For our March meeting we always issue a special invitation to orchid enthusiasts who came to the Show a few weeks ago and would like to learn more about repotting their orchids, and of course also to our current members: if you have a plant and are wondering whether or not to repot, bring it to the meeting and our experts, Pat Vuurman and Ben Boers, will give you excellent advice and assistance. If your repotting is up-to-date, congratulations! You can still come and lend a hand and add your wisdom to the discussion. Orchid media will be provided; you will probably want to bring your secateurs, and gloves and pots if you have them. We’ll also ask our usual vendors to have pots and rhizome clips available at modest cost. The meeting takes place at RBG headquarters, 680 Plains Road W., Burlington Ontario, in room 5 (subject to confirmation). The formal meeting starts at 2 pm but you are invited to come anytime after 1 pm to socialize and interact with vendors. Members and guests welcome. As usual, masking (or not) is according to personal preference.
Pat Vuurman, Head Judge, congratulates Gavin Clark, winner of several awards including the COC Trophy
At the 40th “Annual” Orchid Show, February 25-26, 2023, awards were given for outstanding displays and orchids in various classes. The Society thanks all those who sponsored awards and congratulates the winners once again.
At our February meeting Rick Rempel will give a short presentation on the rare and almost extinct Epidendrum ilense. Rick is an AOS Student Judge from the Niagara area. He has worked all his life in agriculture and horticulture and has been growing orchids since the late 80s.
The balance of our meeting will be devoted to final planning for the Show on February 25/26. Ben Boers, Show Director, will describe how this year’s Show will differ from previous Shows and what this means for volunteers.
The meeting will take place at the headquarters of RBG, 680 Plains Rd. W., Burlington, ON. (Meeting room to be announced.) As usual, the formal meeting will begin at 2 pm but you are invited to arrive any time after 1:30 to socialize and interact with vendors. Masking (or not) will depend on personal preferences.
For the January meeting, a team of AOS Orchid Judges from the Toronto Judging Centre will be on hand to conduct a session of Outreach Judging. They will select a few of the best plants from our Show Table to be judged, and will talk about the process involved. So clean your plants, stake them and bring them in. Who knows? You might be going home with an AOS awarded plant. Because of time constraints, only few plants will be selected for consideration in depth. Also, you should be aware that if a plant is found to merit an award, there is a fee involved in accepting an award.
As usual, the meeting will begin at 2 pm, with time for socializing and talking to vendors from 1:30 pm onwards. Important: if you have a plant or plants to be considered for judging, please come earlier rather than later, to give the judges ample time to look at them. The meeting will take place in Room 5, RBG, 680 Plains Road W., Burlington, Ontario. Guests are welcome. Masking (or not) will be in accordance with provincial and RBG guidelines and personal preferences. Because of the nature of this event, it will not be available via Zoom.
Our annual orchid auction and holiday social will take the place of the usual meeting format on Sunday December 18, 2022. Members are asked to bring orchids and orchid-related items to be auctioned, 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, 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) will be in accordance with government and RBG directives and personal preferences.
Our speaker in November will be Ron Kaufmann, chair of the American Orchid Society Conservation Committee, 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 titled “Searching for Orchids in Colombia” will present highlights of a trip to look for orchids in the wild and in commercial nurseries in southwestern Colombia.
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 reedstem 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 more than $260,000 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).
Ron grows most of his orchids in a 36 x 24 foot greenhouse and several outdoor shade-covered areas around his house in San Diego. Friends have suggested that he build a second, much larger greenhouse to accommodate the many plants that often make walking through his greenhouse an exercise requiring extensive training in gymnastics and yoga to avoid serious injury. Thus far, this recommendation hasn’t been followed, although the temptation is always there.
As usual, the meeting will take place in Room 5, RBG Headquarters, 680 Plains Road West, Burlington and will also be available via Zoom for those unable to attend in person. (Zoom invitations will be sent to members in the week preceding the meeting). The formal meeting begins at 2 pm and you are invited to arrive earlier to socialize, interact with vendors and to pick up your Catasetum seedlings if you are participating in the challenge. Masking (or not) will be in accordance with RBG and provincial guidance and personal preference.
We hope that our usual vendors will be in attendance, and we invite members to bring their orchids for the show table.
Catasetum maculatum Photo copyright: Bernie Butts and Chuck LefaiveCatasetum tabulare Photo Copyright: Sunset Valley Orchids
The AOS Montreal Judging Centre has begun a conservation project of Catasetum (Ctsm.) maculatum and Ctsm. tabulare orchids. There is an informal blooming challenge to see who can bloom either of the Ctsm. maculatum or Ctsm. tabulare first.
The Ctsm. maculatum is from the wet forests of Mexico and the Ctsm. tabulare is from the wet forests of Columbia.
The Ctsm. tabulare was chosen by Pat Vuurman and Rob Vanderheyden for our society to grow as it appears that it does not require a dry period. Where it grows in the Chocó area of Columbia, there is no dry period. That area is said to receive up to 8,000 mm. of rain per year. Growing tabulare will not require water to be withheld starting in January until new growth appears like most others in this tribe, which will be easier for us.
They like high light, warm temperatures, and lots of water and fertilizer during their active growing period. More information is available at http://orchidspecies.com/catatabulare.htm.
There are 45 seedlings available for this challenge with a limit of one seedling per OSRBG member per household (unless there are surplus plants when all requests will be filled). People who are not members of our society will be welcome to buy plants if there is a surplus. The deadline for requesting a seedling will be November 13, 2022.
The plants are priced at $10 per seedling.
Reservations can be made by contacting Rob Vanderheyden on a first come – first served basis at orchidataOSRBG@gmail.com. Plants are to be picked up when members attend the November 20, 2022 OSRBG meeting at the RBG unless other arrangements are made.
Proceeds, after the cost of the seedlings, pots and moss is deducted, will be donated for conservation projects that the Orchid Conservation Alliance funds.
Presently, the seedlings are potted in 2″plastic posts in sphagnum moss which seems to be the preferred medium for growing Catasetinae family orchids. At the moment, they are growing in front of a patio door that faces west.
Have you ever thought about trying to grow Cypripediums in your garden? Or in pots? Our October speaker will give you some valuable tips on Cypripedium culture.
Greg Warner has been growing and flasking orchids (initially Paphiopedilums and Phragmipediums) for over 30 years. He was introduced to Cypripediums by his father, an avid trout fisherman, who encountered Cyp. arietinum, Cyp. parviflorum, Cyp. pubescens and Cyp. reginae in and around the streams and forests where he was pursuing this hobby. Greg began dealing in Cypripediums when reputable orchid dealers began offering them for sale, then started flasking himself. The plants he offers through his website, Abloomnaddiction.com, are seed grown from flask, never collected. Cypripediums, he tells us, are a beautiful and rewarding group of orchids (as can be seen in this photo). Some hybrids are easy to grow, while there are species that present a challenge and require special growing conditions.
OSRBG is organizing an opportunity for members to purchase from Greg’s stock and have the plants delivered for pick-up at the meeting. (Pre-orders only. No plants will be available “on spec”.) Greg suggests that you look at what’s available on website, but rather than ordering through the site, contact him directly at abloomnaddiction@gmail.com to ensure availability and make the necessary arrangements. It is recommended that you act asap and certainly before the deadline of October 11 as many plants are already spoken for.
As usual, the meeting will take place in Room 5, RBG Headquarters, 680 Plains Road West, Burlington and will also be available via Zoom for those unable to attend in person. (Invitations will be sent to members in the week preceding the meeting.) The formal meeting begins at 2 pm and you are invited to arrive as early as 1:30 to socialize and interact with vendors. Masking (or not) will be in accordance with RBG and provincial guidance and personal preference.
We hope that our usual vendors will be in attendance, and we invite members to bring their orchids in bloom for the show table.
Our speaker for the September meeting is Inge Poot, well-known to many of our members for her work as a Director of the Southern Ontario Orchid Society (SOOS) and as an AOS accredited Orchid Judge with Emeritus status. Inge writes that she has loved and recognized orchids since she was a small child admiring the wild orchids in her native Austria. In Canada, she earned a BSc from the University of Toronto in 1962 and completed her MSc at the same institution in 1973. Her field of study was Mycology (Fungi). She worked at Richters’ Herbs for about 30 years, the last 5 working from home answering cultural questions from customers on-line. She and her husband have been growing orchids since 1962 and now have, according to Inge “1000 to 2000 orchids scattered all over our swampy-smelling house and attached greenhouse.” They grow a diverse selection of genera, and have most examples of the genus Stanhopea. They joined SOOS in 1964 and Inge has held positions of Librarian, Show Chair and President, as well as being active in other Orchid Associations including Chair of the Mid-America Conservation Committee for 5 years .
During the recent COVID hiatus, Inge took on the job of Orchid Doctor for solving pest and disease problems for SOOS members and it is on the topic of Orchid Diseases that she will address us on September 18.
The meeting will take place in Room 5 at the RBG Headquarters, 680 Plains Rd. W., Burlington, commencing at 2 pm, and members are invited to arrive as early as 1:30 to socialize and interact with vendors. Masking (or not) will be in accordance with RBG and provincial guidance and personal preference. For the benefit of those unable to attend in person, invitations to join via Zoom will be sent out to all members about a week before the meeting.
We hope that our usual vendors will be in attendance, and we invite members to bring their orchids in bloom for the show table.
Due to the weather forecast of a high chance of rain and high temperatures on Sunday July 24th, the President’s Picnic has been postponed to August. Going indoors due to rain or high temperatures is not a very good option due to the COVID virus still circulating strongly. The possible dates are August 14 with a rain date of August 21. A notice for the August date will be sent to members shortly.
