Our May 16th meeting will be a two-part programme. In Part 1 our speaker will be Sandra Micucci. She will talk about the Angraecum sesquipedale and how it came to be called Darwin’s orchid. Many of us have heard only the bare bones of the story; Sandra will take us back to Madagascar in 2004 with Dr. Philip DeVries of the University of New Orleans to witness the exciting proof of Charles Darwin’s 1862 prediction that an insect pollinator existed with a proboscis long enough to suck the nectar from the nectary of the Angraecum sesquipedale. It was with this observation that Darwin argued his coevolution model.

Sandra is known to OSRBG members for her role on the Executive Board of our Society. You may NOT know that Dr. Micucci is an Epidemiologist, specialized in evidence-based medicine. She retired from her position as Associate Director of the Evidence-based Medicine Centre at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee in 2010 and returned to Canada, where she and her husband Andrew started an engineering company in Brantford. Although company business takes a good portion of her time, Sandra developed an interest in orchids and joined the OSRBG in 2013. Last year she was accepted as an AOS student judge. Sandra is interested in many genres of orchids, but orchids of Madagascar and especially Angraecoid orchids are quickly becoming her favourites.

In Part 2 the speaker will be Rob Vanderheyden, our current Vice-President, Orchidata editor and Zoom-master. Rob will give his presentation on how he grows orchids from the Catasetinae family and cool growing orchids at home. Rob’s presentation has been deferred twice due to a lack of time and we are looking forward to finally hearing from him and seeing photos of his growing area. Rob bought his first Catasetum in February 2018 at the OSRBG show and his Catasetum collection has grown to about 68 plants since then!

As usual, the meeting will take place via Zoom, with invitations being sent automatically to OSRBG members. Potential guests (or anyone with questions about this process) may contact Rob Vanderheyden at OrchidataOSRBG@gmail.com. The meeting starts at 2 pm (Eastern daylight saving time); doors will be open, so to speak, at 1:30 for those who want to get settled and socialize a bit in advance.

There will also be a virtual show table. Members should send photos of their blooms to OrchidataOSRBG@gmail.com by 7 pm on Friday May 14 so that they can be put into a powerpoint. Please include the name of the orchid and its parentage (if known), as well as your name and any remarks you wish to make about it.

Our speaker for the April 18th meeting will be Eric Sauer from River Valley Orchids in Ohio and he will be presenting on the topic of Maxillaria. Eric has spoken to our Society before, but here is a quick review of his bio to refresh your memory: Eric has been growing orchids for 30 years and specializes in South American Species.   He has several of his Maxillaria photos published in Eric Christenson’s book on Maxillaria.   Eric has received over 85 awards from the American Orchid Society and has three orchids named after him including two species from Ecuador.  He regularly works with other Maxillaria aficionados around the world to better understand the genus. Eric’s real job is as a registered landscape architect and is the planning manager for Five Rivers MetroParks in Dayton, Ohio.

As has become the norm, our meeting will be held via Zoom, and as usual, members will receive an invitation during the week prior to the meeting. Non-members who wish to attend may request an invitation by contacting orchidataOSRBG@gmail.com. The formal meeting begins at 2 pm (Eastern time zone, DST) but the doors will be open, so to speak, around 1:30 for those who wish to get settled and socialize in advance.

There will also be a virtual Show table. Members can send photos of their orchids in bloom to orchidataOSRBG@gmail.com before 7 pm on Friday April 16. Please include the name of the orchid and its parentage (if known) as well as your own name and any pertinent remarks about the plant and its culture.