Helge W.'s posts

This month’s speaker is Arnold Gum who will talk on ‘Wild Orchids of Southern France’.  His presentation will survey the different orchids encountered in a variety of day hikes through Provence, most with orchids in mind, with a bit of discussion about the habitat and the travels, laced with a bit of French scenery, food and background.

Arnold Gum
While the Provence region in the South of France is known for its delicious food, a broad variety of scrumptious cheeses, and fine wine, it is also one of the most bio-diverse regions in the world.  This is indeed ironic, as humans are not well known for idle co-existence with nature.  However, the coast of Provence has some of the earliest known sites of human habitation in Europe. Primitive stone tools dated approximately 1 million years BC were found between Monaco and Menton and remains of Roman ruins and old castles are common.  Thus, it was with some delight that Arnold discovered that, amid the ruins of old civilizations, there are a host of butterflies, wildflowers, and orchids.  The sheer number and variety of species speaks to the tenacity and resilience of nature!  The orchids start blooming early, perhaps around March, each species blooming in a small slice of perhaps two weeks in any given area.  The last bloomers may bloom as late as August or September!  That means that the serious orchid lover needs to visit Provence multiple times to see all of the different orchid species in bloom!  The orchids in the presentation consist of photos taken in two brief slices of time, once in the mid-June time frame and again, on a return trip to hunt for Ophrys, in early May.  What Arnold found was nothing short of astounding.  Ophrys were so thick that you could not avoid walking on them!  Quite the sight, when you are used to the somewhat barren, dry Southern California landscape.    Read more »

September’s program will feature four of our experienced orchid growers who will give brief (10-15 minute) presentations with an emphasis on culture for the upcoming Fall and Winter seasons. 

Our panelist will speak on the following topics:

Alex Nadzan: Fertilizer Basics and Seasonal Use

Jerry Spencer: Maintenance of Greenhouses/Shadehouses

Merle Robboy: Correct Time to Repot Orchids

Nico Goosens:  Preparing Orchids for Fall and Winter Seasons

This will be followed by a panel discussion on questions regarding the above topics or any other cultural questions participants may have. Questions may be brought up at the meeting or sent in advance to Alex Nadzan at anadzan@mac.com or by phone (760) 529-5814 (home, please note new number) or (858) 205-6789 (cell).

The opportunity table will be provided by Rex Foster Orchids and include some of their novel cattleya and related orchid hybrids.

James and Lauris RoseWe are very fortunate to have James Rose of Cal-Orchid, Santa Barbara return to POS to speak on ‘Laelias of Mexico’.  Although the genus Laelia was at one time a very large group including plants from Mexico, Central America, and Brazil, today's taxonomists have, rightly or wrongly, reduced the genus to a small group of 11 species all of which are endemic to Mexico.  These plants vary from the quite common (ex. Laelia anceps) to some of which are very rarely seen in collections. The flowers and plants are quite variable and all exhibit a classic beauty associated with other members of the Cattleya group.  All of these species are unique and have considerable worth in horticulture. Many have great potential in producing new hybrids.  James lecture will deal mostly with the variability of the many flowers and the habitats and conditions from which they grow. Hopefully, we can all share some knowledge in the wonderful world of Orchids. Cal-Orchid also will provide the plant table.   Read more »

Instead of of the general agenda, we will be using this month’s meeting as a training and orientation session for all volunteers for the upcoming auction.

The annual auction is POS’ main fund raiser and we depend on contributions from our membership to the event, namely plant donations and volunteer time. 

As this is prime re-potting time, please consider setting aside some divisions for the auction. Every year, member and vendor donations have enabled us to raise the money we need to pay for our meeting facility, our speakers, and the opportunity table.

We are fortunate to have a few very active individuals but we need your help for the auction! There are still a handful of responsibilities to be assigned and you are strongly encouraged to participate. Consider signing up some of your family members as well, this may actually be a lot of fun for them!

All volunteers will receive a plant at the orientation meeting as a token of gratitude. 

Whether you are able to volunteer or not, please join us on May 17 at the Pavilion and take advantage of the opportunity to purchase some very nice plants at very reasonable prices!

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 »