Welcome to the Palomar Orchid Society Website!

Ron KaufmannWe are happy to welcome back Ron Kaufmann, chair of the San Diego County Orchid Society Conservation Committee and a founding director of the Orchid Conservation Alliance. Ron has been growing orchids for more than 25 years and has travelled extensively to view orchids in the wild in Asia and South America, particularly Brazil, Ecuador and Colombia. His talk entitled "Cattleya eldorado: Searching for Gold in the Brazilian Amazon" will describe an unusual orchid habitat near the confluence of the Rio Negro and the Amazon River, home to beautiful species like C. eldorado. Cattleya eldorado is a delightful orchid that is uncommon in cultivation outside Brazil but well worth growing.

Ron is a marine biologist by training, and his scientific work includes studies of Antarctic and deep-sea ecosystems as well as marine communities in coastal Southern California. His orchid collection began with a reed stem Epidendrum and progressed to a diverse assemblage that contains mostly species orchids.

Ron has a long-standing interest in conservation and has been a member of the SDCOS Conservation Committee for nearly 25 years and chair since 2004. Since 1991, the Conservation Committee has awarded nearly $250,000 to support projects in 23 different countries. Ron also helped to found the Orchid Conservation Alliance and serves on the boards of the OCA, Orchid Digest, and Fundación EcoMinga (an Ecuadorian conservation organization). He currently serves as vice chair of the American Orchid Society Conservation Committee.   Read more »

Peter T. LinWe are delighted to welcome back Peter T. Lin who has previously spoken to our society on a number of interesting orchid topics. This month Peter will present a talk on ‘Neofinetia falcata and its Hybrids’.  Peter’s fast paced PowerPoint presentation will feature this Japanese native orchid species, a bit of history, the many forms and varieties, and a selection of its hybrids within the Vanda alliance.  He also will discuss on how to grow these marvelous temperature tolerant orchids.

Neofinetia falcata is native to Japan and has been grown there for centuries.  They are highly treasured and come in many flower forms and leaf forms.  The species has been used with other vandaceous genera to produce charming compact hybrids that Peter also will highlight.

Peter started growing orchids over 35 years ago, but then stopped due to school and starting a career.  It wasn't until about 15 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.

Peter’s website has additional information on his orchids and on plants for sale.   Read more »

Tim CulbertsonWe welcome back one of our favorite speakers, Tim Culbertson, who will give us a presentation on ‘Laelia anceps, a Treasure of Mexico’. Although large, these spectacular cattleyas grow well outside in our subtropical climate and with their myriad colors and free-blooming tendencies, they are great plants for every collection. California is a hot-bed of interest in Laelia anceps types and hybrids, and has been for years. Tim will explore the species' influence in hybrids, and how breeders have made combinations of naturally occurring forms to create entirely new strains. By the end of this presentation, attendees will have a new appreciation of the range of color forms of Laelia anceps and its hybrids, as well as an appreciation of their beautiful flowers and ease-of-growth. Tim’s talk is not to be missed and he will be providing a plant table that includes some wonderful select divisions and seedlings of Laelia anceps and its hybrids.

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 "babies" of his own is a blast.    Read more »

Carlos LopezWe welcome Carlos Lopez as our second speaker of our in-person meetings this year. Carlos will talk to us about “The Four Seasons of Cattleyas” and will discuss which Cattleya species and hybrids bloom in each season.  This will allow our members to tailor their collections to have blooming cattleyas throughout the year.

Many of our members know Carlos from his work at Sunset Valley Orchids. Carlos is a Business student at Mira Costa College who has been cultivating orchids for over 7 years. His orchid venture began at the age of thirteen when he started to follow his father to work at Sunset Valley Orchids. Before he knew it, he was volunteering at the nursery and was helping clean orchid flasks, repot orchids, and doing small tasks. Carlos eventually became more involved in the nursery's operations/maintenance and started to take part in attending orchid shows and selling orchids at the SVO booths. He is currently Sunset Valley Orchids Greenhouse specialist and has years of experience with Cattleya, Catasetum, Australian Dendrobiums, and Sarcochilus orchids. Carlos is currently training to become an American Orchid Society Judge and works with Orchid Digest as well. Carlos will be providing the plant table this month.