February 2025 - Fred Clarke ‘Cycnoches, Mormodes, Catasetums - Recent Trends’

Fred Clarke

We are pleased to host one of our favorite and well-known speakers, Fred Clarke. Fred’s talk will focus on the amazing world of Catasetinae.  The talk entitled‘Cycnoches, Mormodes, Catasetums - Recent Trends’ will provide a detailed look at the best of today's breeding and new directions hybrids are taking including themaking of Fredclarkeara After Dark.  Finally, Fred will cover the best practices for growing these remarkable plants. 

Cycnoches, Mormodes, and Catasetums are three related genera from the Tribe Cymbidieae. Individually, each has been considered an orchid oddity, or “botanical”,of interest mainly to the seriously addicted enthusiast. These plants have a brief deciduous period in winter, when the plants need a definite dry rest period bordering on neglect. These robust orchids are native to lowland tropical forests in Central and South America and are usually grown in warm or intermediate conditions. Commercially, Catasetum, Cycnoches (or ‘Swan’ orchids) and Mormodes (or ‘Goblin’ orchids) have occupied a small market niche on the edge of a sea of Cymbidiums, Cattleyas, Phalaenopsis, and Dendrobiums. Until recently, they have not attracted much attention from hybridizers, but in the past several years some spectacular hybrids have been produced, receiving great acclaim and an increasingly large collection of awards from the American Orchid Society. 

Fred is a long time, generous supporter and life member of the Palomar Orchid Society. He has been growing orchids since 1977 and has  been hybridizing for 35 of those years. With over 30 years as a professional grower and manager in the horticultural industry, Fred applies these skills at his orchid nursery, Sunset Valley Orchids, located in Vista, California, just north of San Diego. His nursery’s website has considerable information on plants for sale and many beautiful pics of his award winning orchids.

Fred is a passionate orchid grower whose curiosity in orchids is broad and varied. Fred’s pioneering work in Catasetinae hybrids led to the development of several notable hybrids receiving over 100 AOS awards. The grex, Fredclarkeara After Dark, which produced “the blackest flower ever witnessed”, has received a total of 61 awards worldwide, including eight FCC’s, six AM’s and the coveted AOS Award of Distinction. Fred recently received the Excellence in Hybridizing Award for Catasetum Alliance Hybrids by the American Orchid Society at their Fall 2016 meeting at the Huntington. Fred is also an Accredited Judge in the Pacific South Judging Region as well as a passionate fisherman.

 Fred will be supplying this month’s Opportunity Table.