The title of our program for the May meeting is “Orchid Quest: Searching for Bruce & Grey’s 49 Orchid Species”. The husband and wife team, Willy Waterton and Audrey Armstrong, pictured above, undertook to find and photograph the orchids known to exist in those counties in order to update the publication “Orchids of Bruce and Grey” which had been out of print for some time. (OSRBG members may be interested to know that Dr. Donald Gunn, whose photos are on our website, did the photography for the original edition.) They will tell us the fascinating story of their quest, underscoring the importance of conserving the area’s rich diversity of plant life despite the challenges of climate change and urbanization. Copies of the new edition of the book will also be available for purchase.

Audrey Armstrong taught elementary school with Bluewater District School Board for 25 years and continues her love of teaching by leading workshops for Ontario Parks and Parks Canada staff. For her, passing knowledge down to the next generation is critically important. She is active in many community volunteer organizations including the Owen Sound Field Naturalists (OSFN) and Huron Fringe Birding Festival. She is the Ontario Nature representative for OSFN.

Willy Waterton spent 35 years as a full-time photojournalist at the Owen Sound Sun Times and has also worked as a contract photographer for Ontario Parks and Parks Canada. His photos have appeared in national and international magazines, newspapers and books. He is active in the Owen Sound Field Naturalists and is the organization’s representative for the Bruce Peninsula National Park and Fathom Five National Marine Park advisory committee.

The meeting will take place in Room 5 (subject to confirmation) at the RBG headquarters, 680 Plains Road West, Burlington Ontario. The formal meeting starts at 2 pm but you are encouraged to arrive as early as 1:30 to socialize and interact with vendors. Please bring your beautiful orchids in bloom for the Show Table and, if so inclined, any orchids or orchid-related paraphernalia for the raffle or treats for the refreshment table. Members and guests welcome.

The speaker for our April meeting will be the inimitable Drew Goddard (above). Drew says “My talk is pretty much going to be about growing orchids from seed to flower, concentrating on flasking, lighting, watering, fertilizing properly, substrate, bugs and viruses.” He adds that it will be very hands-on with lots of props (“I do love a good prop”). It will be a very interactive talk.

For those who may not know him, Drew is the owner and operator of “This Side of Paradise”. He is also a member and former President of our Orchid Society and a member of several other orchid societies as well.

Although he had been growing plants of various kinds all his life-–the first one being a water lotus given to him by his mother when he was only 5–-“everything from tulips to bonsai,” it took a while for him to get into orchids. His main hobby as an adult was raising Dart Frogs. It was only when he was researching what plants to use to fill his vivariums that he realized that Dart Frogs and Orchidaceae were so compatible. Now, 20 years later, the obsession is complete. He says “I gradually dragged my wife Jacquie into the hobby and now it’s a full-on family affair”. Their personal collection is composed mainly of Nodosa crosses and Phal species.

The meeting will take place in Room 5 (subject to confirmation) at the RBG headquarters, 680 Plains Road West, Burlington Ontario. The formal meeting starts at 2 pm but you are encouraged to arrive as early as 1:30 to socialize and interact with vendors (of which This Side of Paradise is likely to be one). Please bring your beautiful orchids in bloom for the Show Table and, if so inclined, any orchids or orchid-related paraphernalia for the raffle. Members and guests welcome.

Time to re-pot?

For our March meeting, we invite newish members to bring plants for re-potting, as well as their questions and concerns, and we ask more experienced members to come and provide answers and hands-on assistance. Among the latter will be the session leaders, Ben Boers, Linda Will and Kevin Bender. Potting media will be supplied but it is suggested you bring some pots, secateurs if you have them, and gloves if you want to protect your manicure!

The meeting takes place at the RBG Headquarters, 680 Plains Rd. W, Burlington, ON, (probably in Room 5 – subject to confirmation). The formal meeting begins at 2 pm, but you are invited to arrive as early as 1:30 to socialize and interact with vendors. Bring your beautiful orchids in bloom for the show table, and if so inclined, any orchids or orchid-related items for the raffle and/or treats for the refreshment table. Members and guests welcome.

Our speaker for the February 22 meeting will be Jay Norris and he will be describing Cold Cases. If your first thought was about a sub-genre of detective fiction, you are on the wrong wave-length. Jay explains “My talk will be about growing cool to cold growing orchids in chilled cases.  I’ll discuss the controls I use as well as some plant recommendations.  Failures included too!’

Jay Norris has been passionate about orchids for over four decades, a journey that began with his father’s spare divisions and blossomed into a lifelong obsession. Through years of both triumphs and trials, Jay has honed his expertise, ultimately gravitating toward the captivating world of miniature orchids and cold-growing species from various genera.

Since 1992, Jay has been a dedicated member of the Toronto Judging Centre of the American Orchid Society, where he now serves as a Senior Accredited Judge. His keen eye for detail extends beyond judging; he is also an award-winning photographer, capturing the intricate beauty of these fascinating plants.

In addition to his judging and photographic pursuits, Jay is a key figure in Ravenvision, alongside Robin McLaughlin and Max Wilson. Together, they provide Canadian orchid enthusiasts from coast to coast to coast with the essential supplies needed to cultivate and care for their orchids. Jay will have a sales table at the meeting.

As is customary, the meeting will take place at RBG Headquarters, 680 Plains Road West in Burlington, in rooms 3 and 4 (subject to confirmation). The formal meeting starts at 2 pm but you are invited to arrive as early as 1:30 to socialize and interact with vendors. Bring your beautiful orchids in bloom for the Show Table and any orchids or related paraphernalia for the raffle. Members and guests welcome.

The speaker for our January meeting is Alina Furtak. Alina is an accredited AOS Judge and a member of the Toronto Judging Centre. She currently serves as President of the Southern Ontario Orchid Society (SOOS). She is an avid traveller, interested in exploring native orchid habitats. Her passion for orchids goes back many years. At an early age, she was exposed to the world of flowers by her grandmother, who cultivated plants for the local flower market and subscribed to multiple botanical magazines.

Alina’s talk is entitled “The Enchanting Slipper Orchid”, a subject on which she is especially knowledgeable. She recently had two articles published in the 2025 supplement to Orchids Magazine that featured Slipper Orchids. Her presentation will focus on a particular slipper orchid, Paphiopedilum bellatulum, including an overview of this special Brachypetalum species, its natural habitat, flower characteristics and traits passed on to the progeny. She will show some awarded examples and describe how to care for these orchids.

The meeting takes place at the RBG Headquarters, 680 Plains Rd. W, Burlington, ON, in rooms 3 and 4. The formal meeting begins at 2 pm, but you are invited to arrive as early as 1:30 to socialize and interact with vendors. Bring your beautiful orchids in bloom for the show table, and if so inclined, any orchids or orchid-related items for the raffle, or treats for the refreshment table. Members and guests welcome.

Our annual orchid auction and holiday social will take the place of the usual meeting format on Sunday December 14, 2025. Members are asked to bring orchids and orchid-related items to be auctioned or raffled, finger foods to be enjoyed…and of course, cash to fund your auction wins! (Cheques and e-transfers also accepted.) This is always a good opportunity to pick up something new for your collection, or possibly a gift for someone on your list. Note that there will be no show table at this event but there will be a raffle for those who prefer to try another route for possibly adding an orchid to their collection. The auction takes place in Room 5 (subject to confirmation),  Royal Botanical Gardens, 680 Plains Rd. W., Burlington, Ontario. It starts at 2 pm, but you are invited to arrive any time after 1 pm to socialize and interact with vendors. Members and guests welcome. Masking (or not) depending on personal preferences.

At the November 16th meeting , this orchid, “Bulbophyllum Elizabeth Ann ‘Buckleberry’, ” was voted Orchid of the Month. Congratulations to the proud grower, Ed Shanks.

The speaker at our November meeting will be Ed Cott. Ed is a retired accountant and college professor and has been growing orchids for about 40 years. He is an AOS accredited judge and operates a small orchid business, Orchid Arbour. He has an affinity for Cattleyas and Catasetinae. His topic for the meeting is “An interactive review of the 2024 AOS Special Awards.” As Ed is also a talented photographer who is frequently seen doing the official photographs of awarded orchids, we can expect to see exceptional photographs of magnificent blooms. Ed will also be bringing a selection of his orchids for sale.

As is customary, the meeting will take place at RBG Headquarters, 680 Plains Road West in Burlington, in Room 5 (subject to confirmation). The formal meeting starts at 2 pm but you are invited to arrive as early as 1:30 to socialize and interact with vendors. Bring your beautiful orchids in bloom for the Show Table and any orchids or related paraphernalia for the raffle. Members and guests welcome.

Our October meeting will be of interest to the armchair travellers in our midst. Dan Doucette, aka Traveller Dan, will share photographs and stories from Southern Africa. Dan spent nearly two months exploring Namibia, looking for rare plants and animals. Along the way he encountered phenomenal landscapes and never-ending vistas, from the border with South Africa, all the way to Etosha National Park in the far north of the country.

Dan is a Horticulturist and World Traveller. He works as a Seasonal Gardener until November each year and then travels during the winter. He usually goes to the tropics but also ventures beyond, looking for rare flora and fauna. He’s been to every continent and over 60 countries. Dan has a passion for macro photography and some of his favourite subjects include insects, plants, fungi and of course, orchids! Dan has photographed over 650 orchids in the wild. 

The meeting takes place at the RBG Headquarters, 680 Plains Rd. W, Burlington, ON, (probably in Room 5 – subject to confirmation). The formal meeting begins at 2 pm, but you are invited to arrive as early as 1:30 to socialize and interact with vendors. Bring your beautiful orchids in bloom for the show table, and if so inclined, any orchids or orchid-related items for the raffle or treats for the break. Members and guests welcome.

Our speaker for the September meeting is Deb Boersma and she will be talking about Tolumnias, which she grows well but others among us struggle with.

Deb is a recently retired Chemistry teacher from St. Clair College in Windsor, Ontario. She has been growing orchids for 30 years. She started by  growing under lights and then in a sunroom, but in 2014 she built a greenhouse to house her growing collection. She has about 500 orchids including Cattleyas, Sobralias, Paphiopedilums, Tolumnias and several other miscellaneous genera. She is the President of the Windsor Orchid Society and an associate judge in the  AOS judging program at the Great Lakes Judging Center, Ann Arbor. She has received several AOS quality awards, Best in Class awards  and she was the recipient of the Orchid Digest Diamond Award in 2016.  

The meeting takes place at the RBG Headquarters, 680 Plains Rd. W, Burlington, ON, (probably in Room 5 – subject to confirmation). The formal meeting begins at 2 pm, but you are invited to arrive as early as 1:30 to socialize and interact with vendors. Bring your beautiful orchids in bloom for the show table, and if so inclined, any orchids or orchid-related items for the raffle or treats for the break. Members and guests welcome.