Monthly Meeting

April’s program will be devoted to orchid culture and feature two of our experienced orchid growers who will discuss cultural aspects of interest to our members.  Jerry Spencer will speak on "Growing Specimen Orchid Plants", while Dr. Merle Robboy will address "Purchasing Orchid Plants for Coastal and Inland Areas and Adapting Plants for Your Growing Conditions." Following their talks will be a Q & A session moderated by Alex Nadzan. Members are encouraged to submit questions in advance on any topic they would like to bring up (call 760-753-6280 or email to anandzan@mac.com) or just raise them at the meeting.  Participants also are welcome to bring in their problem plants for diagnosis; however, please bring plants in either paper or plastic bags if they appear to be infected with a disease in order to minimize transmission to other plants.  We encourage all members to actively participate in the discussion.

The opportunity table is to be supplied by Rex Foster Orchids that will include a number of their novel cattleya alliance hybrids and some select species.

We are fortunate to have Fred Clarke as our speaker for March. Fred ClarkeFred is a long time, generous supporter of the Palomar Orchid Society and one of our most favorite speakers. Fred will be talking on “Growing Catasetums”. His presentation will describe catasteum species and hybrids and share with us tips on how to grow this very interesting class of deciduous orchids. Fred’s talk is not to be missed, as he is an excellent speaker who has lectured on many orchid subjects in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Latin and South America. Fred is also providing the plant table, which will likely include some of his new catasetums hybrids as well as novel cattleyas hybrids.

As many of you know, Fred is a passionate orchid grower and hybridizer whose curiosity in orchids is broad and varied. Accordingly, Fred has created many new hybrids across several orchid classes. Although developing new cattleya hybrids has been a long-standing, primary interest of Fred, he also has produced new Aussie dendrobium, bulbophyllum, paphiopedilum, sarcochillus and zygopetalum hybrids. Moreover, his pioneering work in catasetum intergeneric hybrids led to the development of several unique hybrids, including the grex, Fredclarkeara After Dark, which produced “the closest flower color to black ever witnessed”. To date, this grex has received eight FCCs and six AMs.   Read more »

Dan NewmanWe are pleased to welcome Dan Newman of Hanging Gardens, Pacifica, CA, who will be speaking to us on ‘Dendrobiums: Jewels of Gondwana’. The genus 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.  There is no simple answer 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, and from the tropical forests of remote Pacific islands to the temperate, seasonal regions of southern Australia.  Dan’s 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 this presentation is to encourage interest in these fascinating orchids and provide useful information about their cultivation.  Dan will be providing the plant opportunity table and also will be giving a talk on ‘Minature Orchids’ to the San Diego Society on Tuesday, January 7 at 7:00 pm should you desire to take in both of his talks.     Read more »

The October meeting will feature our second culture session of the year that will concentrate on “Preparing your Orchids for Winter”.  Panel members will include Nico Goosens (Lico Orchids), Karl Batchman (Casa de las Orquideas), Harry Philips (Andy’s Orchids), and other expert growers.

Believe it or not, winter is approaching!  Although it does not seem so with all the warm weather we are having thus far.  But to your orchids, the waning sun, shorter days and cooler evenings are telling them that it is time to start slowing down to begin their winter’s rest.  To others it is telling them that the mating (flowering) season is fast around the corner.

Cymbidiums also will be send up their spikes of wonderful colors with rainbow hues.  Some dendrobiums will shrink if watered in winter, while others will welcome the chill to set next year's flowers.  The Black Orchid and related members (cycnoches and catasetums) will drop their leaves and go into dormancy.  Cold sensitive plants such as phalaenopsis, tolumnias, and most vandas will need to be brought in to avoid their demise.  Potted orchids will need care different than orchids on sticks.  Do you know how to care for your loved ones?

Join us on 2 October when your fellow orchid growers guide you into the chilly weather to come. Please bring your questions on winterizing your plants as well as any other orchid related questions you may have.

The opportunity table will be provided by the three commercial growers and should have a very nice collection of plants.