Did you know? Orchids and Polar Bears are not mutually exclusive!! Tom Mirenda, our speaker for the August 15th meeting has been to Churchill, Manitoba (the Polar Bear capital of the World, they say) in July. He assures us that this environment yields a bounty of incredible orchids and other short season spring ephemerals that he will introduce us to at the meeting. This is a Zoom experience, so you don’t need to worry about running into any real bears along the way!

Tom Mirenda has travelled the world to find both wild and cultivated orchids. He also organizes orchids trips through his travel network “Trips with Tom”. Headquartered in Hawaii, he has been growing orchids professionally for over 3 decades. He curated the orchid collection at the Smithsonian for 17 years as their Orchid Collection Specialist, producing annual educational exhibits for millions of visitors. Currently he is a columnist for the American Orchid Society (AOS Orchids) and a leader of the OGCN (Orchid Garden Conservation Network. He recently co-authored “The Book of Orchids” with collaborators from Kew.

The formal meeting begins at 2 pm but, as usual, the site will be available from about 1:30 to allow everyone to get settled and socialize beforehand. OSRBG members will receive an e-mail invitation in the week preceding the meeting. If you do not receive your invitation or if you are not an OSRBG member but would like to attend as a guest, please contact OrchidataOSRBG@gmail.com.

There will also be a virtual Show Table. Members with orchid blooms to brag about should send their photos to OrchidataOSRBG@gmail.com by 6 pm on Friday August 13th to be included in the powerpoint.