know who owns it, keep it a secret - the judges aren’t supposed to know who owns the orchids they are judging. Judging is anonymous until the decisions are made!
Opportunity Table: Plants provided by Peter Lin.
Speaker BIO:
The speaker for our October 24 meeting will be Peter Lin, from Diamond Orchids in Southern California (http://www.diamondorchids.com/). Peter is an avid orchid hobbyist, hybridizer, and AOS judge. He resides in Southern California and grows orchids in 3 small greenhouses. He grows primarily mini-catts, Sophronitis, Dendrobiums and miniature species. Peter frequently gives talks at various orchid societies and has written articles for the Orchid Digest and ORCHIDS magazine (see the latest October issue of ORCHIDS). You can reach Peter at lin.peterT@yahoo.com . Peter started growing orchids over 30 years ago, but then stopped due to school and starting a career. It wasn't until about 11 years ago that the orchid "bug" came back and he is now heavily involved once again! He is an accredited judge with the American Orchid Society, and a hybridizer of mini-catts. He enjoys meeting with other orchid enthusiasts, and can often be found at various orchid shows and societies around the country. Due to limited growing space, Peter likes to specialize in miniature orchids, both species and hybrids, and has received numerous AOS awards. His interests in orchids include Dendrobiums, Angraecoids, and Neofinetias. He is also known as "Mr Sophronitis" as he has a passion for growing and collecting them. He maintains a collection of a thousand or more orchids at his home in Southern California in 3 small greenhouses, outdoors, as well as an offsite greenhouse. Members are invited to join us for a light, no-host dinner with the speaker at the California Pizza Kitchen (Hillsdale Mall). We will depart from the Garden Center at 5:30pm sharp for dinner at 5:45pm. Pre-orders: In addition to a selection of plants which Peter will bring for sale, members may pre-order plants which Peter will bring to the meeting. Members wishing to make pre-orders will qualify for a 10% discount but Peter must receive orders by 10/17. You may also email Peter or call his cell phone at 909-573-6751. See Peter’s catalog HERE. Please email Peter at: lin.petert@yahoo.com for any orders. He can accept a check or PayPal. Shipping is by USPS Priority Mail and is a minimum charge of $6 or about 15% of the order.Speaker: Jacob Knecht on “Angraecoid Culture” Date: August 22, 2014
Time: Doors open at 7:00 PM
Place: San Mateo Garden Center
605 Parkside Way, San Mateo, CA
Opportunity Table: Dan Williams Collection
Many of you know that Dan Williams has moved to the East Coast with his family; and has generously donated about 30 plants from his collection to POS. These plants will be included in our Opportunity Table raffle for the August 22 meeting. Thank you Dan!Plants have these labels:
Oncidium maculatum (2 each)
Rhyncholaeliocattleya Whisky River'(2 each)
Cattleya 'Maui Christmas
Jackfowlieara Perfect Pair' (2 each)
Cattleya trianae 'A.C. Burrage' AM/AOS
Dendrobium Specio-Kingianum
Caulaelia 'Mizoguchi Princess Kiko'
Brassia wagneri
Cymbidium Crackerjack 'Midnight Magic' AM/AOS AD/CSA
Cymbidium Lovely Nymph 'Stirling' 4n (3 each)
Rhyncholaeliocattleya Mary Ann McCandless'
Rhyncattleanthe Cherry Suisse 'Kawaii' (2 each)
Paphiopedilum Hiro Julie
Rhyncholaeliocattley Goldenzelle 'Summer'
July 25th, 2014
Speaker/Event:Debra Atwood on Potting PracticesDate:July 25th, 2014
Potting Better Practices
The speaker for our July 25 meeting will be Debra Atwood, of Napa Valley Orchids, who will speak on POTTING PRACTICES FOR VARIOUS SPECIES. You are encouraged to bring plants and questions about when and how to pot particular species. Debra Atwood is a third generation Napa Valley family resident and is in her 14th year as owner and sole proprietor of Napa Valley Orchids. In her own words: "After 30 years in Napa's hospitality industry, I needed to make a lifestyle change, so at close to 50 years of age, I thought it was time to follow my heart and pursue my passion for orchids. I think of myself more as a farmer than a florist. Water, weather, fertilizing and taking my beauties to market are always on my mind". Shegrows orchid species and hybrids, such as Angraecum, Aerangis, Bulbophyllum, Cochleanthes, Encyclia, Phragmipedium, Brassia, Maxillaria and Phalaenopsis to name a few. She is always busy teaching orchid classes, leading workshops,June 27th, 2014
Speaker/Event:Dan Newman of Hanging GardensDate:June 27th, 2014
Hang It Up!
People who love to grow orchids are lucky the orchids are so adaptable. No plant naturally evolved to live in a pot, yet that is the way most orchids are cultivated. Many species can be induced to thrive in pots on a bench, but there are significant holdouts that demand special treatment. These include the many types of orchids that send their leafy growths upward but their flowers sideways or downward, those where the vegetative growth extends in the wrong direction for pot culture or otherwise defies containment, and still others that assert their epiphytic nature by refusing to grow well unless their roots are exposed to air and/or light. Accommodating the needs of these special cases can help the grower maintain a healthier and more diverse collection.The presentation will offer a look at a sampling of orchid species that benefit from alternatives totraditional pot culture, with discussion of cultural techniques and a brief demonstration, as time permits. A handout with information about sources for "out-of-pot" materials will be available.May 23rd, 2014
Speaker/Event:Special AOS Judging & SeminarDate:May 23rd, 2014
Does this sound familiar? You go to an orchid show and see two lovely orchids side by side that look the same to your eye and wonder why one got an American Orchid Society award and one didn’t? Did you ever go to an orchid meeting and see folks in another room peering intently at one orchid on the table, sometimes using a magnifying glass and talking about things like texture, substance, arrangement on an inflorescence, floriferousness, etc.? Wonder just what is an AM or an HCC anyway? I am willing to bet that those who are honest will admit to something like that with their first exposure to AOS judging. We have all been there, even me in the beginning. I remember doing exactly that at my first Pacific Orchid Exposition way back when. Now is your chance to ‘demystify’ the happenings in that room with the odd lingo and behaviors-learn about the good stuff of AOS judging and not too much about the bad or the ugly. The AOS judges and students of the Pacific Central Judging Region will be judging your plants during the May POS meeting. You will be able to ask questions of the judges as they do their evaluations. And we will be projecting the database, AQPlus, that holds the history of past awards upon which a given plant is evaluated that is consulted during the judging process. The emphasis during this program will be judging as it happens and the questions that are asked as assessments are generated and balanced against prior awards for that particular orchid. We hope everyone will bring in plants for evaluation. Everyone that brings in a plant for judging will be considered and if the time is growing short, we will continue judging outside of the meeting room in the room where the skill sessions are held
Marni Turkel (pronounced tur KELL) is a native of the San Francisco Bay Area and has been growing orchids since 1980. She grows in three greenhouses in Santa Rosa with approximately 1000 sq ft of growing space. Her main interest is in cool-growing miniature species but plenty of larger plants have crept into the collection as well. Marni has been a contributor to Orchids magazine with her series called 'Well Worth the Space' and 'Give It a Rest'. Her articles have been translated into Dutch, German, Portuguese and Swedish for international publication. Photographs of her plants have been feature in articles noted orchid publications including Orchids Magazine, Orchid Digest, Richardiana, The Orchid Review, and The Australian Orchid Review. For the last few years she has been sharing her photographs and knowledge on OrchidsForum.com. Recently, Marni has expanded her work with orchids to include propagation of orchids from seed and has set up a flasking lab of her own to take the process from start to finish and sell flasks of many of the orchids species in her collection. After working for over 43 years as a potter, she has retired from ceramics to pursue orchids full-time. Members are invited to join us for a light, no-host dinner with the speaker at the California Pizza Kitchen (Hillsdale Mall). We will depart from the Garden Center at 5:30pm sharp for dinner at 5:45pm. The opportunity table will be provided by Marni Turkel.
February 28th, 2014
Speaker/Event:Ricky Wong on NeofinetiasDate:February 28th, 2014
Ricky Wong started his interest in orchids while he was in elementary school. In 1995, he received a Phalaenopsis as his first orchid and his collection has grown ever since. After graduating from college, he started to volunteer extensively at OrchidMania, where his passion for orchids continued to grow. Ricky is currently part of the AOS judging program and is a Probationary Judge. He is currently a Director at large for the Orchid Society of California (OSC), and has been in various board positions with the OSC. Ricky grows exclusively outdoors without the use of a greenhouse and prefers to grow cool-cold growing species and primary hybrids that do well outdoors year-round in the Bay Area. The Opportunity Table will be provided by Dennis Olivas. Members are invited to join us for a light, no-host dinner with the speaker at the California Pizza Kitchen (Hillsdale Mall). We will depart from the Garden Center at 5:30pm sharp for dinner at 5:45pm.
January 25th-26thth, 2014
Speaker/Event:POS Annual Show & Sale!Date:January 25th-26th, 2014
Program: Please Join Us at the Community Activities Building - 1400 Roosevelt Ave. Redwood City, CA 94061
December 20th, 2013
Speaker/Event:POS/GCCG BINGO and Potluck!Date:Dec. 20th, 2013
Program: Please Join Us for End of Year Pot Luck and Bingo!
This month, we are planning an evening of food and fun with a Holiday Pot Luck and Bingo. Gold Coast Cymbidium Society members are invited to attend also. Bring your family, you know, the ones you usually leave at home on Friday night, and plan on having a great time. Potluck: The Society will provide roasted turkey, ham, coffee and tea. The members and their guests are asked to contribute to the dinner by each bringing a dish to share. Your dish should feed 10 to 12 people. Please bring it ready to serve, including serving utensils.
A - H Appetizer
I - R Salad or side dish (we are often short on this category)
S - Z Dessert
You should also bring your own plates, eating utensils, napkins, glasses and beverages of choice. Bingo: After dinner we will enjoy a fast paced game of BINGO led by the comedic bingo calling of Dennis Olivas. Everyone who plays bingo will win at least once. In order to play bingo, each player should bring one orchid or orchid related item to donate to the game prize table. The orchids (disease and pest free please!) or related item should be one you would like to win yourself. If you do not have a plant or related item to bring a $10.00 donation will get you a Bingo card. Additional donations for the Bingo prize table are appreciated. We also will have a nice selection of orchids donated by Carl Jukkola for the prize table.
Nov 22nd, 2013
Speaker:Dave SorokowskyDate:Nov. 22nd, 2013
Program: Multifloral Paphs Skill Session:POS Ribbon Judging
Dave Sorokowsky from Lockeford, CA will be our guest speaker on November 22, and will speak on Multifloral Paphs. Dave is originally from Toronto and went to the University of Toronto where he received a B.S. in Biochemistry. He ran a tropical fish import business for 8 years, but found that a passion for wine overtook him. He decided to return to school to get degrees in oenology and viticulture at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario. While attending Brock, Dave began acquiring orchids … one 2” pot at a time. By the time he graduated, Dave had over 100 orchids. After graduation he worked in the Ontario wine industry for a year. But winemaking and a passion for orchids prompted Dave to seek a warmer climate in California where Dave has lived for 12 years now. Dave’s focus in orchids started with Cattleyas and Phalaenopsis, but his primary specialization is with Paphiopedilums. Over the last few years he has been breeding Paph species and producing some new hybrids. Dave is a probationary judge with the American Orchid Society and has received 44 AOS awards for his plants, with many of those awarded plants playing an important role in his breeding program. The Opportunity Table will be provided by Dave. Members are invited to join us for a light, no-host dinner with the speaker at the California Pizza Kitchen (Hillsdale Mall). We will depart from the Garden Center at 5:30pm sharp for dinner at 5:45pm.
Oct 25th, 2013
Speaker:Fred Clarke - Sunset Valley OrchidsDate:Oct. 25th, 2013
Program: Fred Clarke Lectures Skill Session:Staking Cymbidiums
Don’t forget to bring your plants for the show and tell table!
Fred Clarke has been growing orchids for since 1977 and has been hybridizing for 32 of those years. With over 29 years as a professional grower and manager in the horticultural industry, Fred applies these skills at his orchid nursery; Sunset Valley Orchids, located in San Diego, California. He is a passionate orchid grower whose curiosity in orchids is broad and varied. Although developing Cattleya hybrids has been his sustaining interest, he is also actively creating new Catasetinae, Paphiopedilum and Australian Dendrobium hybrids. His pioneering work in Catasetum intergeneric breeding has led to the development of several notable hybrids, most recently the grex, Fredclarkeara After Dark, which produced “the blackest flower ever witnessed”. This grex has received eight FCC’s, six AM’s and the coveted ‘Award of Distinction’ on the first flowers shown for judging! Fred is an internationally acclaimed speaker and travels extensively within USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. He is an accredited American Orchid Society Judge in the Pacific South region. His plants have received hundreds of quality awards from the American Orchid Society.
Fred Clarke Sunset Valley Orchids 1255 Navel Place Vista, CA 92081 (760) 639-6255 fred.clarke@att.net www.sunsetvalleyorchids.com Fred is bringing the plant table and plants for sale.Trudy Hadler will present the skill session on staking cymbidiums.
Sept. 27th, 2013
Speaker: FilmDate:Sept 27th, 2013
Program: The Judge, The Hunter, The Thief and the Black Orchid Skill Session: Beyond Cymbidiums: Outdoor Orchid Growing by Tom Mudge Don’t forget to bring your plants for the show and tell table!
The Judge, The Hunter, The Thief and the Black Orchid
Orchid Film Our September presentation will be the orchid documentary "The Judge, The Hunter, The Thief, and the Black Orchid", a 70-minute DVD. There will be an intermission approximately half-way through the showing during which time we will hold the "Opportunity Table" raffle. This DVD includes interesting discussions by several well-known orchid growers, hybridizers and vendors, including next month's speaker, Fred Clarke from Sunset Valley Orchids.August 23rd, 2013
Speaker: Dennis OlivasDate: August 23rd 2013
Program: Dennis Olivas on Cool Tolerant Monopodials
Monopodial orchids such as Vandas and Phalaenopsis are commonly thought to require hot, humid climates difficult to provide in the SF Bay Area. This talk will introduce some cool tolerant monopodials that can be successfully grown in conditions that are suitable for our climate, even some that can be grown outdoors. Dennis Olivas was born on the island of Kauai, Hawaii. As a lad, he helped his mom grow her orchids and got hooked. When he joined the Future Farmers of America, his project was raising and selling these beautiful and exotic plants. In 1980 he moved to the mainland and swore off the orchid family - but not for long - as he was introduced to Rod McLellan's Acres of Orchids. From there his whole life became one downward spiral. First he filled his home with upwards of 6,000 plants. Later he leased a greenhouse space for his ever-burgeoning orchid collection. Since he's a glutton for punishment, his collection grew, overflowing the 3,000 sq. ft. greenhouse in Half Moon Bay. Dennis has been President of the Peninsula Orchid Society, San Francisco Orchid Society, Diablo View Orchid Society, and the Santa Cruz Orchid Society. He is an accredited judge of the American Orchid Society. Dennis belongs to more than 14 orchid societies and tries to assist them whenever possible.
Bring in your questions and troubled plants for answers by our experienced growers.
The Experienced Growers:
- Ken Jacobsen on Growing Your Own Hybrid From Seed.
- Tanya Lam on Cattleya and Psychopsis Culture.
- Chris Mende on Paphiopedilum and Phragmipedium Culture.
- Dennis Olivas as the Orchid Doctor.
- Paul Reeve on Building Your Own Greenhouse.
We will have five large tables where there will be one of our experienced growers who will able to discuss each topic and answer questions. Members, guests, and visitors will rotate to the various tables to give you a chance to have all your questions answered.
Be sure to wrap troubled plants such that other plants will not acquire the same trouble!
Several of our growers will be bringing plants for sale.
Opportunity table will be provided by Carter and Holmes.
June 28th, 2013
June 28th, 2013 Meeting:Speaker: Sergio Garcia Topic:"Laelia purpurata and Its Varieties"
The speaker for our June 28 meeting will be Sergio Garcia from Olompali Orchids speaking on "Laelia purpurata and Its Varieties" – a talk on the different varieties of this Brazilian species that is so popular in the United States. Its varieties are many, but most have a difficult time naming the varieties that they have in their collection. Opportunity table will be provided by Olompali Orchids. Members are invited to join the speaker for a light dinner at the California Pizza Kitchen (Hillsdale Mall). We will depart from the Garden Center at 5:30pm sharp. Please be prepared to purchase your own meal.
May 24th, 2013
May 24th, 2013 Meeting:Speaker: Samantha Kha Topic:What’s New with OZ Paphs?
Samantha Kha has been interested in growing plants since she was a small child, when she loved raising flowers and vegetables from seed. Her interest in plants led her to begin exploring cacti and succulent plants. Then, over 15 years ago, she became interested in orchids. Today, Samantha grows orchids and also has a very extensive collection of succulent plants, mainly from South Africa. Samantha became enamored with slipper orchids early on. She has put together an extensive collection of Paphiopedilums and Phragmipediums, primarily focusing on species. She started making Paphiopedilum crosses about 13 years ago, and has raised and flowered many of her own crosses. For the past 10 years she has been making Paphiopedilum crosses for The Orchid Zone, using the Zone's extensive breeding collection. The Orchid Zone is located in the hills of the Monterey Peninsula, and is mostly known for Paphiopedilums. Not as well known is the Zone’s cultivation of many other genera as well, including Odontoglossums, Miltoniopsis, Masdevallias, Phragmipediums, and Zygopetalums. Along with enhancing our understanding of orchids, Samantha and Terry Root will provide a unique selection of orchids for the opportunity table. This is a not-to-be-missed presentation! You are also invited to have dinner with the speaker at the California Pizza Kitchen (Hillsdale Mall). We will depart from the Garden Center at 5:30pm sharp. Please be prepared to purchase your own meal. The opportunity table will be provided by The Orchid Zone!
April 26th, 2013
April 26th, 2013 Meeting:Speaker: Ron Parsons Topic: A Close Look at Miniature Orchid Species
Ron is a prolific photographer, writer, and lecturer on orchids and other plants, as well as a highly experienced grower. Ron is considered by many to be one of the finest flower photographers in the United States. His photography and encyclopedic knowledge of orchids is known both nationally and internationally. He has been photographing orchids, wildflowers, and almost every other kind of plant for over 25 years, and has a slide collection that numbers well over 80,000 slides! He went "digital" just over a year ago, and in this short time has taken thousands of photos orchids, wildflowers and other rare plants. See the orchid photogallery at his website http://www.flowershots.net/ for some of his new digital photographs. Ron loves to travel, photograph orchids and wildflowers in situ, visit orchid and other plant enthusiasts’ collections, and most of all, to take photographs of plants and flowers that he likes. Not only does Ron photograph plants, but he has been growing orchids, cacti, and bromeliads for over thirty years, and carnivorous plants for ten. He grows an assortment of cool growing species under lights at his home in South San Francisco and a couple hundred more at an unheated greenhouse at his parents home in Burlingame. His collection is beautifully grown, and often the plants featured in his talks are from his own collection. He willingly shares his knowledge about plant habitats and suggestions for culture with all who are interested. Ron is a popular speaker, and gives talks frequently on variety of orchid-related topics, as well as on California wildflowers, cacti and succulents, carnivorous plants, gesneriads and bromeliads. Ron is often asked to present the "show and tell" plants at orchid meetings …he is always full of up to date taxonomic information, culture requirements, and other little known facts about the species and hybrids that members bring in. Ron has published a variety of articles in Orchid Digest and other orchid journals, and has co-authored two books. Ron and Mary Gerritsen are currently finishing up their third book, this one on miniature orchid species. They have been working on it for five years. More information about Ron’s photography, writings and background can be found at his website http://www.flowershots.net/ Next board meeting at 6:15PM in the Rose Room on April 26th - just before the meeting.
March, 2013
March 22nd, 2013 Meeting:Speaker: Tanya Lam Topic: How to Grow Orchids in Coconut
Tanya Lam has been growing orchids since 1996. Since then she listened, experimented, and was creative in adjusting her growing methods to provide her orchids with their healthiest root systems, and in turn she enjoys their best performances in flowering. During the first few years of growing orchids, her job required extensive travel, which required her to have good planning and orchid mixes that stay moist exactly 7 days. Tanya created her own mixes to fit her weekly watering schedule and conditions. Her orchid mixes turned out to be outstanding, and she will be sharing her successes using coconut mixes with us. Orchids have become Tanya’s obsession and second profession. Tanya enjoys volunteering at orchid events and meeting orchid friends when she travels. Tanya grows many species and hybrids in San Jose, California. Her special interests are both species and hybrids of psychopsis, dendrobium, epidendrum, paphiopedilum, encyclia, cattleya, vandacous, angraecoids, and she is currently exploring many other orchid genera. Tanya likes “showy” orchids and long or frequent blooming orchids. She has always ‘wowed’ the orchid society members with her beautiful and well-grown plants. Tanya uses 99% rain water, she collects over 4000 gallons of rain water each year, and despite her busy work and travel schedule, she manages to keep her 2000 orchids virus free, pest free, and healthy in 2 greenhouses and a shade house. Tanya belongs to 6 orchid societies in the San Francisco bay area, was the Vice President and is currently the President of Malihini Orchid Society. Wherever she travels, she visits the local orchid society and learns how orchids are grown in different parts of the country. She traveled to see orchids in Northeast Thailand, and wished to travel to see more orchids in different parts of the world.
February, 2013
February 22nd, 2013 Meeting:Speaker: Dr. Holger Perner Topic: An Armchair Tour of China
Holger Perner is well known for his expertise in Asian orchids, especially Paphiopedilums. He authored a recent series of excellent articles on Paphs and on Cypripediums in Orchids Magazine. (You can find them in our library if you are not an AOS member or if you have misplaced your copy at home.) He and his wife, Wenqing, live and work in China. Mary Gerritsen (past president of POS) has traveled on one of their tours to see orchids in-situ and highly recommends going.
Speaking of tours, the presentation we voted to have at our meeting is “Come with me to Western China - and see the fascinating orchids (An armchair orchid tour with lots of landscape, culture, stories, people and of course orchids).” Coming in a very close second in the voting was his talk on Paphiopedilums. Luckily for us, Holger will be giving his Paph presentation at POE the day after our meeting, at 2 pm, so you don’t have to miss out if you wanted to hear that talk also! One of Holger’s main interests is orchid conservation. He propagates endangered and newly discovered species and makes them available for sale. This reduces the incentive to over collect orchids from the wild and allows them to survive even if their native habitat is destroyed.
Holger and Wenqing will bring plants to sell at our meeting as well as provide the opportunity table. You can also find them at their booth at the POE.
56th Annual The Show features hundreds of orchids, American Orchid Society Judging, Free Workshops, and orchid sales from the following vendors:
Orchid Design
Brookside Orchids
Cal-Orchid
D & D Flowers
Golden Gate Orchids
Amy & Ken Jacobsen
Napa Valley Orchids
Orchids and Gardens
Paphiness Orchids
Dean Haas
+ Member Sales
Peninsula Orchid Society/Golden Gate Cymbidium Growers Joint Meeting & Potluck Dinner and Bingo!
Instead of our regular program this month, we are planning an evening of food and fun with a Holiday Pot Luck and Bingo shared with the Gold Coast Cymbidium Society members, who usually meet on this third Friday of the month. Bring your family, you know, the ones you usually leave at home on Friday night, and plan on having a great time.
Potluck: The Society will provide roasted turkey, ham, coffee and tea. The members and their guests are asked to contribute to the dinner by each bringing a dish to share. Your dish should feed 10 to 12 people. Please bring it ready to serve, including serving utensils.
Early start time this month!
5:30 PM Table set-up (Please bring a full table tablecloth if you can)
6:00 PM Beverage time
6:30 PM Dinner
7:30 PM Bingo
Please note: the show dates are January 26-27 any other dates in this newsletter are in error!
A - H Salad or hot side dish
I - R Dessert
S - Z Appetizer
You should also bring your own plates, eating utensils, napkins, glasses and beverages of choice.
Bingo: After dinner we will enjoy a fast paced game of BINGO led by the comedic bingo calling of Dennis Olivas. Everyone who plays bingo will win at least once. In order to play bingo, each player should bring one orchid or orchid related item to donate to the game prize table.
The orchids (disease and pest free please!) or related item should be one you would like to win yourself. If you do not have a plant or related item to bring a $10.00 donation will get you a bingo card. We welcome any additional donations for this evening's fun. The society will also provide some plants from Brookside Orchids in the bingo prizes.
November 23rd, 2012,
Cattley Culture for the Novice Grower!
Speaker: Fred Shull
Fred Shull’s interest in orchids began as a simple high school project. After some success and a few failures, he wanted to learn more about these rare and beautiful plants. After 40 years he is still in love with Cattleyas. (He used to be in love with Brazilian Laelias, but they are all classified as Cattleyas now!)
An AOS Judge for over 20 years, Fred has also served as Vice President and President of the San Francisco Orchid Society, and has served as a board member of the Peninsula Orchid Society. He supports numerous societies as liaison and introduced many excellent speakers to these societies. Fred loves to travel and has been fortunate to view many orchids growing in their native environment particularly in Brazil, Mexico. He has attended many World Orchid Conferences. Fred grows a variety of genera in the Orchid Family with special interest in the Cattleya alliance. You have no doubt noticed the incredibly beautiful Cattleyas and Laelias he brings for the Show & Tell table. Fred's presentation will be geared to the novice grower, but he will be happy to answer questions from intermediate and advanced growers at the end of his presentation.
Opportunity table:
Our Opportunity Table will be provided by Fred Shull. Expect to have a chance at some wonderful divisions or seedlings.
Oct 26th, 2012, Dendrobium cuthbertsonii - Yes, They Can Live and Bloom for Years!
Speaker: Tom Perlite
Tom Perlite is the owner of Golden Gate Orchids in San Francisco and has been growing orchids for the past 35 years. After receiving a degree in Botany from Cal Berkeley, Tom worked at the Rod McLellan Co., and subsequently started Golden Gate Orchids in 1981. Golden Gate Orchids is a wholesale nursery specializing in cool growing orchids including Odontoglossum, Masdevallias, Miltonias, and Dendrobiums. Tom is a retired AOS judge and has received numerous awards including Grand Champion at the Osaka International Orchid Show, the George Moore Medal from the RHS, the Butterworth Prize and 8 FCCs from the AOS. Tom has been a POS member for many years. He will share his knowledge of how to grow the beautiful and jewel colored Dendrobium cuthbertsonii. At the Speaker’s Day in Sacramento this year one of Tom’s cuthbertsoniis was awarded an FCC (http://www.csnjc.org/Aug2012/dencuthbertsoniibusterFCC.html) and another an AM (http://www.csnjc.org/Aug2012/dencuthbertsoniideeppinkAM.html) by the American Orchid Society (AOS) judges. Your VP asked Tom for this presentation following discussions with several POS advanced growers who have had poor luck with figuring out how to keep their cuthbertsonii alive (as has the VP!). Hopefully we will all have a crack at growing these well as we follow Tom’s advice.
Skill Session: We are very fortunate this month to have Chris Mende giving us tips on Phragmipedium culture. Chris is well known at POS (and elsewhere) for the wonderfully grown Phragmipediums and Paphiopedilums that she brings to our Show & Tell table. At our June meeting, which featured an AOS judging demonstration, Chris had her Phragmipedium Susan Decker ‘Tiny Jungle’ earn an AM award. http://www.aospacificcentral.org/POSAOSJune2012/
Sept 29th, 2012 Meeting
Special Event: Peninsula Orchid Society Annual Auction
CLICK HERE FOR AUCTION PLANT LIST
Open to the public! Many orchids to choose from!
August 24th, 2012 Meeting
Speaker: Mary Gerritsen
Title: Ascent to Mount Roraima: Orchids and Carnivorous plants in the Lost World
Mount Roraima is a plateau in South America straddling the border of Brazil, Venezuela and Guyana and was the inspiration for the location of the Pixar movie Up. Mary Gerritsen, Ph.D. is an independent biotechnology consultant who has been growing orchids (mostly species) on and off for more than 30 years, and since relocating to the San Francisco Bay area in 1997 started to amass a collection of small cool growing miniature species such as Masdevallias, Porroglossums, Lepanthes and other assorted tiny gems. She also has a second intermediate greenhouse, filled with larger species such as Angraecoids, Dendrobiums, Oncidiums, Laelias, Phalaenopsis and Bulbophyllums. She loves to see orchids growing in situ, and has made it her mission over the last few years to see as many as possible, with trips to see and photograph orchids (and other flora as well) in Canada, various states in the USA, Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, Costa Rica, Panama, Brazil, China, Germany, Rhodes and Crete, Australia and most recently, Borneo. She is the co-author of two botanical books: Masdevallias, Gems of the Orchid World, and Calochortus, Mariposa Lilies and their Relatives, with fellow Peninsula Orchid Society Member and well known photographer, Ron Parsons. Mary is now working on a third book "Miniature Orchids" with Ron Parsons. In addition to being a member and past president of the Peninsula Orchid Society she is a member of the Pleurothallid Alliance.. She is currently the president of the San Francisco Orchid Society. Opportunity table provided by Mary Gerritsen.
July 28th, 2012, The Orchid Whisperer Speaker: Bruce Rogers
Our speaker for July will be Bruce Rogers. Bruce has always had a passion for the plant kingdom, growing plants as a hobbyist from an early age. He began his professional work with orchids in the late seventies when he was hired by the City of Atlanta Parks Department to work with their orchids in the greenhouses in Piedmont Park. Returning to San Francisco after this very successful endeavor, he was promptly hired by the Rod McLellan Company with two functions: head grower for their boarding department and to work on Vanda hybridization. At that time, Rod McLellan was major force in the orchid world and the association with this company led to many great opportunities.
In the early eighties Bruce left to start Bruce Rogers Orchids, a orchid consulting and management company, and a few years later, Rogers-Fishman Boarding, an orchid boarding company in San Francisco. In the commercial world, he has consulted and worked with major companies, department stores, and civic groups both nationally and internationally. In the private sector he as had the opportunity to work with many interesting and influential people. He has designed and created Orchid Gardens in private homes from Marin to Santa Barbara.
Bruce has been growing and hybridizing Sobralias for many years.
In 2002 Bruce, with Terry Root (well known as owner of the Orchid Zone) teamed up to form Oz Gardens, a wholesale nursery specializing in Sobralias. Their work has led to a wider selection of Sobralia for different climate zones, and an expanded blooming season. Sobralias are giants of the Orchid World in both size of plant and flower. Sobralias can be a fantastic plant suitable outside culture in the Bay Area. Growing superbly in both pots and beds in the garden, they bloom easily in the late spring to early fall. Few orchids approach the beauty and allurement of Sobralias. Bruce will speak on his favorite subjects, his new book, The Orchid Whisperer and on new Sobralia Hybrids.
He may also share some stories from his recent travels to Xcalak. Bruce will be supplying a fabulous opportunity table for the meeting,.
Bruces' new book, The Orchid Whisperer is especially written for the novice orchid grower. He will be bringing some copies to sell and sign.
Information on growing sobralias
Bruce talking about his book on YouTube
Oz Gardens
Bruce will supply the opportunity table. I will let you know about the skill session. Either Ken on virus testing or me or Dennis on repotting.
