March 2022 – Tim Culbertson

Tim CulbertsonOur society welcomes back Tim Culbertson who will talk about development of new Zygopetalum hybrids. Tim is an excellent speaker and orchid enthusiast who will illustrate new directions in Hawaii and in the US to make temperature-tolerant miniature Zygos. These plants are easy to grow and flower, are vigorous, and have low cultural demands; many will grow easily outdoors in Southern California.  Although many Zygos look similar, different breeding lines from around the world have pushed the look of Zygos in radical and wild directions.  Many genera contribute to these new hybrids, and Tim will share will some of these with you, as well as help identify some of the important parents in the backgrounds of new and modern colors and appearances found in this genus.  By the end of this presentation, attendees will have a new appreciation of what goes into breeding trends for these types of plants, as well as an appreciation of their beautiful flowers and ease-of-growth, both indoors and outside.  Tim’s presentation is not to be missed and he will have a few of these beautiful plants for sale at the meeting.

Although Tim teaches middle school kids for a living, one of his passions has always been plants.  Tim began growing orchids as an offshoot from working at Longwood Gardens in Philadelphia just after college.  From the very beginning it was all about Paphiopedilums, particularly awarded and select clones of historic importance, of which his collection numbers nearly 3000.  While he loves finding old, rare stepping stones in Paph breeding, he also dabbles in a little hybridizing of his own, and finds that growing up of his own babies is a blast.  In addition, Tim is an accredited judge with the American Orchid Society, and has served in various capacities with various orchid societies in California and on the East Coast.  Tim also loves meeting other people who like orchids too, and doing so often finds Tim traveling to shows, vendors, and peoples’ greenhouses to see the latest and greatest in new hybrids and to get the best orchid gossip.  Tim likes to be involved in plants as much as possible. In addition to Longwood, Tim has worked at the Smithsonian Institution tending to their orchids, and for years for the United States National Arboretum, collecting rare plants and documenting cultivated species and hybrids for their herbarium.  It is obvious that Tim really likes plants. 

This month’s plant table will consist of mostly cattleya orchids donated to the society by Fred Clarke of Sunset Valley Orchids. Everyone who purchases tickets will be assured of at least one plant from the table.