Monthly Meeting

           Alex and JerryAs we begin the 2024 orchid growing season, our first culture meeting of the year will focus on the basics of repotting and dividing orchids and provide demonstrations on repotting orchids that are easy to grow in our Southern California climate.  The presentation will feature two of our very experienced growers, Jerry Spencer and Alex Nadzan. Alex will begin the session with reviewing repotting basics that should help both beginners and more seasoned growers prepare for the busiest part of our orchid growing season. He will provide tips and valuable sources for supplies and will pot and divide a cattleya orchid or two.

Anita and Jerry Spencer are well-known for growing and showing award-winning, large specimen plants so Jerry will share his techniques on dividing and repotting a large specimen cymbidium orchid. During the presentation, Alex and Jerry will address any repotting questions you may have so bring them to the meeting.  

This should be a very interesting and educational session for all who want to get a head start on the upcoming orchid growing season.  The session also will provide an incentive for members to produce divisions of your collections for our upcoming POS sale over the weekend of May 24-27 at the San Diego Botanic Garden’s World of Orchids Show (May 4-27) in Encinitas.

 Finally, the plant table this month will be provided by one of our local orchid growers.

Carol BeuleWe are delighted to welcome Carol Beule from Holllywood Hills to our society as our first speaker of 2024. Carol will talk on ‘Sarchochilus’ a wonderful compact species from Australia that does well in our Southern California climate. While Sarcochilus can be grown in a greenhouse, they can easily grow alongside cattleyas and any other outdoor growing orchids in our area. The species have been extensively hybridized to produce Sarcos in a variety of colors and sizes and, as such, they are perfect additions to every orchid enthusiast’s collection. Most are compact but they also can develop into large specimen plants. Carol will discuss how to grow Sarcochilus and share her extensive knowledge of this interesting class of orchids. 

Carol is a shared speaker with our sister society, SDCOS, who will give a talk on ‘Lycastes’ on Tuesday evening, January 2 at 6:30 pm in Balboa Park should any of our members desire to attend in person or participate on Zoom.

Carol has grown all species of orchids since purchasing a home at the base of the Hollywood Hills 25 years ago, and it has been her quest to discover which orchids will thrive in the unique climate she has in the San Fernando Valley and the surrounding communities. In the search to find the perfect plant for her growing area, Carol now grows Neofinetia (Vanda) falcata, Paphiopedilum, Phalaenopsis, Cattleya, Laelia, Dendrobium, Lycaste, Asian Cymbidiums and Rossioglossum orchids on her patio and in two small greenhouses.   Read more »

The onset of fall initiates the cymbidium flowering season that can last through late spring to early summer.  Accordingly, we felt it would be good to review cymbidium culture at this time. As an affiliate member of AOS, our society has access to a large number of webinars featuring excellent orchid experts on a variety of topics.  George Hatfield, cymbidium hybridizer and grower extraordinaire, produced an excellent webinar on how he grows award-winning cymbidiums. George covers numerous cultural techniques that allow him to produce such beautiful cymbidiums. He also addresses pests and diseases. We will feature George’s video, then ask Jerry Spencer and Alex Nadzan to answer any questions that you may have on cymbidium culture. November’s opportunity table will be from Cal-Orchid.

 George Hatfield holds a Bachelor of Science in Plant and Soil Science from California State Polytechnic University. He was President of the American Orchid Society from 2016-2018 and received the Hudlow Trophy from the Cymbidium Society of America recognizing his achievements in Cymbidium hybridizing.

 George is the owner of Hatfield Orchids, a Ventura County, CA based company, initiated in 2005 with focus on the development of high quality and award-winning cymbidiums. He is an accredited orchid judge for both the CSA and AOS.  George is also a past-president of the CSA and was the Chairman of the CSA Cymbidium Congress from 1998-2001 and president of the Santa Barbara International Orchid Show in 2002 and 2003. 

Tim CulbertsonWe are delighted to welcome back one of our favorite speakers, Tim Culbertson. Tim will be speaking on ‘Encyclias of Mexico and Beyond’.  This is a very timely talk as many members of the Encyclia family are blooming at this time so Tim’s presentation will be very educational for our members.  These spectacular cattleya relatives grow well outside in Southern California, and with their compact habit, great fragrance, and ease of growth, these are delightful plants for every collection.  By extending the traditional definition of Encyclias to include recently separated groups like Anacheilum, Panarica, Prosthechea, Euchile, and others that Tim and many of us grew up calling Encyclia, we end up with a diverse, beautiful, fragrant, exciting group of plants and flowers. If we add those to the wonderful flora of Mexico and Central America, we have a group that every collector should grow.  By the end of this presentation, members will have a new appreciation of the range of plant habits, floral forms, and fragrances of Encyclia broadly, as well as an appreciation of their lovely flowers and ease-of-growth.  This is a talk not to be missed. Tim also will be providing this month’s plant table.   Read more »

Peter LinWe welcome back Peter Lin, one of our favorite and very knowledgable speakers who will be presenting his newest talk:  Compact Vandaceous Species and Hybrids.  We will learn about the many different small growing species and hybrids within the Vanda alliance. Several of these orchids can be grown successfully outdoors in Southern California, depending on the parents involved in the hybrid or the species.  Peter’s fast-paced PowerPoint presentation will include many pictures along with cultural tips.  Peter also will be providing the plant opportunity table. The talk will be streamed on zoom for those members who can’t attend in person.

Peter started growing orchids over 30 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.  He also has thousands of photos of his orchids that he maintains on Flickr.   Read more »