Good News!! Our May 15th meeting will be a “hybrid” meeting. Members are invited to attend in person at Room 5, RBG Headquarters, 680 Plains Rd. W., Burlington. For those who live too far away, or are not yet ready for an in-person event, the speaker’s talk will be streamed via Zoom. (Zoom invitations will be sent in the week preceding, as usual.) Those attending in person will be required to wear a mask and to follow any protocols in place at RBG at that time. (Check rbg.ca for details.) The meeting will start at 2 pm and you may arrive as early as 1:30 to socialize.

Our speaker for this meeting will be Sandra Micucci, an American Orchid Society student judge and a member of the OSRBG Executive Board. Sandra will be speaking about her favourite Laelinae orchid, the Rhynocholaelia digbyana. She will consider the digbyana’s taxonomy, history, habitat, culture and AOS awards. The Rhynocholaelia digbyana has been used extensively in hybridizing, especially with cattleyas. Sandra will discuss the pros and cons of this relationship and the challenge for hybridizers who strive to highlight some attributes and overcome others.

More good news! Plant sales at the meeting will be resuming. We hope that most if not all of our usual local vendors will be in attendance, and any members who wish to bring plants of their own to sell or trade are welcome to do so.

Even more good news! We’ll also be attempting a “hybrid” Show Table. Those members attending in person may bring plants in bloom to the meeting to be admired by all present. Those planning to attend via Zoom can still mail photos of their prized plants to OrchidataOSRBG@gmail.com by 6 pm on Friday May 13 to be included in the power point portion of the Show Table. One orchid per email, please, and include its name, parentage if known, and your own name.

See you there!

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.

For our February meeting, we escape our Ontario winter (via Zoom) and travel to sunny Ecuador. Our speaker, José “Pepe” Portilla Andrade is the President of Ecuagenera, a family-owned and operated business that grows and exports more than 8000 varieties of orchids. His topic is entitled “Ecuadorean orchids in situ, ex situ.”

This is a joint meeting for OSRBG and COOS members. Zoom invitations will be sent out about a week in advance to members of both Societies. If you don’t receive yours or if you are not a member but would like to attend as a guest, please contact OrchidataOSRBG@gmail.com. The formal meeting starts at 2 pm but the site will be available around 1:30 approximately for those who would like to get settled and socialize a bit before the meeting.

There will also be a virtual Show Table. Members with special orchids in bloom may email photos to OrchidataOSRBG@gmail.com. Please send them by 6 pm on Friday February 18 to be included in the power point. Include the name of the orchid and its parentage (if known) and any other salient details, as well as your own name of course.

Here are two more of Pat’s photos from his trip to Ecuador some years ago. They show the same Phragmipedium besseae from a greater and greater distance to give a better idea of what “in situ” really means!

At our first meeting of the new year, you will hear about Oncidium fuscatum and its hybrids: this is a cinderella story of an uninspiring species that went on to become a wonderful parent to such greats as Debutante and Pupukea Sunset, and grandparent of Wildcat, unmatched for awards to a hybrid in the Oncidium alliance, and the ever popular Catatante, shown above. Expect to see RED!!!

Our speaker for this session, Jean Allen-Ikeson is a judge in the Toronto Judging Centre. She was newsletter editor for more than five years for OSRBG, has written numerous articles for Orchids magazine and webinars for the AOS besides being National Education Coordinator for AOS Judges and Chair of the Editorial Board of the AOS. Jean grows in a greenhouse and sunroom ‘up the escarpment’ from Dundas. 

As has become the norm, the meeting will be held via Zoom. OSRBG members will receive a link via email in the week preceding the meeting. If you do not receive the email 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 doors will open, so to speak, about 1:30 to allow everyone to get settled and to socialize a bit.

There will also be a virtual show table. Members with orchids to brag about should send photos to OrchidataOSRBG@gmail.com by 6 pm on Friday January 14 in order to have them included in the powerpoint. Please include your name, the name of the plant (and its parentage if known) and any relevant culture information.

The December 19th program will be about the genus Tolumnea. Our speaker, Jeanne Kaeding, made the transition from tropical fish to growing orchids as her main hobby in her mid-twenties. Since then she has progressed from growing in a windowsill, under lights in an enclosed room in the basement, and finally in a 9.5 by 24 foot greenhouse in her backyard. One of the things she has always liked about the orchid hobby is its complexity, all the different things you can learn about and do with orchids. Currently, as well as growing, she is an AOS Orchid Judge and does her own hybridizing and flasking. She loves to bloom out several plants of a cross and see the differences among the clones. One of her beautiful hybrids is Tolumnia Northern Lights. Jeanne defines an orchid expert as one who has managed to kill more plants than most. 😀

This meeting will follow the same format as previous meetings this year: Jeanne will be joining us via ZOOM, and invitations will be sent out to OSRBG members via email in the week preceding the event. If you do not receive your invitation or if you are not a member and would like to join as a guest, please contact OrchidataOSRBG@gmail.com. The formal meeting starts at 2 pm but the doors will be open, so to speak, about 1:30 so that everyone can get settled and socialize a bit before the meeting.

Members who have orchid photos for the Virtual Show Table should send them to OrchidataOSRBG@gmail.com by 6 pm on Friday December 17 to be included in the slideshow. Be sure to include in the email your name, the name of the orchid, it’s parentage if known and any other relevant details.

Please note that the November meeting, held jointly with COOS, will be held on their usual meeting date and time instead of the usual OSRBG date. Details below.

Our speaker for the November meeting is Tom Mirenda. The title of his talk is Phalaenopsis species! Ecology informs Culture. Prepared for the IPA, this talk covers most of the Phalaenopsis species currently in cultivation and some of the nuances of their culture based on where they came from.

Tom has addressed our two Societies before. Headquartered in Hawaii, he has been growing orchids professionally for over 3 decades and has travelled the world to find both wild and cultivated orchids. He curated the orchid collection at the Smithsonian for 17 years, producing annual educational exhibits for millions of visitors. Currently he is a columnist for the American Orchid Society (AOS Orchids) and a leader of the OGCN (Orchid Garden Conservation Network) He recently co-authored “The Book of Orchids” with collaborators from Kew.

This will be a Zoom meeting. The formal meeting starts at 7 pm with the doors open, so to speak, at 6:30 pm to allow everyone to get settled and socialize a bit beforehand. OSRBG and COOS members will receive an e-Mail invitation in the week preceding the meeting. If you do not receive your invitation, or if you are not a member of either Society and would like to attend as a guest, please contact COOSinfo@gmail.com.

There will also be a virtual Show Table. Members with orchid blooms to brag about should send their photos to Jeff.grows.plants@gmail.com by Saturday November 20 at 9 am. Please include the name of the orchid, 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.

Our speaker for the October 17th meeting will be Edgar Stehli from “Windswept in Time Orchids” in Ohio. (More about him below.) The topic is Bulbophyllum, a huge group of orchids found throughout the tropics.  They are quite varied in shape and size.  Some are fragrant, and some not!  Edgar says they are generally easy to grow once you know the tricks.  There have been lots of taxonomic changes in this group, but we will not be overly concerned with the nomenclature. The presentation will cover a brief history of the group, and its distribution around the world.  There are pictures of many of the more commonly grown species, and lots of cultural information as well.  Edgar has received many awards on his Bulbophyllum plants, and many of these are featured in the presentation.

Here is what Edgar Stehli had to say about himself:

 My interest in orchids began when I was just six or seven years old.  I found a plant growing in the roadside ditch near our house in North East Ohio.  When my father got home from work, I dragged him over to see my discovery.  He said “Oh! That’s an orchid.”  My first orchid find was a Spiranthes (probably cernua).  A few years later my family drove to Alaska and back.  On that trip, I found a Calypso bulbosa in Wyoming and several other orchids in Alaska and Canada. While in high school, I began growing some tropical orchids, and soon had a small collection.  During my final year at Case Western Reserve University my orchid collection moved to Florida with my parents.   Sadly, I never saw them again (the orchids that is!).  Also in my last year, I met Kim Sante who was working at the Cleveland Garden Center, now known as the Cleveland Botanical Garden.  Eventually Kim and I were married and  shortly afterwards we built a sun room on the corner of our house.  This of course allowed my orchid collection to get a little out of hand.  Finally in 1999 we began selling our plants to area florists, then through the orchid shows. We called our new business “Windswept in Time Orchids.”  We now attend close to fifteen shows a year, where our plants and exhibits have won many awards.

The October 17th meeting is a joint meeting with the Central Ontario Orchid Society (COOS) and will be held via Zoom. Invitations to both groups will be sent out the week before the meeting. If you are a member and have not received your invitation, or if you would like to attend as a guest, please contact OrchidataOSRBG@gmail.com. The meeting begins 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 photographs of their orchids in bloom to Jeff.grows.plants@gmail.com before 9 am on Saturday October 16th. 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.

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.

Did you know? Orchids and Polar Bears are not mutually exclusive!! Tom Mirenda, our speaker for the August 15th meeting has been to Churchill, Manitoba (the Polar Bear capital of the World, they say) in July. He assures us that this environment yields a bounty of incredible orchids and other short season spring ephemerals that he will introduce us to at the meeting. This is a Zoom experience, so you don’t need to worry about running into any real bears along the way!

Tom Mirenda has travelled the world to find both wild and cultivated orchids. He also organizes orchids trips through his travel network “Trips with Tom”. Headquartered in Hawaii, he has been growing orchids professionally for over 3 decades. He curated the orchid collection at the Smithsonian for 17 years as their Orchid Collection Specialist, producing annual educational exhibits for millions of visitors. Currently he is a columnist for the American Orchid Society (AOS Orchids) and a leader of the OGCN (Orchid Garden Conservation Network. He recently co-authored “The Book of Orchids” with collaborators from Kew.

The formal meeting begins at 2 pm but, as usual, the site will be available from about 1:30 to allow everyone to get settled and socialize beforehand. OSRBG members will receive an e-mail invitation in the week preceding the meeting. If you do not receive your invitation or if you are not an OSRBG member but would like to attend as a guest, please contact OrchidataOSRBG@gmail.com.

There will also be a virtual Show Table. Members with orchid blooms to brag about should send their photos to OrchidataOSRBG@gmail.com by 6 pm on Friday August 13th to be included in the powerpoint.