Alex N.'s posts

February 2024 - Donna Ballard

Submitted by Alex N. on Sun, 01/21/2024 - 11:55pm
Donna BallardDonna BallardOur society welcomes for the first time Donna Ballard of the San Fernando Valley Orchid Society who will talk to us on ‘Growing Orchids in the Middle of a Drought’. Although we are not under drought conditions at this time, most of our summers and falls in Southern California experience serious drought conditions and we can clearly benefit from Donna’s experience and suggestions for managing our orchids under such conditions. Donna is a shared speaker with our sister society SDCOS and she will be speaking on ‘The Difference Between Orchid Seedlings and Meristem Clones’ on Tuesday, February 6th in Balboa Park, Casa de Prado, Room 101 and Zoom Simulcast at 7:30 pm
Donna is a native Californian, and is an Accredited American Orchid Society Judge. After over 30 years of loving, caring for and studying plants, she went on to work as a professional interior house plant maintenance technician until 4 years ago. She has since retired and works as a part time volunteer at the Huntington Botanical Garden’s Thornton Estate Orchid Conservatory in San Marino. She currently has approximately 460 sq. feet of greenhouse, shade house and interior growing areas where she has over 1300 Cattleyas, Paphiopedilums, Cymbidiums, Dendrobiums, Sarcochilus, miniature Vandas and novelty Phalaenopsis orchids as well as several other genera.
This month’s opportunity table will be from one of our local growers.
Date: 
Wed, 02/07/2024 - 6:30pm - 9:30pm

January 2024 - Carol Beule

Submitted by Alex N. on Thu, 12/21/2023 - 5:45pm

Carol BeuleCarol BeuleWe are delighted to welcome Carol Beule from Holllywood Hills to our society as our first speaker of 2024. Carol will talk on ‘Sarchochilus’ a wonderful compact species from Australia that does well in our Southern California climate. While Sarcochilus can be grown in a greenhouse, they can easily grow alongside cattleyas and any other outdoor growing orchids in our area. The species have been extensively hybridized to produce Sarcos in a variety of colors and sizes and, as such, they are perfect additions to every orchid enthusiast’s collection. Most are compact but they also can develop into large specimen plants. Carol will discuss how to grow Sarcochilus and share her extensive knowledge of this interesting class of orchids. 

Carol is a shared speaker with our sister society, SDCOS, who will give a talk on ‘Lycastes’ on Tuesday evening, January 2 at 6:30 pm in Balboa Park should any of our members desire to attend in person or participate on Zoom.

Carol has grown all species of orchids since purchasing a home at the base of the Hollywood Hills 25 years ago, and it has been her quest to discover which orchids will thrive in the unique climate she has in the San Fernando Valley and the surrounding communities. In the search to find the perfect plant for her growing area, Carol now grows Neofinetia (Vanda) falcata, Paphiopedilum, Phalaenopsis, Cattleya, Laelia, Dendrobium, Lycaste, Asian Cymbidiums and Rossioglossum orchids on her patio and in two small greenhouses.   Read more »

Date: 
Wed, 01/03/2024 - 6:30pm - 9:30pm

December 2023 - Holiday Dinner

Submitted by Alex N. on Fri, 11/17/2023 - 10:41pm

Our 2023 Holiday Dinner will be held on December 6, 2023 starting at 6:30 pm in the George and Patricia Gowland Meeting Room located in the Carlsbad City Library. Dinner will be catered at the cost of $30 per person, which includes good Chinese food, soft drinks, water and delicious desserts. Every guest will be gifted a blooming or near blooming orchid.

Please mail the completed RSVP form by November 27th to Bill Wong with your check made payable to the Palomar Orchid Society. We cannot accept payment and/or walk-ins at the day of the event.

Date: 
Wed, 12/06/2023 - 6:30pm - 9:30pm

November 2023 - George Hatfield's Webinar on "Cultural Techniques for Growing Award-Winning Cymbidiums'

Submitted by Alex N. on Sat, 10/28/2023 - 8:14pm

The onset of fall initiates the cymbidium flowering season that can last through late spring to early summer.  Accordingly, we felt it would be good to review cymbidium culture at this time. As an affiliate member of AOS, our society has access to a large number of webinars featuring excellent orchid experts on a variety of topics.  George Hatfield, cymbidium hybridizer and grower extraordinaire, produced an excellent webinar on how he grows award-winning cymbidiums. George covers numerous cultural techniques that allow him to produce such beautiful cymbidiums. He also addresses pests and diseases. We will feature George’s video, then ask Jerry Spencer and Alex Nadzan to answer any questions that you may have on cymbidium culture. November’s opportunity table will be from Cal-Orchid.

 George Hatfield holds a Bachelor of Science in Plant and Soil Science from California State Polytechnic University. He was President of the American Orchid Society from 2016-2018 and received the Hudlow Trophy from the Cymbidium Society of America recognizing his achievements in Cymbidium hybridizing.

 George is the owner of Hatfield Orchids, a Ventura County, CA based company, initiated in 2005 with focus on the development of high quality and award-winning cymbidiums. He is an accredited orchid judge for both the CSA and AOS.  George is also a past-president of the CSA and was the Chairman of the CSA Cymbidium Congress from 1998-2001 and president of the Santa Barbara International Orchid Show in 2002 and 2003. 

Date: 
Wed, 11/01/2023 - 6:30pm - 9:30pm