At our April meeting we will once again go travelling (virtually) to South America. This time we will penetrate the jungles of the Amazon region of Brazil in search of orchids such as Cattleya violacea and Cattleya eldorado. Both species live close together in Amazonas State, but in rather distinct conditions. Our guide on this trip will be Alek Zaslawski, from AWZ Orchids. He will talk about the habitat, climate, tips for growing both species, and their existing colour forms.

Alek introduces himself as follows: “I was born and still live in Vitória, a coastal city and capital of Espírito Santo State. When I was young, I was surrounded by orchids at my parents’ home and they always caught my eye, but the trips with my father to see orchids in nature were what attracted me most. I simply enjoy photographing orchids in the wild. In Brazil, as well as in many other countries, it’s getting harder and harder to see them in their natural habitat. Around 1990, my father retired, and I quit my job as a mechanical engineer to start an orchid business with him. We noticed that most of the plants that were collected in the past had simply disappeared from collections. Over the years, we have built a collection with around 20,000 plants from all over the world and that now includes some of the best varieties found within many species, especially those belonging to the Cattleya alliance. AWZ produces and cultivates their orchids in two nurseries, including 5,795 square metres (just over 62,000 square feet) of greenhouses.”

Our meeting will be conducted via Zoom and invitations will be sent to OSRBG members in the week preceding the meeting. If you do not receive your invitation because of some glitch, or if you are not a member yet but would like to attend as a guest, please contact orchidataOSRBG@gmail.com. The formal meeting begins at 2 pm but the site will be available from around 1:30 pm to allow everyone to get settled and socialize a bit beforehand.

There will also be a virtual Show Table. Members with orchids in bloom may send photos to ochidataOSRBG@gmail.com by 6 pm on Friday April 22 to be included in the powerpoint. Please send only one plant per email and include its name and parentage (if known) as well as any relevant details (and your own name of course). If necessary, we may limit the number of submissions per member.

Sobralias are beautiful reed-like plants with exquisite flowers, yet they are not common in many orchid collections. At our March meeting, Deb Boersma will enlighten the hobbyist about this genera, the species and hybrids, where they are from and how to grow them. Don’t be surprised if you feel the need to have a few in your collection after seeing an array of these stunning plants and how easy they are to culture.

Deb Boersma is a recently retired Chemistry teacher from St. Clair College in Windsor. She has been growing orchids for 30 years, first under lights, then in a sunroom, and in 2014 she built a greenhouse to hold 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 is a second year student in the AOS Judging program at the Great Lakes Judging Center, Ann Arbour.

As has become the norm, our meeting will be held via Zoom and invitations will be sent to members in the week preceding the meeting. If you do not receive your invitation or if you are not a member and would like to attend as a guest, please contact OrchidataOSRBG@gmail.com. The formal meeting begins at 2 pm but the Zoom site will be open from around 1:30 to allow members to get settled and to socialize, somewhat as we would at an in-person meeting.

There will also be a virtual Show Table. Members may send photos of their orchids in bloom to OrchidataOSRBG@gmail.com by 6 pm on Friday March 18 to be included in the powerpoint. Please send one plant per email and provide the name of the plant and its parentage if known and any relevant culture details, as well as your own name of course.