Our speaker for the September 19th meeting is Darlene Thompson, PhD. Darlene lives in Cleveland Ohio and is the vice-president of the Greater Akron Orchid Society. She has won multiple awards from the American Orchid Society. Like so many of us, Darlene started her orchid adventure when she received an adorable Phalaenopsis as a gift…and when it perished, she was determined to understand what went wrong and to learn how to grow these wonderful plants. Over the last decade plus, her dedication to orchids has blossomed into a full-blown obsession. Today she maintains a diverse collection in her home on windowsills and under lights. While her collection is highly varied, her primary focus is on Paphiopedilum and Phragmipedium. Her topic for September is “Curating an ever-blooming orchid collection” — a subject on which she is obviously well-qualified to speak.

This meeting is a joint event with the Central Ontario Orchid Society. As has been the case throughout the pandemic, this is a Zoom event and invitations will be sent to both OSRBG and COOS members in the week preceding the meeting. If you do not receive your invitation, or if you are not a member of either Society but would like to attend as a guest, please contact OrchidataOSRBG@gmail.com. The meeting beings at 2 pm (EDST), but the doors will open, so to speak, around 1:30 to allow everyone to get settled and socialize a bit before the meeting.

We will also have a Virtual Show Table which, this month, is being assembled by Jeff Steele from COOS. OSRBG and COOS members may send photos of their orchids in bloom to jeff.grows.plants@gmail.com before 9 am on Saturday September 18th. Please include the name of the orchid and its parentage (if known) as well as your own name and any brief pertinent remarks about the plant and its culture. To make it easier for Jeff to assemble the powerpoint, please include pictures of one orchid only per email message with the ID for that orchid.