James Roberts has been growing orchids for 8 years and has a diverse range of experience growing orchids in different locations: outdoors, in his garage, his laundry room, grow tents, and is now currently building a backyard greenhouse. James has grown a diverse range of orchid hybrids and species, focusing primarily on slippers and cattleyas. James has learned to flask orchids himself in his kitchen and has started making his own crosses. By day James is a chemistry educator and holds his doctorate from the University of Texas, Austin in the subject. He is currently the OSSC Ppresident and is an AOS student judge.

Carol Klonowski as been growing orchids since the 1980’s when a friend in Berkeley, California, gave her a cattleya orchid and it bloomed out with three big, dark lavender flowers and an intoxicating fragrance. She built an entire greenhouse in her backyard to accommodate the precious plant, which only led her to buy more orchids. Then another friend gave her a gift membership to the Orchid Society of California and it’s been a serious hobby ever since.

Carol has served as Director, Vice President, and President of the Orchid Society of California for most of the past two decades and is currently a Fully Accredited Judge with the American Orchid Society in the California Sierra Nevada Judging Center.

Tolumnia is a genus previously known as the "equitant oncidiums”. The species, split off from Oncidium in 1986, have charming flowers clustered at the top of slender stems, on plants that are compact. Latest hybrids have taken advantage of the many colors and patterns in these ‘Dancing Ladies’. With proper culture, these plants can be a part of any orchid collection.

Arnold is an AOS judge and familiar figure at our meetings and shows. Arnold holds an BS/MS in Electrical Engineering, a BS in Psychology and a JD in law. He currently works as a patent attorney at Qualcomm. However, when he was the product line manager for Positioning (also at Qualcomm), Arnold was instrumental in integrating GPS capability into our smartphones.

Arnold grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii and has been growing orchids for over fifty years. It all began when he dug a hole in the yard to plant a seed pod from one of his Dad's Dendrobiums. His Dad, being quite clever in recognizing an opportunity, explained that orchids needed to be grown on sterile agar media (now how did he know that?). One thing led to another and we both ended up on a tour of the Stanley Taba Orchid Nursery. Stanley graciously gave him three flasks and soon the house was full of flasks of baby orchids.

As a youth, Arnold enjoyed nothing more than chatting about orchids with, as it turned out, some of Hawaii's greatest orchid pioneers, including Ben Kodama, Tadao Kazumura, Isamu Ota, Richard Takafuji, Richard Takase, and Goodale Moir. Those first three flasks soon led to a collection of around three thousand orchids at his parents house, and a lifelong interest in orchids that has survived college, career, multiple moves, and six orchid societies. He has been an American Orchid Society judge for 30 years and has received over 90 awards. He serves as an official photographer for Pacific South AOS judging has presented at Orchid Societies nationwide. Arnold was recently honored to be invited to judge a Cattleya skinneri show in Costa Rica (which is their native habitat). In our talk, he will review the quality growth in recent C. skinneri line breeding and will look at the impact of ploidy and the offspring from two tetraploid clones, Cattleya skinneri ‘Angela’ FCC/AOS and Cattleya skinneri 'Carpenteria' FCC/AOS, the offspring of which showed stunning advancements in size, flower count, color, and form. He will show us slides of some of the plants that were awarded at the show, as well as pictures of the Cattleya skinneri habitat.

Theresa Hill is a partner in Hillsview Gardens, growers of fine quality Paphiopedilums. Hillsview Gardens supplies a wide variety of hybrids and species – from connoisseur-quality divisions and specimen plants for discriminating hobbyists, cutting-edge hybrids in wholesale quantities for retail nurseries, and outstanding decorator quality plants to chain stores in Portland, Oregon.

Hillsview Gardens has been breeding orchids for 36 years since the operation began in 1985, and since that time received over 100 AOS awards, including five FCC/AOS, a Gold Certificate, seven Awards of Quality and a Bronze Award at the 16th World Orchid Conference in Vancouver, BC.

Alan Koch owns and operates Gold Country Orchids where he specializes in miniature and compact cattleyas. He started growing orchids in 1969 with 3 cymbidiums given to him by an aunt. While in college, he became interested in other orchids and discovered many would grow outdoors in Southern California. In the 1970s, he noted articles in the AOS Bulletin (now Orchids) about miniature species such as miniature cattleyas. Having run out of room (again), he started to replace his larger cattleyas, dendrobiums, and oncidiums with the plants he was reading about, beginning with Cattleya Small World (aclandiae × luteola) and Sophrolaelia Psyche (L. cinnabarina × Soph. coccinea), plants he still has today. He soon was assembling a fantastic collection of miniature orchids and found with the miniature cattleyas that the flowers lasted longer than their larger relatives, the colors of the flowers were brighter, and the plants bloomed more often. Alan had found his niche. He has since moved five times as his orchid obsession led to the need for more growing space. In the last move, he purchased 10 acres of land in Lincoln, California for his 300,000 orchids.

Alan is recognized as an expert in the Brazilian Cattleya alliance and a trend setter in miniature cattleya breeding. Alan has been published in the Orchid Digest and the American Orchid Society magazine Orchids, as well as the proceedings of the World Orchid Conference. He is a past member of the AOS Judging Committee and the Research Committee, and serves as an accredited judge; he is also Vice-chair and Training Coordinator for the California Sierra Nevada Judging Center. Alan also served two terms on the Orchid Digest Executive Committee and Board of Directors, and is one of the current AOS Directors, as well as a Trustee for the AOS.

Charles G. Wilson has been an AOS member since 1981 and has been growing orchids for over 40 years. His special interests range from Bulbophyllums, Cattleyas, Coelogynes, Dendrobiums and Paphs to just about everything in between! He currently volunteers with the American Orchid Society as a member of the Species Identification Task Force and chairs the Conservation Committee.

Wilson holds Bachelor and Master Degrees in zoology and animal behavior from Oklahoma State University He is a past president and lifetime member of the Memphis Orchid Society. He retired as Director of the Memphis Zoo in 2001.

He and his wife Susan are accredited judges with the Atlanta Judging Center. They live on a river east of Atlanta and enjoy travel, fishing and birding.

Jim Heilig has been growing orchids for over 20 years. Over that time his interests have revolved around phalaenopsis and other vandaceous species along with habenaria. He has been breeding orchids for over 10 years with a particular interest in the genetics of various phalaenopsis species in simple hybrids (primary and near primary), with a goal of bringing fragrance back into standard hybrids. Until recently he has grown most of his plants under lights. Aside from those that can grow outdoors in his coastal California environment his plants reside in a greenhouse.

Jim began his judging career at the Great Lakes Judging Center in Ann Arbor, MI and is now a judge at the Pacific Central Judging Center. He is also currently serving as the Treasurer of the American Orchid Society.

Jim purchased his first habenaria at the Greater Lansing Show from Natt’s Orchids in the mid-2000s. It was labelled “Habenaria rhodocheila Pink Form” and had an amazing clove fragrance. While several people said it would be impossible to grow, it flourished (and is still alive!). Jim will discuss taxonomy, culture, and breeding in habenaria. While having a reputation for being difficult (they really aren’t) the colors and forms of the various species and hybrids make them a rewarding and intriguing group of orchids to grow.

Shawn Shumaker is a plant biology student at Santa Barbara City College working on transferring to a UC with the ultimate goal of obtaining a PhD in botany. He has been growing carnivorous plants for over 16 years and has been growing orchids for 5 years. Many orchid species grow side by side with carnivorous plants naturally, so the transition into growing orchids was rather seamless. Shawn currently works as a greenhouse manager at Santa Barbara Orchid Estate where he manages the intermediate and tropical greenhouses. During his time at SBOE he as developed an appreciation for all orchids, but has expanded into surrounding areas through maintaining the estate's collection and his own personal collection.

Frank Cervera is a biologist who has been studying the ecology, biology, and taxonomy of the genus Phragmipedium throughout natural populations for the past twenty-five years. His journey with Phragmipedium started in the 1980s when one of his ecology professors introduced him to orchids that led him to buy a plant of Phrag. longifolium. After many years of trying to get a sense of which Phragmipedium species were which, and why he was killing so many plants, Frank decided to take the matter into his own hands. Frank’s twenty-five-year sojourn to the jungles of Mexico, Guatemala, Panama, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, Guyana and into Brazil studying the genus Phragmipedium, the taxonomy, ecology, and culture has given him unique access to the source material.

Along the way, Frank has met some of the most well-known names and personalities in the phragmipedium community. He has been to some of the most famous, and infamous, orchid nurseries in South America at critical times in the history of the genus and asked them to retell their stories. Frank has had the unique opportunity of going straight to the source and examining plants and flowers. Frank currently works in the Financial Services industry and resides, along with his family and his orchids, in New York.

Steve Hampson grew up in New York and was educated at the University of Delaware and then received a Masters degree in Horticulture at Penn State. After a stint running an apple orchard and plant nursery in Pennsylvania, he settled in Southern California. He is senior horticulturist at the famed Roger’s Gardens in Newport Beach where he is a well known and popular lecturer. He has a reputation for being very knowledgeable on sweet peas, water lilies, dahlias and daffodils as well as orchids. He is very fond of the pleurothallid alliance and grows a large collection of those species.

Mr. Hampson travels extensively looking at flowers in the wild. In his talk here, he will recount two recent trips to China, one to Yunnan and the other to Sichuan looking for orchids. His talk is entitled Wild Orchids in China.

Gualaceo, Ecuador is known for its world-class orchid operation, Ecuagenera, founded in the 1950s by Fr Angel Andreetta, an Italian-born priest who arrived to set up a Salesian mission. As a hobby, he began researching and collecting orchid species he found in the area. Thanks to his work, in 1968 Ecuador participated for the first time in a world exhibition of orchids, the 7th World Orchid Conference in Medellin, Colombia, 1972. In 1991, brothers Mario and Jose “Pepe” Portilla, who worked with Fr Andreeta, launched their own orchid business -- Géneros Ecuagenera -- with Andreeta as the adviser. Thanks to the Portilla brothers’ efforts, in 1993, Ecuagenera became the first Ecuadorian company to obtain legal permission to export orchids. Today, it remains Ecuador’s largest orchid exporter.

Ecuador is among the world’s most orchid-rich countries, with at least 4,200 species, many of which are endangered. “Ecuagenera is credited with describing one thousand species,” Portilla says, “but we will get to seven thousand, once we describe all the species in Ecuador. By comparison, the United States has one hundred and thirty species of orchids, mainly in Florida.” Ecuagenera works to research, cultivate, preserve, and promote the orchid and its nearly infinite expressions of beauty. “From the very beginning, Ecuagenera has been involved in conservation and investigation,” Pepe says. “The reason we have so many plants is that man-made changes are driving some species to extinction. But once we have the plant here, we can save the chromosomes in the laboratory. We can’t grow them all here, but we can save them here. However, now at Ecuagenera, we have more than eight thousand plants from all over the world. We are trying to germinate every one of them. It’s not easy. We must experiment with the medium, the germination process, how often to water. So it’s a lot of science all the time.”

Ecuagenera also established and manages the Liceo Particular Bilingüe Nuevo Mundo (New World Institute), a private school near the nursery. Many of the students at the Liceo work at the orchid operation and not only get hands-on experience with the principles of horticulture, botany, biology, and the value of honest work, but also earn a wage or reinvest in their tuition. The students who come from families with limited resources receive scholarships. Classes range from pre-school through high school; the curriculum consists of science, math, the arts, history, politics, family economics, health and athletics, and language. The Liceo also boasts state-of-the-art audiovisual equipment for the language labs, a computer for each student in the computer lab, even a licensed dietician who manages the kitchen and cafeteria. Ecuagenera also owns two huge tracts of jungle. Though they’re only about an hour from each other, one is high in the mountains, while the other is lower and warmer. These are the company’s orchid reserves, the largest of their kind in the world, 100% private and protected. “Before we owned the two reserves, we transplanted orchids back into the wild from our nursery to enrich the species count. But the transplants were stolen and resold by unscrupulous orchid vendors. So now our transplants are guarded and are there for the world to enjoy.” For more information on Ecuagenera, go to www.ecuagenera.com.

This overview is adapted from an article by Liam Higgins in the CuencaHighLife, Oct 17, 2015.

Topic: "Growing and Judging Mini-Cattleyas"
Topic: "Deflasking and Rehabilitation Workshop"
Topic: "Growing Under Lights"
Topic: "Peloric Orchids"
Topic: "The Difference Between Seedlings and Meristem Cloned Orchids"

Donna L. Ballard started with one trader Joe NOID Phalaenopsis and is now a volunteer at the Huntington Botanical Gardens and Library, Thornton Estate Orchid Conservatory. She has two greenhouses and a new shade house with over 1300 plants. Donna is now 1st VP of the San Fernando Valley Orchid Society, and she still grows novelty Phalenopsis indoors under lights but lives in the West San Fernando Valley in her family home instead of a small, cramped apartment. Donna is is now a fully accreditted  AOS Judge.

David Lafond started growing orchids in 1991 when he first moved to Miami, and bought his first orchid, a Cattleytonia, from Jones and Scully. He had a small orchid collection on the windowsill behind a sheer curtain. When David got a yard, the collection grew fast! He loved the big Vandas in Miami, but on his little patio he is currently growing Mini Vandas/Neos and Mini Catts outside and a few Phals and Paphs inside.

He has grown: Vandas, Angraecums, Cattleyas, Laelias, Encyclias, Dendrobiums, Phalaenopsis, Phrags, Phals, Peristeria, Epidendrums, Miltonias, Oncidiums, and Cymbidiums. Also grew from seedling and bloomed a Ghost Orchid (Dendrophylax lindenii), of which he has a photo.

Mr. Lafond earned a BS degree in Horticulture from University of Florida. David volunteered as a Garden Tour Guide at the American Orchid Society Headquarters in Delray Beach, FL. (when it was new and gorgeous). He worked as Orchid Curator for Marjorie Merriweather Post’s estate in Washington, D.C. (Hillwood Estate) for a year, managing 5 greenhouses with multiple climate zones, approx. 4,000 plants, and creating orchid displays inside the residence.

He moved about 800 orchids from Miami to Baton Rouge via truck with permits to cross state lines from the FL Dept. of Agriculture. Once he was moved to Louisiana, he built a 600 sq. ft., heated greenhouse at home. David has grown orchids and plants under lights: HID, fluorescent, and LED.

 Mr. Lafond has been a member of American Orchid Society, South Florida Orchid Society and Past-President of the Baton Rouge Orchid Society, and now the Orchid Society of Southern California. He is currently working as an Account Manager for a high-end, residential landscape company.

Richard Rothschild has been growing orchids since 1987, when he started with (you guessed it) Phalenopsis. To obtain knowledge, he would go to Zuma Canyon Orchids in Malibu. At the time, those were the most exotic and beautiful plants ever seen, and Richard got interested immediately. When he was told that the back greenhouses (where all the cool varieties and stud plants were kept) were closed to the public, he found a way in. By bringing his best-looking young girlfriends with him, Richard discovered that Amado, the owner, suddenly made those greenhouses available to see.

Years later, he grows most of his plants outdoors in natural, or natural-simulated conditions, and keeps the temperature intolerant ones for his automated greenhouse. To support his orchid habit, Richard works as a Production Manager and Line Producer in film and television. As a member of the OSSC, he's won Best Orchid of Show twice at the Annual Huntington Orchid Show, when his plants were incorporated into the Society Display. The awards were for Oerstedella schweinfurthiana which topped the display one year, and for a large Miltonia bluntii. His collection is eclectic, favoring species, laelia purpuratas, and a small collection of catt species. He enjoys experimenting with odd mounting solutions: baskets, attaching plants to trees, vines, and building odd mounts out of tree fern trunks. He has won several AOS awards, and believes in growing plants to specimen size, as opposed to dividing and increasing the number of plants in his collection. He's been a member of the OSSC since 2005.

Scott Barrie is co-owner and manager of Barrita Orchids, an Australian commercial wholesale orchid growing business supplying quality potted plants to retail stores and nurseries as well as flowers and plants to markets and florists. Barrita Orchids has a well established reputation for its cymbidiums with fifty years of operation. Over more than a two decades Scott has established a world class breeding program for varicosum oncidium varieties, gaining many awards and taking this style of Oncidiinae to new heights. In 2013 his Oncidium (Oncidesa) Kulnura Triumph received the coveted Award of Special Recognition.

In addition to the complex breeding programs of cymbidiums and oncidiums, Barrita Orchids has made significant advancements in the commercialization of Sarcochilus. This program has produced outstanding results in the refining of the genus. In 2014 Barrita Orchids achieved 19 Australian Orchid Council (AOC) awards in a single evening, including a First Class Certificate, 5 Awards of Merit, an Award of Distinction, and 5 Awards of Special Merit. Examples may be seen at www.barritaorchids.com and www.facebook.com/BarritaOrchidsKulnura

Scott grew up around the benches and packing shed of his family’s orchid nursery. His entire working life of 25+ years has been spent in the orchid business, and he was an AOC Judge for over twenty years. His presentations aim to bring the experience of modern commercial growing to the amateur orchid enthusiast in a relaxed and enjoyable way.

Douglas Overstreet was born and raised in southeastern New Mexico.  Mr. Overstreet comes by his interest in plants and animals naturally.  His family has been American farmers since 1684.  He began growing orchids at the age of 10.  The first orchid he purchased in 1972 was Cattleya Trimos, a primary hybrid between C. trianaei and C. mossiae.  The first orchid he flowered was a phalaenopsis hybrid. 

Doug moved to California in 1975 and continued his love affair with orchids.  In 1984, his collection began to grow by leaps and bounds with his first professional job.  He also became an active participant in the local orchid community.  Over the years, Doug has served on the Board of the Orchid Society of Southern California, is a Past President and active board member of the Southland Orchid Show Committee.  He is a former Ribbon Judging Chair for OSSC and is an Accredited American Orchid Society Judge in the Pacific South Region.  Doug has written several articles for Orchid Digest and has served on the Editorial Committee of that publication as Assistant Editor.  In 1998, he wrote, produced and hosted Anyone Can Grow Orchids…Even You!, a how-to video about growing orchids in the home.  Currently, he is the orchid specialist in charge of the Thornton Conservatory of the Huntington Botanical Gardens.

Our guest speaker will be Charles Boco, a longtime member and supporter of OSSC, who will share his talents and thoughts on the subject of orchid photography.

Charles is an accomplished still-life photographer with a passion for photographing orchids.  He will show us examples of his work and give tips on how we can have fun taking photographs.

Charles is well known to us all and has been a generous supporter of OSSC for many years. His photographs were and essential part of OSSC’s award-winning display at the Huntington International Orchid Show in October. Also many of his exquisite orchid portraits are exhibited in California, Oregon and Washington, in both private and commercial collections. They can also be viewed on line orchid websites and chat rooms. Charles’ talents have been recognized by the American Orchid Society. The December 2012 issue of AOS’ “Orchids” Magazine published a photograph of his Laeliocattleya Jean Stevenson ’Peachy’ and his photograph of Rhyncatlaelia Monument Valley in the December 2014 issue. Charles was the grower of both plants.

Charles annually produces a calendar with a collection of his favorite orchid portraits, which is coveted by orchid enthusiasts. His 2016 calendar are available through OSSC, with all proceeds generously donated to OSSC.

Our January meeting is sure to be interesting and informative. Everyone is encouraged to attend, bring your own plants and if you wish your cameras. Charles will be available for one-on-one personal assistance following his presentation. Join us for an evening of fun photography.

Dr. Kristen Uthus studied both plant and animal ecology and evolution at Virginia Commonwealth University and The Ohio State University.  She has taught biology and ecology at several colleges including the University of Michigan and Eastern Michigan University.  Kristen has been growing orchids for over 20 years, but recently fulfilled a lifelong dream to make orchids a full-time commitment by purchasing New World Orchids from Dr. Glenn Lehr.  Although she enjoys growing many varieties of orchids and other plants, New World Orchids specializes in Japanese species including Neofinetia falcata, Dendrobium moniliforme, Sederia japonica, as well as Asian Cymbidium species.  Kristen is supported in these pursuits by her husband, Dr. Kevin Wehrly, her two sons, Henry and Gus, and a veritable menagerie of loving animals.

Japanese orchids are not typical in the orchid world. Dr. Kristen Uthus will speak about what makes Japanese orchids stand out in a crowd and what may make Neofinetia falcata the perfect houseplant.  For more information on New World Orchids, visit the website (www.newworldorchids.com) or their Facebook page (www.facebook.com/newworldorchids).

Topic: "Phalaenopsis: The Species And Their Culture" (written by  Paul and Ann Tuskes)

David Dassey has been growing things since he was a Cub Scout rooting an avocado seed in a jar of water. After moving to California from his native New Orleans, he collected coleus, bromeliads, pelargoniums, and  begonias. He got his first orchid as a gift -- a cute miniature cattleya -- in 1986, and promptly killed it by overwatering. While attending the Cactus and Succulent Show at the County Arboretum in 1992 he met some orchidists from the OSSC and took them up on their invitation to come to the next club meeting. Since then he has adopted 665 orchids, of which 112 still survive.

When his small greenhouse imploded due to termites, he decided to focus on hardy orchids that live outdoors at his home in Los Feliz. His orchid collection includes species and hybrid laelias, dendrobiums, cattleyas, epidendrums, encyclias, and cymbidiums. He also hosts dozens of bromeliads, cacti, aloes and other succulents. He is a retired medical epidemiologist and 20 year OSSC Librarian.

Although he teaches middle school kids for a living, one of Tim’s passions has always been plants. Mr Culbertson began growing orchids as an offshoot from working at Longwood Gardens in Philadelphia just after college. From the very beginning it was all about paphs, particularly awarded and select clones of historic importance, of which his collection numbers nearly 3000. While Tim loves finding old, rare stepping stones in paph breeding, he also does a little hybridizing, and growing up his “own babies” is a blast. Mr Culbertson is the youngest accredited judge with the American Orchid Society and has served in various capacities with various orchid societies in California and on the East Coast.

He loves meeting other people who like orchids too, and doing so often finds him traveling to shows, vendors, and peoples’ greenhouses to see the latest and greatest in new hybrids and to get the best orchid gossip. Tim likes to be involved in plants as much as possible; in addition to Longwood, he has worked at the Smithsonian Institution tending to their orchids, and for years for the United States National Arboretum, collecting rare plants and documenting cultivated species and hybrids for their herbarium. In short, he really likes plants!

Growing up in Minnesota, Sandra Tillisch Svoboda's only exposure to orchids was that prom corsage. After graduating with a degree in nursing, she moved to California and ended up in Santa Barbara. She began her orchid life as a pot washer for her husband Al and became fascinated with the history of her husband's complex paph collection which included many of the oldies like Paph. F.C. Puddle. Al's knowledge, love, and enthusiasm for orchids were contagious and when they built a second greenhouse, she decided it would be hers and that was the moment that orchids became an important part of her life.

Sandra is the immediate Past President of the American Orchid Society and chair of the AOS Education Committee.  She coordinates the Question and Answer column in ORCHIDS magazine. Sandra is an accredited judge in both the American Orchid Society and the Cymbidium Society of America judging systems and is treasurer of the AOS Pacific South Judging Center. She is the present Editor in Chief of the Orchid Digest. She was president of the Cymbidium Society of American and co-chair of the annual Cymbidium Society Congress. Locally, she has served on the boards and been president of the Orchid Society of Santa Barbara and the local branch of the Cymbidium Society. Sandra served on the board of the Santa Barbara International Orchid Show and, for several years, was the show manager of this prestigious show, one of the largest in the nation.  Besides the plants themselves and the never-ending opportunity to learn about them, Sandra loves being involved in the orchid world because it offers an opportunity to meet and work with so many amazing and fascinating people.

Carol Beule is an EMMY award winning Costume Designer with a Master of Fine Arts in both Costume and Lighting Design from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She was a professional Costume Designer from 1974 until her retirement in July of 2017, and has designed for Film, Commercials, Theatre productions and TV shows. She lived in NYC for the first 15 years of her career.

Growing orchids in NYC was not considered a possibility, so she has grown orchids only since moving to Southern California in 1992. Growing outside with no greenhouse in Studio City at the edge of the San Fernando Valley is sometimes problematic. With temperatures ranging from 28 to 118 Fahrenheit, and humidity as low as 7% at times, it is usually a challenge. It has been her quest to find what will and will not bloom and prosper under these circumstances.

In her search to find the perfect plant for her growing area, Carol discovered the Japanese orchid called Neofinetia (Vanda) falcata and various other species that thrive outside in Southern California, depending on the growing medium used. Carol grows various forms of Paphiopedilum, Phalaenopsis, Cattleya, Laelia, Dendrobium, Lycaste and Asian Cymbidiums. Carol is a Fully Accredited American Orchid Society Judge, the 1st VP of the Orchid Society of Southern California, and is on the committee that creates the Society’s display for the Huntington’s annual October Orchid Show. When she retired, she started making ceramic pots for the Japanese/Korean/Chinese orchid called the Neofinetia (Vanda) falcata , Asian Cymbidiums and other small plants. She grows in 2 small greenhouses and outside in her yard in Studio City, CA. She has grown orchids for 24 years.

She will give us a mini-tour of Japan and the orchids that first drew her there, now called the Vanda Falcata. This talk will be a bonus addition to the 3 part article she is writing for the American Orchid Society monthly magazine, which will be generously illustrated by our OSSC Treasurer, Wendy Fisher’s fabulous photographic talents. The series ran in 3 parts, starting in February of 2022, and continuing through to the April issue. 

Phyllis S. Prestia is an orchid enthusiast, collector, and grower. Her latest passion are the native orchids of Europe. She has traveled extensively collecting photographs and sharing conservation efforts with local orchid societies. Back home in California she grows these extraordinary orchids, which are currently in bloom on her benches.

 She is also an avid supporter of the World Orchid Conferences. In conjuction with the WOC’s, she has trekked the rainforests of Madagascar and the islands of the Galapagos.

In her orchid life, she is a member of the Editorial Board of the Orchid Digest and serves as Trustee for the American Orchid Society. She has been the President of the San Diego County Cymbidium Society and is the current Vice President of the Cymbidium Society of America. Further, she is an Accredited Judge for the Cymbidium Society of America and an Associate Judge for the American Orchid Society.

In addition to her dissertation, her publications include "Best Practices in Culture of Catasetum, Clowesia, Cycnoches, Mormodes and Their Hybrids," published in the Orchid Digest Volume 80, no.4. And "The First World Slipper Orchid Conference," also published in the Orchid Digest Volume 79, No.2.

In a previous life, she served children as an educator and Middle School Principal. She received a Doctorate of Education at Rutgers University, where she also served as instructor in the graduate education program. Originally from New Jersey, she moved to California with her husband to retire in the sunny, San Diego area and grow orchids.

Bryce Augustine is a long time member of the Santa Barbara Orchid Society and an American Orchid Society judge.   He owns and operates Monsoon Flora Orchids (monsoonorchids.com), which he established in 1991 and where he produces Paphs and Phrags in flasks, compots and seedlings.

He is a 20-year veteran of the American Orchid Society judging system as an accredited AOS judge and brought AOS judging to the central coast in April 2008 by creating a new Judging site in Santa Barbara where he served as its chairman for two years.

Dr. Glenn Lehr lives in Manchester, Michigan, a small farming community west of Ann Arbor.
With the rank of Captain and as a pilot, Glenn spent 10 years in the USAF, and enrolled in the University of Michigan's Dental School in 1968.  He paid for his education by working his farm in Manchester, MI.  Retiring in 1992, he started growing orchids as a hobby.  He is one of the founding members of the Ann Arbor Orchid Society, serving both on its Board and as its President.
He started a commercial orchid nursery in 1997, New World Orchids, with emphasis on the orchids of Ecuador, Colombia and Costa Rica.  He had a home in Costa Rica for 12 years, getting to know the various orchids and growers there.  His greenhouse was in Banos, Ecuador, until Mount Tungurahua erupted and destroyed everything!
He has sold his orchids at orchid shows and given talks to orchid societies throughout the US, Canada, England and Japan.  He has also been a vendor and judge at the Grand Prix International Orchid Festival in Tokyo, Japan (Tokyo Dome Show) for fifteen years, and the World Orchid Festival in Japan for nine years.
After attending a few of these shows, he decided to try to bring some of the Japanese orchids to the US, as most were compact, fragrant, and highly desirable.  Except for the most common varieties, many of the native Japanese orchids were unobtainable outside of Japan at that time.  New World Orchids now has more than two hundred varieties of Neofinetia falcata, fifty varieties of Dendrobium moniliforme as well as several forms of Sedirea japonica, Sophronitis species and others.
The talk given to societies is a combination of Orchid Shows in Japan, Japanese Orchids, and a tour of the people, cities and culture of Japan.

Brandon Tam is passionate about his career as the Orchid Collection Specialist at The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California.

Brandon’s grandmother first introduced him to orchids when he was seven by giving him a white cymbidium. He volunteered at the Huntington during high school, and when he graduated at age 16, Dr. James Folsom, Director of the Botanical Gardens, offered Brandon a full-time position as the Orchid Collection Specialist. Brandon has managed the collection for over ten years. While working with Dr. Folsom to reinvigorate the Huntington’s orchid collection, Brandon attended California State University Polytechnic, Pomona, and earned his Bachelor of Science in Plant Science degree in 2015.

Brandon now oversees one of the largest orchid collections in the United States, which has grown from 2000 to over 10,000 plants in the past ten years. The Huntington has quickly built one of the five most diverse orchid species collections in the world. The collection is housed in over 26,000 square feet of growing area, which includes the Rose Hills Foundation Conservatory and three collection greenhouses, dedicated specifically for tropical plants. He also oversees the Huntington’s 50 Amorphophallus titanums (better known as the “Corpse flower”), and has successfully bloomed six since 2014.

Under Brandon’s direction, The Huntington has won over 100 awards from the American Orchid Society within the last three years, which includes five First Class Certificates and three Certificates of Cultural Excellence. At the American Orchid Society Fall 2016 Members Meeting, The Huntington received The Merritt W. Huntington Award, which gives international recognition for the “Most Outstanding Orchid” in the year of 2015 for Paphiopedilum micranthum ‘Huntington’s Perfection’ FCC/AOS. In 2016, The Huntington received not just one, but two American Orchid Society Special Annual Awards! Lycaste consobrina ‘Huntington’s Finest’ AM-CCE/AOS received the Butterworth Award which goes to the grower of the plant exhibiting the finest orchid culture. It also received the Benjamin C. Berliner award which is given to most outstanding example of the genus Lycaste or its closely allied genera. At the time of judging, it had a total of 287 flowers and 7 buds.

In Brandon’s spare time, he loves to travel, and of course…EAT! He joined Harold Koopowitz and others on a trek in Ecuador led by Pepe Portilla, where the group saw many wild orchids and focused on the study of Selenipedium aequinoctiale. Additionally, Brandon was elected as Trustee of the American Orchid Society, for a three-year term, which started March 2018.

Our speaker in July will be Ron Kaufmann, chair of the San Diego County Orchid Society Conservation Committee and a founding director of the Orchid Conservation Alliance.  Ron has travelled extensively to view orchids in the wild in South America.  His talk entitled "Orchid Travels in Ecuador" will cover his most recent trip to explore orchids in Ecuador as part of a tour he organized to benefit the Orchid Conservation Alliance.

Ecuador may have the highest orchid diversity in the world, with over 4,000 described orchid species in an area slightly smaller than the state of Nevada.  By comparison, North America contains fewer than 300 native orchid species.  Ron's talk will show orchids in the wild and at Ecuagenera, one of the largest orchid nurseries in South America.

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.  He has been growing orchids for nearly 20 years, starting with a reedstem Epidendrum and progressing to a diverse collection that contains mostly species orchids.

Ron has a long-standing interest in conservation and has been a member of the SDCOS Conservation Committee for almost 15 years and chair since 2004.  Since 1991, the Conservation Committee has awarded nearly $160,000 to support projects in 20 different countries.  Ron also helped to found the Orchid Conservation Alliance and serves on the boards of the OCA, EcoMinga Foundation (a conservation foundation based in Ecuador) and the Orchid Digest.

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.

Topic: The Yellow Brick Road: An Overview of the Orchid Zone

Samantha Kha-Root has been interested in growing plants since she was a small child, when she loved raising flowers and vegetables from seed. Her interest in plants led her to begin exploring cacti and succulent plants. Then, over 15 years ago, she became interested in orchids. Today, Samantha grows orchids and also has a very extensive collection of succulent plants, mainly from South Africa.

Samantha became enamored with slipper orchids early on. She has put together an extensive collection of Paphiopedilums and Phragmipediums, primarily focusing on species. She started making Paphiopedilum crosses about 13 years ago, and has raised and flowered many of her own crosses. For the past 10 years she has been making Paphiopedilum crosses for The Orchid Zone, using the Zone's extensive breeding collection.

The Orchid Zone is located in the hills of the Monterey Peninsula, and is mostly known for Paphiopedilums. Not as well known is the Zone’s cultivation of many other genera as well, including Odontoglossums, Miltoniopsis, Masdevallias, Phragmipediums, and Zygopetalums. Along with enhancing our understanding of orchids, Samantha and Terry Root will provide a unique selection of amazing, in bloom, orchids for the opportunity table. This is a not-to-be-missed presentation!

Peter Lin started growing orchids over 35 years ago, but then stopped due to school and starting a career. It wasn’t until about 14 years ago that the orchid “bug” came back and he is now heavily involved once again! He is an accredited judge with the American Orchid Society, and a hybridizer of mini-catts. He enjoys meeting with other orchid enthusiasts, and can often be found at various orchid shows and societies around the country.

Due to limited growing space, Peter specializes in miniature orchids, both species and hybrids, and has received numerous AOS awards. His interests in orchids include Dendrobiums, Angraecoids, and Neofinetias. He is also known as “Mr Sophronitis” as he has a passion for growing and collecting them. He maintains a collection of a thousand or more orchids at his home in Southern California in 3 small greenhouses, outdoors, as well as an offsite greenhouse.

Arthur Pinkers has been an orchid enthusiast since the age of sixteen, when he acquired a plant of Slc. Glittering Jewel (Sl. Gratixiae x Slc. Hermes), which infected him with the orchid bug. His forty plus years of experience growing orchids started in the Pacific Northwest with a greenhouse to fend off the cold, rainy days, but a decade ago a job change forced him to move to Santa Clarita, California, where the conditions are extreme for growing orchids.

Growing up in the Seattle area, Arthur attended Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington, graduating with a B.S. in Chemistry and Biology. He worked for many years as a chemist, and had the fortune of having his dream job as the Lab Director for Beall Orchid Company until shortly before its close in 1990. Despite not having a current career working with orchids, Arthur has taken an active role in the orchid community. He has been an Accredited Orchid Judge for over twenty years, served in most executive positions on the Board of the Northwest Orchid Society, including serving as President from 1988 to1989, President of the San Fernando Valley Orchid Society 2016 to present. He was the center photographer for the Pacific Northwest Judging Region 1993 - 2004. Currently, Arthur serves as the Center Judging Chair at the AOS Pacific South – San Marino Judging Center and one of the photographers for the Pacific South Judging Center. Though he has an interest in a wide variety of orchids, botanicals are a special draw to him for their diversity and charm.

Arthur has been married to his wife, Margie, for over twenty-nine years, and has two adult children and a granddaughter. While they have not inherited his knack for growing orchids, his family enjoys the beauty and wild aromas his backyard jungle brings to their home, a respite from the desert landscape around them.

Doug Overstreet is a well recognized orchid grower and speaker. Some of the many hats that Mr. Overstreet wears are: Fully Accredited Judge in the American Orchid Society judging system, Pacific South Region, past president of the Southland Orchid Show Committee, creator of "Anyone Can Grow Orchids...Even You" video tapes and perennial OSSC auctioneer. Doug has the ability to present the complex world of orchids in a manner suitable for the advanced enthusiast and yet easily understood by the novice. Mr. Overstreet will be supplying the raffle table for this meeting through his company, Nature's Bounty Orchids.

Marni Turkel (pronounced tur KELL) is a native of the San Francisco Bay Area and has been growing orchids since 1980. She has been an active member of the San Francisco Orchid Society since 1982. She grows in three greenhouses in Santa Rosa with approximately 1000 sq ft of growing space. Her main interest is in cool-growing miniature species but plenty of larger plants have crept into the collection as well. Marni is a contributor to Orchids magazine with her series called 'Well Worth the Space' and 'Give It a Rest'. Her articles have been translated into Dutch, German, Portuguese and Swedish for international publication. Photographs of her plants have been feature in articles noted orchid publications including Orchids Magazine, Orchid Digest, Richardiana, The Orchid Review, and The Australian Orchid Review. She has expanded her work with orchids to include propagation of orchids from seed and has set up a flasking lab of her own to take the process from start to finish. A working potter for over 40 years, she owns and manages Stony Point Ceramic Design which is a pottery that produces vases, orchid planters, flower arranging containers, ceramic barrel rims and urns.

Topic: Cymbidiums 101: Everything You Need to Know to Grow the Grand Champion

Hatfield Orchids is owned and operated by George Hatfield, who has over 15 years of experience in raising award quality Cymbidium orchids. Hatfield Orchids is fortunate enough to be located in Ventura County, California, which has an ideal climate for the propagation of Cymbidium orchids. The operation is run by family & friends, and orchids are their passion.

George is active in the Cymbidium Society of America and the American Orchid Society, as well as several Southern California regional orchid organizations. George is an orchid judge for both the CSA and AOS, and is currently the Chairman of the Santa Barbara judging region for the CSA. George is also a past-president of the CSA and was the Chairman of the CSA Cymbidium Congress from 1998-2001 and president of the Santa Barbara International Orchid Show in 2002 & 2003. Hatfield Orchids is known for producing some of the top pendulous Cymbidiums in the country. In fact, the Grand Champion of the Santa Barbara Orchid Show in 2006 was a stunning plant from Hatfield Orchids.

Dr. Hasegawa is the owner of Paphanatics, Unlimited, located in Santa Ana, California. Paphanatics, Unlimited has been specializing in Paphiopedilum since 1975, and Norito has been collecting, growing and studying orchids for over 30 years. His involvement has been at many levels as a hobbyist, author, and commercial grower. He specializes in Paphiopedilum orchids and had Harold Koopowitz as a partner in Paphanatics, Unlimited for over 20 years. And he is probably the only current OSSC member that has a genus (Hasegawara) named after him.

Norito is co-author, with Harold Koopowitz, of the book "Novelty Slipper Orchids". He is also a former trustee of The American Orchid Society and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Orchid Digest Corporation. Dr. Hasegawa travels internationally to keep orchid fanatics up to date on Paphiopedilum happening.

Blooming plants from Paphantics, Unlimited will make up the spectacular plant opportunity table at this meeting.

And now for something completely different...a speaker that won't be speaking! Rich Walton of Walton Films will instead get his message out by presenting his documentary film entitled "The Judge, the Hunter, the Thief, and the Black Orchid". Some of our members may remember a guy with a video camera at our 2009 auction. Well, some of that footage, as well as interviews with many of the orchid authorities we have had the honor of speaking at our meetings form the basis of this documentary. That means some of our members are now film stars!

This is the second documentary Mr. Walton has produced and directed. His first, “Lucha Libre, Life Behind the Mask” , was selected as the Best Documentary at the 2005 Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival.  It was also an Official Selection at the 2005 HBO New York International Latino Film Festival, the 2005 Detroit Docs International Film Festival, the 2006 Port Townsend Film Festival, and the 2006 River’s Edge Film Festival. "The Judge, the Hunter, the Thief, and the Black Orchid" was selected as an Official Selection at the Sarasota Fringe Film Festival, the Central Florida Film Festival, the Temecula Valley Int’l Film Festival, and the Big Bear Lake Int’l Film Festival.

director's statement

"The Judge, the Hunter, the Thief, and the Black Orchid” is my second documentary feature.  The goal for this film was to find a topic that I could research, film, and edit by myself with minimal expenses.  A truly independent feature film.

I chose to do it this way for a number of reasons. First, I wanted to have sole control of the finished product, from content to marketing.  I learned so much from the experiences of my first film and from the producers and wanted to discover if I could do it on my own. Mainly, however, I wanted to put to the test my belief that the filmmaking process doesn’t need to be done on a large scale, both in expense and production. I’ve always felt that film can be a people’s medium, accessible to all, especially with the technology that is available today. Everyone has different thoughts and experiences with filmmaking and I don’t believe that one way is better than the other, it’s just a theory that I wanted to explore.

As with my first film, I wasn’t very knowledgeable about the subject. Once I began my research I quickly discovered that orchids were something that inspired great passion from the devotees of the art.  It was a passion and devotion that, while I couldn’t fully grasp, I could certainly respect. It is an admirable quality to have found something to which you are willing to dedicate your life. Wherever there is a strong passion, there is the potential for a great story. I hope that is the case with this film and I hope that those who see it experience the same passion.

Long time member, Past President, Honorary Golden Circle member and OSSC supporter Alfred Hockenmaier has been growing orchids for over 30 years. His passion for plants extends well beyond orchids as one can plainly see if you have ever attended one of his open houses.  He got the ‘orchid bug’ when he began working at a rare and unusual plant nursery called “The Plant Shop’s Botanical Gardens” in the San Fernando Valley.  The nursery was owned by partners Bill Cook and Bob Cole.  The latter was an orchid hybridist and consequently they had a large inventory of orchids.  As they say, it was the beginning of the end!  One thing led to another and as a result, Alfred now maintains a mixed collection in two greenhouses as well as an outdoor shade cloth area.  Although he loves all orchids, he prefers to grow those which have similar climate conditions as his own as this makes the growing experience much more enjoyable!

His talk “The Art of Mounted Orchid Culture” will include a step by step demonstration on how to mount orchids in addition to culture and care for mounted orchids.  After all, it’s one of the most natural ways to grow them!

James Rose attended University of California Santa Barbara as an anthropology major.  In 1971 he began working at Santa Barbara Orchid Estate. After 16 years there, and becoming manager, he left to establish his own nursery with his wife, Lauris.  In 1987 they purchased Orchids By Rowe, a 2 acre cymbidium nursery 2 blocks from the Pacific Ocean in 1987, and totally redesigned the former cymbidium cut flower range to what is now a world renowned orchid nursery providing one of the largest varieties of orchid species and hybrids in the U.S.

Cal-Orchid maintains an active breeding program and stud collection built upon decades of international travel.  James is very well known for having a distinctively selective "eye" for the new unusual plant, and Cal-Orchid's new and long-time customers enjoy reaping the benefits.

The nursery's inventory features the Cattleya, Cymbidium, Odontoglossum, Masdevallia,  Lycaste, Paphiopedilum alliances as well as a good assortment of African species. More recently, James and Lauris have become recognized for their superior "Pacific" line of reed-stem Epidendrums, which have evolved over 12 years of selective breeding.

James has published in the AOS, Orchid Digest, and CSA magazines, and is well respected for his vast knowledge as well as his distinctive sense of humor. He lectures all over the world…from Japan to South Africa, to Europe, at orchid shows and World Orchid Conferences.

He is a Cymbidium Society of America Judge, former member of the AOS Conservation Committee, and active member of the Japan Grand Prix Organizing committee where he has judged every year at the world famous Tokyo Dome.

Rudolf Jenny, PhD, who has been working with orchids for more than 35 years, had a large collection of tropical orchid plants until 1995. Over many years, he has travelled in Central and South America in connection with his studies in pollination ecology and taxonomy. He has published about 400 articles in many of the world’s leading orchid journals, including revisions of the genera Gongora. Stanhopea and Sievekingia. He is the owner of one of the most complete orchid libraries in private hands and maintains BibliOrchidea, the world’s largest database for orchid literature with more than 160,000 entries, covering about 90 percent of the existing literature. It is accessible for free on the Internet at:

 http://orchid.unibas.ch/bibliorchidea.index.php.

He is research associate at the Jany Renz Herbarium, University of Basel, Switzerland, a member of about 40 orchid societies and honorary member of the European Orchid Council. In addition to orchids, cave-climbing has been a hobby for many years.

Christopher Croom, Newsletter Editor for the San Diego County Orchid Society (SDCOS), will be doing a fresh, new presentation on orchids and their pollinators that has never before been seen by human eyes. Intricate relationships between insects, orchids, and their surrounding ecology will be thoroughly examined and discussed, as will the successes of different strategies used by orchids and by the pollinators themselves.

Christopher has presented at numerous orchid societies on the West Coast of the United States over the past several years (from here to Seattle and many places in between), and his presentations are typically slightly unusual and very interesting. He has presented at past general and novice meetings of the SDCOS about growing mounted orchids, orchids and their fragrances, general orchid care, and medicinal and edible orchids.

Christopher has a modest collection of around 200 mostly species orchids which he grows outside at his house in North Park. In 2004 he won the AOS Dillon-Peterson essay contest with an article about orchid fragrances. He has also been an SDCOS Board Member for the past four years. He worked with Andy Phillips of Andy’s Orchids for a year, helped write some descriptions for Andy’s website, and still occasionally sells plants for Andy at shows.

Christopher is extremely excited about this new presentation as it involves interspecies sex; he feels particularly qualified to discuss this subject due to being a middle school sex education teacher (in addition to teaching physics and chemistry). So, we look forward to seeing you on the 10th for this riveting analysis!

TOPIC: "Bruce's Orchid Wildlife Tour"

Most orchid growers are relaxed folks who tend to agree that a general philosophy of live and let live, share and share alike, is a nice way to move through life. That's until you wake up one fine morning and find snail damage on the buds of a favorite plant that was opening up perfectly just the day before.  Suddenly, priorities change.

The politics of experience says that a conservative is nothing but a liberal who has just been mugged. Of course, that doesn't mean everybody should go out and buy a gun (nor a pesticide just to satisfy a hot-headed desire for revenge). As a pest management advisor for a large agricultural chemical company, Mr. Bruce Kidd has learned that plant pests and maladies usually call for changes in cultural practices and growing habits first before considering armed intervention. He is also an orchid hobbyist and is a Past President of the San Diego Cymbidium Society.

Bruce looks forward to being with us on April 12 to share a PowerPoint show with excellent pictures of different kinds of orchids and various pests that attack them, and simple cultural practice suggestions for producing the best quality plants. Bring your stressed plants in and he'll share ideas about what might be ailing them, and how to do better next time.

Art Mendoza and his wife Aurora bought their first Cymbidiums in March of 1984 at Stewart's Orchids in San Gabriel. Ever since then, they haven't stopped buying orchids.

On that day, in 1984, they bought a Thethy's 'Black Magic' that had three spikes in a gallon pot for $135. The flower was a very dark red with a purple lip. It was the most expensive orchid they bought that day. They also bought a one gallon pot of Sunshine Falls 'Fern Graham' that was light green and arching for $50. They have been able to divide these orchids and have sold a lot of their divisions.

Cymbidiums are the Mendozas' choice because they are easy to grow and it doesn't need a green house. They can be grown outside under a shade cloth. With water and fertilizer and a little care they will give you beautiful blooms that will last up to three months.

Currently, they have at least 500 types of cymbidiums in their collection, from standards to novelty/intermediates to arching/pendulous types and other genera as well. Overall, they have at least 2500 pots, including seedlings and backbulbs.

James attended University of Ca. Santa Barbara as an anthropology major.  In 1971 he began working at Santa Barbara Orchid Estate. After 16 years there, and becoming manager, he left to establish his own nursery with his wife, Lauris.  In 1987 they purchased Orchids By Rowe, a 2 acre cymbidium nursery 2 blocks from the Pacific Ocean in 1987, and totally redesigned the former cymbidium cut flower range to what is now a world renowned orchid nursery providing one of the largest varieties of orchid species and hybrids in the U.S.

Cal-Orchid maintains an active breeding program and stud collection built upon decades of international travel.  James is very well known for having a distinctively selective "eye" for the new unusual plant, and Cal-Orchid's new and long-time customers enjoy reaping the benefits.

The nursery's inventory features the Cattleya, Cymbidium, Odontoglossum, Masdevallia,  Lycaste, Paphiopedilum alliances as well as a good assortment of African species. More recently, James and Lauris have become recognized for their superior "Pacific" line of reed-stem Epidendrums, which have evolved over 12 years of selective breeding.

James has published in the AOS, Orchid Digest, and CSA magazines, and is well respected for his vast knowledge as well as his distinctive sense of humor. He lectures all over the world…from Japan to South Africa, to Europe, at orchid shows and World Orchid Conferences.

He is a Cymbidium Society of America Judge, former member of the AOS Conservation Committee, and active member of the Japan Grand Prix Organizing committee where he has judged every year at the world famous Tokyo Dome.

TOPIC: The Native Orchids of Peru

Tonight’s program will focus on the Orchid species of Peru in situ with visits to local nurseries to see a greater variety of blooming plants.

Mark is a recent past president of the San Fernando Valley Orchid Society and has traveled extensively in Central and South America and Europe in search of native orchids. The Orchid plant family is the largest of all the flowering plant families which is evident by the many thousands of known species. His main interest is in species because of their interesting diversity and adaptation features, rather than their large inflorescence and bright coloration.

His travels took him to Mexico, Belize, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, Costa Rica, the Caribbean – Islands of Puerto Rico and Dominica (the Nature Island) as well as Europe. He has legally collected plants in Belize and Mexico and has taken many photos of the plants growing in their natural habitat in the countries he has visited.

He specializes in species, mainly Bulbophyllum, Paphiopedilum, Cattleya, and exotics. Mark maintains two greenhouses: one intermediate and one warm, and a large outside growing area with many cymbidiums and outdoor tolerant varieties.

Our speaker believes that studying orchids in their natural habitat and conditions provides the most information on how to cultivate them successfully in captivity. Through his presentation he hopes to pass on to all of us some of this valuable knowledge.

TOPIC: Perfecting the Miniature Slipper Orchids

TOPIC: Mini Paphiopedilum Breeding.

Harold Koopowitz grew up in South Africa where he attended university, majoring in both Botany and Zoology. He then completed a doctorate at UCLA in California in 1968. A professor at the University of California at Irvine since graduating, he was also the Director of the UCI Arboretum for twenty years. He is now Professor Emeritus of Biology in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at UCI, where he did research on conservation and ecology.

 He was also Editor-in-Chief of the Orchid Digest for ten years and still works on the editorial committee of that Journal.

He gardens in Tustin, Orange County, California and is well known internationally for breeding both Slipper Orchids and Miniature Daffodils. For many years, he was a partner in Paphanatics, unLimited with Norito Hasegawa.

Harold has written over a hundred scientific papers and book chapters as well as many popular articles on orchids. He has also authored eight books. His most recent orchid book is Tropical Slipper Orchids and he is currently working on several new books, including another one on Slipper Orchids.

He also writes fiction, novels and short stories that have orchid themes. Orchid Tales is a compendium of his short stories. His latest adventure novel is The Emerald Orchid about an albino Paph. rothschildianum. He is currently working on a new novel. His books are available on Amazon. Harold will be bringing some of his novels for sale at the meeting. All proceeds from his books go to the Orchid Digest.

Besides writing, Harold’s hobbies include gardening and flower breeding. He is known for his work, breeding new kinds of slipper orchids as well as miniature daffodils. Harold has been honored by being a recipient of the Herbert Medal from the International Bulb Society; the Orchid Digest Medal for meritorious service to orchids; the Ralph B. White Medal as well as the Peter Barr Cup from the Royal Horticultural Society for innovations in daffodil breeding; the Gold Medal from the American Daffodil Society and the Gold Medal from the American Orchid Society as well as the Westonbirt Medal from the Royal Horticultural Society for outstanding achievement with orchids. He is a well known lecturer on the international orchid circuit. His lecture topic will be “Perfecting the Miniature Slipper Orchids”. He will provide a plant table of mini compots of new miniature slipper orchid crosses

TOPIC: Marvelous Miniatures, Gems of the Orchid World

Harry Phillips was born in San Diego, California on July 9, 1953. His father taught him to appreciate plants at an early age. In January of 1963, Harry’s brother Andy Phillips (of Andy’s Orchids fame) was born, and six years later is when it all started. They were both exposed to exotic plants and flowers at an early age, but when Andy became interested and later obsessed with orchids, Harry somehow resisted becoming involved with them for as long as he could. He assisted Andy in his passion by building his first two green houses, and Andy would reward him with a hybrid that was in bloom, tell him to bring it back when it goes out of bloom, and exchange it for one in bloom. Well this would only last about a year until he decided that he wanted to keep one and get it to re-bloom, the beginning of the end.

In 1986 Harry, with his soon to be wife Leslie, moved with Andy and his orchid collection to Encinitas, California. Being constantly exposed to all of Andy’s orchids was beginning to have an effect on Harry. Shortly after, Andy left for four months in Costa Rica, and placed Harry in charge of the collection. When Andy returned he found that Harry had not killed too many plants and managed to become even more addicted. Andy, now feeling more confident about leaving his orchid collection under Harry’s care, began to plan a cycling trip through South America, which ended up lasting two years. After that it was all over for Harry -- he was completely addicted to orchids.

Harry assisted Andy part time for 10 years, going full time around 1996. His interest in miniature orchids began several years ago while constantly being exposed to Andy’s minis. He decided he would try some for himself, and that was the way the story starts. Harry would like to share some of his thoughts on growing and choosing the right mini for your conditions, or creating a growing area with miniatures in mind. Once you get to know and appreciate them, miniatures will be a larger part of your collection.

Tom Biggart is the owner and head grower of Granite Hills Orchids in El Cajon, California, a small town 15 miles east of San Diego. His nursery is a hobby business, which means he doesn’t make a living growing plants. It is more of a labor of love! Tom loves plants in general, and orchids are his main passion.

He is very interested in Encyclias and has a large collection of Encyclia species and hybrids. The Australian cool growers are a current interest. Mr. Biggart is in business with the Harveys of Cedarvale Orchids. They are major Australian growers and hybridizers of native Dendrobiums.

Tom is a retired elementary school teacher with orchids as his new students. He would love to have anyone stop by to talk orchids should one be in the San Diego area.  Tom will be supplying the plant opportunity table for this meeting, and will also be offering select plants for sale.

Topic: "40 Orchids Everyone Should Have In Their Greenhouse"

Francisco Ramos is a newcomer to OSSC, and he will be narrating a presentation originally prepared by OSSC Past President Red Marsh (1984), with photography by OSSC Past President Trudy Marsh (1990-1991).

Francisco first became interested in orchids on his birthday, two years ago. His uncle Hector was his original inspiration. He invited Francisco to the Santa Barbara Orchid Show where Francisco was fascinated by the colors, textures, fragrances and varieties displayed. He knew he had to learn more. He purchased his first two orchids, cymbidiums at that show. From then there was no turning back. Francisco currently has approximately 32 different species growing outdoors at his home in Oxnard, CA. His collection has become more exotic with each passing season. Meanwhile, his original cymbidiums wished him a happy eleventh birthday by blooming.

Until recently, Francisco really didn’t know how to properly care for his orchids. He simply provided food, water, humidity (from the beach) and sunlight. This summer, with coaching from the owners of Cal Orchid Inc. in Goleta, CA, Francisco started to maintain his plants, pollinate the blooms, photograph and catalog his collection. He has acquired books and discovered great sources of information on the Internet. Another grower who has encouraged Francisco and his hobby is Andy Phillips from Andy’s Orchids in Encinitas, CA. Francisco recently visited Andy’s booth at the Southland Orchid Committee's Harvest Moon Orchid Festival at the Huntington Library. One day, Francisco hopes to own a greenhouse and to acquire as many of the 38,000 species of orchids as he possibly can.

Topic: "Development of the Harlequin Phalaenopsis"

Topic: "New Color Forms of Phalaenopsis"

Norman Fang earned his degree in Ornamental Horticulture from California State Polytechnic University in Pomona. As a student, he managed the Raymond Burr Orchid Collection on campus. He received a number of scholarships to study plant tissue culture, eventually studying under the renowned Dr. Murashige at the University of California at Riverside, and Dr. Tanabe at the University of Hawaii. In 1986, he won the First Place Research Paper Award and was named Outstanding Horticulture Student by the American Society for Horticulture Science. In 1987, he started his own highly successful nursery, Norman's Orchids, which has received more than 350 AOS quality awards and 18 AOS Show Trophies. In 1994, the California Junior Chamber of Commerce named Norman their Young Entrepreneur of the Year.

Norman is active in a number of organizations that help him continue to develop his skills, as well as teach others about the fine science of orchid propagation. He is a frequent guest speaker at orchid societies and conferences. Norman is an accredited AOS judge with, and the leading commercial-grower donor to, the Pacific South Judging Center. He also endeavors to generously support several other judging centers and societies. He served seven years on the Research and the Education Committees of the AOS. Norman is a veteran exhibitor at major American shows such as The Fascination of Orchids Show, San Francisco International Orchid Show, Santa Barbara International Orchid Show, New York International Orchid Show, Ft. Lauderdale Orchid Show and Miami International Orchid Show, bringing back new insights to help improve California's Southland Orchid Show, on whose board he served many years. He has traveled and judged in Asia, South Africa, Canada and South America. Norman is AOS Representative for the Taiwan Orchid Growers Association, and has been the AOS Judging Coordinator for the Taiwan International Orchid Show since 1996. He is also one of the founding members of the International Phalaenopsis Association, is a Life Member of the AOS and is currently Vice President of AOS.

This month the plant table will be supplied by our guest speaker, a sampling of which can be found on his commercial website, www.orchids.com. Those of us that were at the picnic in July saw the beautiful Phalaenopsis he grows, so we are looking forward to the opportunity table.

Peter Tobias first started growing orchids in Chicago in the early 1970s but his hobby “...really only got out of control” when he moved to Encinitas, a coastal town just north of San Diego, in 1980. His collection is primarily species orchids, most of which are grown outdoors. In 1999 he visited the Atlantic Rainforest in Brazil, and after that he started his own little rainforest, with the rain provided by hand, in his two large backyard avocado trees. Peter was a founding member of the San Diego County Orchid Society’s Conservation Committee. The success of that endeavor in San Diego led to the idea that orchid lovers nationwide, and even internationally, might support an organization devoted to orchid habitat protection. In his talk, Peter will describe the current activities of the Orchid Conservation Alliance (OCA) and its plans for future conservation projects. Protection of native orchid habitats is the goal of the Orchid Conservation Alliance. Until now, there has not been an organization focusing on orchid habitat. Many people work to save pandas, elephants, whales, and California condors, but very little work to save orchids. If we do not act, who will? The OCA’s intent is to raise funds to support orchid conservation projects by pooling resources from orchid societies, individual orchid growers, and other organizations and persons with a desire to help. We also may increase our impact and ability to target more ambitious projects by establishing partnerships with other conservation organizations having congruent interests. Because orchids are most efficiently conserved in their native habitats, conservation of suitable habitat is the primary goal of the Orchid Conservation Alliance. Orchid habitat also includes other flora and fauna, and conservation of other rare flora and fauna may be considered in setting priorities for habitat conservation, but the goal of orchid conservation will be the primary criterion. At times, other related activities, such as reintroduction of orchids into degraded or restored habitats, studies of orchid related biogeography, ecology, taxonomy, biology, and public education and publishing may also receive support. At this time, the specific habitat to be preserved is under study, in collaboration with conservation organizations in several areas.  This month’s table will be OSSC’s contribution to conservation by recycling our unsold plants from our March auction.

Hatfield Orchids is owned and operated by George Hatfield, who has over 15 years of experience in raising award quality Cymbidium orchids. Hatfield Orchids is fortunate enough to be located in Ventura County, California, which has an ideal climate for the propagation of Cymbidium orchids. The operation is run by family & friends, and orchids are their passion.

George is active in the Cymbidium Society of America and the American Orchid Society, as well as several Southern California regional orchid organizations. George is an orchid judge for both the CSA and AOS, and is currently the Chairman of the Santa Barbara judging region for the CSA. George is also a past-president of the CSA and was the Chairman of the CSA Cymbidium Congress from 1998-2001 and president of the Santa Barbara International Orchid Show in 2002 & 2003. Hatfield Orchids is known for producing some of the top pendulous Cymbidiums in the country. In fact, the Grand Champion of the Santa Barbara Orchid Show in 2006 was a stunning plant from Hatfield Orchids.

Mr. Nomer is the president of the South Bay Bromeliad Associates, editor of the OC Cactus club and member of some other garden clubs and botanical gardens. He has been interested in plants since he was a child, taking vocational agriculture in high school and building a greenhouse on the side of his home. Tim was going to be a landscaper but switched to chemistry instead and later moved into the computer area, keeping his interest in plants. Tim calls himself a total photo nut and he loves to visit local garden and botanical shows. This gives him an excuse to go exploring new places and get out on the weekends.

After digital cameras became available, he started taking many more photos, including the tags of plants in shows and the botanical gardens. He downloads them into photo albums and found after a while he started recognizing the plants when he saw them.

Seeing vibrant new growth and other stages of rare flowers and unusual seed pods on less common plants fascinated him. The camera allows him to take the gardens and shows home. With common photo album software, he enlarges parts of plants and flowers and enjoys shows years later. He grows a few orchids, more bromeliads, and loves cacti and odd or unusual succulents.

A few years ago, a member of the San Diego cactus club stood up at a meeting and asked members to give back something to the club by becoming more involved. He took this to heart and started making picture displays of flowers and plants, and won prizes at local shows, such as The Intercity Show at the LA Arboretum each August, and the CSSA show at the Huntington in July. Tim also summarizes plant shows by creating digital slide presentations, which gives incredible flexibility as one can clip out plants or flowers and label them easily. He really enjoys finding the best pictures and most unusual plants to share with others.
This evening’s presentation will draw on seven recent years of orchid shows. It is not too soon to gather ideas for our own Southland Orchid Show coming in October!

Dr. Arditti received his Ph.D. from the University of Southern California (USC) in 1965. He then joined the faculty of University of California, Irvine (UCI) in 1966, served as a professor there for 35 years and devoted his entire career to research on orchids before retiring in 2001 to become Professor of Biology Emeritus.

Dr. Arditti is the author of over 375 scientific papers, popular articles and books, including The Fundamentals of Orchid Biology, which was selected Book of the Year by the American Association of Book Publishers. He was also the Founding Editor of Orchid Biology, Reviews and Perspectives and recipient of the Gold Medal from the Orchid Society of South East Asia in Singapore. Dr. Arditti has traveled the world over, recently returning from a lecture tour in Korea. He is in the process of editing his new work of 2000 pages.

Peter Lin is a grower and hybridizer of mini-Cattleya orchids. He resides in Diamond Bar and grows orchids in two small greenhouses, as well as many seedlings under lights in his home.

Mr. Lin started growing orchids in high school, and worked at Stewarts Orchids for a few years. Due to college and starting a career, he left the orchid world for twenty years. Five years ago he returned and focused on mini-Cattleyas.

Mr. Lin is also a probationary judge with the A.O.S. and has received numerous awards for his plants. He is a member of six orchid societies, and is very passionate about his hobby, which is a great balance for his day job at Disneyland.

Peter will provide the plant opportunity table, and each of us will have the opportunity to win one or many of his mini-Cattleya’s for our own collection. So make sure to attend this one!

Barton Mozlen, our clinician for the evening, retired as a high school teacher after thirty five years, and also worked for Stewart Orchids in sales for twenty years. At present he works for both Andy’s Orchids and Norman’s Orchids, helping them with their shows. Aside from this he also runs his own gardening business which employs seven young people, six in high school and one college student. He said they do repotting and can even spot the mosaic virus.
Orchids have been his hobby since 1960, when he was sixteen. He also travels in his spare time to South America and South Africa in search of orchids.

Topic: "Rare and Unusual Orchid Species"

Mr. Parsons is considered by many to be one of the finest flower photographers in the United States. His photography and encyclopedic knowledge of orchids is known both nationally and internationally. He has been photographing orchids, wildflowers, and almost every other kind of plant for over 25 years, and has a slide collection that numbers well over 80,000 slides! Ron loves to travel, photograph orchids and wildflowers in situ, visit orchid and other plant enthusiasts collections, and most of all, to take photographs of plants and flowers that he likes. His love of photographing orchids has taken him to faraway places such as Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Belize, Mexico and Australia, to name a few.

Ron has co-authored several books, including 'Masdevallias: Gems of the Orchid World', and the forthcoming 'Calochortus: Mariposas and Their Relatives'. His knowledge is wide-ranging, giving talks nationally and internationally on these and other topics: 'Bulbophyllum', 'Rare and Unusual Orchid Species', 'Dendrobrium Species', 'Masdevallias and Draculas', 'Pleurothallids', 'Cattleya and Laelia Species', 'Orchids of Southeast Australia', 'Oncidium Species', 'Monopodial Orchids', 'Miniature Species' and 'Orchids Under Lights'.

Ron has also given talks at societies for Cacti & Succulents, Carnivorous Plants, Gesneriads and California Wildflowers. He comes to our February meeting from his home town of San Francisco.

About Our Speaker:

Dr. Averyanov is the orchidologist at the St. Petersburg Komarov Botanical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The institute has one of the largest herbarium collections in the world, including tropical orchids. Close cooperation between botanists at Komarov and their counterparts at the Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources in Hanoi, Vietnam started in 1963. From 1979 to 1991, Komarov Institute has organized and funded yearly expeditions to study the flora of Vietnam. Dr. Averyanov was a major participant in these expeditions. He collected herbarium specimens, and described many new orchid species. Among them are Paphiopedilum helenae named for his wife, and Paphiopedilum hiepii named for his long time friend and traveling companion, Dr. Nguyen Tien Hiep of the Vietnamese Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources.

We know very little about the rich flora of North Vietnam. After the war, Vietnam has been closed to western explorers for many years. The area is mountainous and has few roads. Many orchid habitats are inaccessible, except on foot during dry season. Prior to the late 1990’s Dr. Averyanov was one of a few foreign botanists allowed access for exploration of North Vietnam’s flora, making his research invaluable to orchidologists and botanists not only in Russia, but the entire world. He has published many articles in the Orchids, the Magazine of the American Orchid Society. His book, “Slipper Orchids of Vietnam” with an introduction to the flora of Vietnam was published in 2003 by Timber Press. This is a valuable resource on the slipper orchids as well as their habitat, geography, climate and companion plants.

When academic research funding became scarce in Russia, Averyanov was forced to turn to other sources. Since 1991, National Geographic, AOS, and several orchid groups including the San Diego County Orchid Society have funded his explorations. Let’s hope that such support continues.  

Coming on the heels of his "Mostly Cattleyas I & II", Bill takes his presentation to the next level by using the power of digital projection and PowerPoint to present a dynamic multimedia presentation. Bill looks at flowers, orchids, species, Cymbidiums, Paphiopedilums, and even some Cattleyas in ways that even the most orchid savvy among us should find interesting, with some treats for the newer folks, too. Graphics, vintage orchid art, and "right into the flower" orchid pictures will highlight important concepts, with fun for all.

About Our Speaker:

Bill Ryan, together with his wife Vicki, has been growing orchids in Southern California for over 25 years. They have served in various capacities with several societies over the years. Bill is currently serving as the “Past President” of San Gabriel Valley Orchid Hobbyists, and Vicki is serving as a board member and the Artwork Manager for The Orchid Digest. Their collection of way too many plants to care for properly is divided into Vicki’s plants (those with flowers) and Bill’s plants (those with bugs).

Topic: "How to Display Your Orchids at Home"

Topic: "Decorating with Orchids"

Our featured speaker for October will be Alberto Ossa of the Silverlake district in Los Angeles, California.  He has had many years of experience in arranging flowers in general and orchids in particular.

Alberto has had a love affair with orchids since he bought his first orchid, an Enciclia citrina, 25 years ago, and has been involved with the Orchid Society of Southern California  for almost that many years.  He has been the Society’s vice president, has designed many top award-winning orchid displays for the Society at both the New Otani and Huntington Shows.  Alberto currently serves as the OSSC Ribbon Judging Chair, and has been given the highest honor by the Society by being elected to the Golden Circle Board.  Mr. Ossa has also been involved with the Huntington Library, working closely with the orchid conservators in the greenhouses in the past and most recently the Cloud Forest in the new Rose Hills Foundation Conservatory.

Author of Vandas: Their Botany, History, and Culture, Martin Motes is a second generation orchidist who has been growing orchids for nearly 50 years. He is president of Motes Orchids, a major breeder of vandas. He has produced hundreds of new hybrids, for which he has received scores of American Orchid Society awards including three FCC's and three Awards of Quality. He is an accredited A.O.S. judge. He has observed tropical orchids growing in the wild and has spoken at orchid conferences around the world. His articles have appeared in The Fairchild Garden Bulletin, The South Florida Orchidist, The Orchid Digest, The Orchid Review and The American Orchid Society Bulletin.

Martin was an assistant professor of English at Wright State University for several years. He was the director of horticulture therapy at Grant Center Hospital and was a consultant on horticulture therapy at the Hospital Corporation of America.

He has lived most of his life in Miami, Florida, but also spent 6 years in Ohio and 2 years in Yugoslavia as a Fulbright lecturer. He has traveled extensively in the Mediterranean and has observed orchids in Peru, Equador, Panama, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Florida, the Cayman Islands, the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Belize, Mexico, Guatemala, Venezuela, Malaya, Thailand, and Australia. Martin has been interviewed by both print and TV journalists in topics ranging from community issues in southern Florida to horticultural therapy and orchids. he gives more than 20 lectures a year.

To get away from the orchid greenhouse, Martin reads and occasionally,
writes poetry, tends his vegetable garden, and fishes.

Our featured speaker will be Marguerite Webb of J&L Orchids in Easton, Connecticut. The title of her talk is "Good Things Come in Small Packages", and it focuses on the world of miniature orchids. Marguerite, along with her partners Cordelia Head and Lucinda Winn, have built J&L's reputation internationally over the past twenty six years as an exceptional orchid species nursery for unusual, hard to find orchids, with a passion for miniatures. Marguerite has contributed numerous articles to the American Orchid Society magazine Orchids.  Marguerite will be in Santa Barbara at Cal Orchid selling plants the weekend before her talk at the OSSC, but don't worry if you are unable to go to the Santa Barbara Orchid Fair, as Marguerite will be bringing plants for sale to our meeting.

He won the 2004 AOS Dillon-Peterson essay competition with an article on the same topic, which was featured in the May 2005 issue of Orchids magazine, and his presentation will be an expanded version of that article. Christopher is currently the editor of the San Diego County Orchid Society Newsletter and serves on the Board of Directors for the SDCOS, while working part-time as an orchid consultant and nurseryman. He is also finishing student teaching, in hopes of becoming a public school biology teacher at the secondary level. Mr. Croom has been growing orchids for eight years, and has worked on and off for Andy’s Orchids, which is home to one of the largest collections of orchid species in North America, and is also where the nickname of “Dr. Fragrance” was bestowed on him in 2000, by Andy’s brother, Harry. He currently writes the descriptions for Andy’s website, and keeps 200 species orchids of his own, all of which are grown outdoors or in a light garden. His discussion will feature the various scents that orchids produce, insights on how the sense of smell works and the relationships between orchids and their pollinators, and photos of numerous species orchids, in addition to a “scent typology” which Mr. Croom is currently refining. While his expertise is in species, his work as an orchid consultant has helped him to appreciate the parentage of hybrids and the scents that hybrids also have, so his presentation will be useful for all orchid growers who appreciate fragrance. Also, his knowledge about outdoor orchid cultivation will be additionally useful to anyone wanting to reap the benefits of the best horticultural microclimate in the world (ours, that is). So come to our meeting on May 8th to learn about orchids and their fragrances!

Norito Hasegawa is the owner of Paphanatics, Unlimited, located in Santa Ana, California. Paphanatics, Unlimited has been specializing in Paphiopedilum orchids since 1975. Norito has been collecting, growing and studying orchids for over 30 years. His involvement has been at many levels as a hobbyist, author, and commercial grower. He specializes in Paphiopedilums and had Harold Koopowitz as a partner in Paphanatics, Unlimited for over 20 years. Norito is co-author, with Harold Koopowitz, of the book Novelty Slipper Orchids. He is also a former trustee of The American Orchid Society and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Orchid Digest Corporation. Dr. Hasegawa travels internationally to keep orchid fanatics up to date on Paphiopedilum happenings. 

Dan, who has been growing orchids since childhood, is one of the most highly regarded growers in the Southern California area.  He was President of our distinguished OSSC in 2001 & 2002, and continues to contribute to our society by regularly conducting the "orchid culture Q & A" session at OSSC meetings. Dan took over his family's collection and grows about 60% Cattleya, plus many other genera. His recognized displays in area orchid shows have earned him many awards. So, please join us to hear Mr. Dan Dickey's tutorial on the culture of orchids.

Mr. Lauri is currently a graduate student at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Gardens in Claremont. For his dissertation, he is doing a systematic study of the genus Piperia. Piperia is native to Northern America and is particularly diverse here in California. He is also a member of the Southland Orchid Show Committee, and served as President of OSSC during 1995 and 1996.
He will be speaking on orchids that you may not know even existed and could possibly be found in your own back yard or in the hills and mountains surrounding us, and promises to be of great interest.

Loren Batchman, together with his wife Nancy, owns Casa de las Orquideas, an orchid nursery in Solana Beach, California. They have been growing orchids there for over 35 years. Loren is acknowledged as one of the leading hybridizers of Cymbidiums in this country, and has many hundreds of hybrids registered under his name. He is also the editor of the CSA Journal, the official publication of the Cymbidium Society of America. Mr. Batchman is also a certified judge of both the American Orchid Society and the Cymbidium Society of America.

The thrust of their breeding programs is intended to provide new and different materials for outdoor growing in California for both the amateur and serious collectors of orchids. They are widely known for their high color Cymbidiums and are constantly working to develop clear, clean colors suitable for outdoor growing with no special shade requirements.

Over the many years, Loren has done many talks on a wide range of subjects. He has chosen to talk about "Plant Selection for Hybridization" at our meeting, and time permitting, he may do a short demonstration of virus testing kits.

As it is the start of the Cymbidium flowering cycle, his talk will be most interesting and should not be missed.

Carol Siegel is a member of, and one of the driving forces behind, the Greater Las Vegas Orchid Society. She is a much sought after speaker and has presented to many different Orchid Societies and other organizations. She has also written numerous articles on orchids including one on the Native Orchids Of Nevada, her home state. As she limits here speaking engagements, we are very fortunate and privileged to have been able to secure her services for our October meeting.
Carol's lecture is on "The Sex Life of Orchids", and it will focus on the fascinating world of orchid pollination and orchid pollinators. She'll share the incredible story of how orchids will stop at nothing to get pollinated. They will lie. They will cheat. They will promise and not deliver. If they do deliver, they will give as little as possible.

In an amusing and thoughtful way she'll show the ways in which orchids use color, pattern, movement, fragrance, traps, sexual mimicry, and outright lies to lure pollinators.

Her photographs are stunning and her presentation humorous and entertaining. It is truly a meeting not to be missed.

Fred Clarke has been growing orchids for 42 years and has been hybridizing for 38 of those years. With over 34 years as a professional grower and manager in the horticultural industry, Fred applies these skills at his orchid nursery, Sunset Valley Orchids, located in San Diego, California.

He is a passionate orchid grower whose curiosity in orchids is broad and varied. Although developing Cattleya hybrids has been his sustaining interest, he is also actively creating new Paphiopedilum and Aussie Dendrobium hybrids plus some others to be named if they work out!

His pioneering work in Catasetum intergeneric hybrids led to the development of several notable hybrids, most recently the grex, Fredclarkeara After Dark, which produced “the blackest flower ever witnessed”. This grex has received over 100 awards worldwide with nine FCC’s and thirty AM’s from the AOS judges!

Fred is an Accredited Judge in the Pacific South Judging Region of the American Orchid Society. His plants have received hundreds of quality awards from the American Orchid Society.

Royale Orchids started as a cut flower Cymbidium grower some 40 years ago by the founders, Roy and Alice Hipkins, hence the name ‘Royale’.  Today, the nursery covers a 38 acre rural property in an area which is renowned for its clean air and spring water.  It is currently managed and under the guidance of Kevin Hipkins.  Their main interests are Cymbidiums and Odontoglossums, but, being a diverse nursery, they also dabble in Paphs, Dendrobiums, Masdevallias, and many other genera.

They participate in orchid shows and events throughout the world, representing Australia in the USA, Colombia and Ecuador at international events.  In 2004, they won Best Foreign Exhibit at the prestigious Santa Barbara International Orchid Show for the second successive year, as well as supplying the Reserve Champion Cymbidium at that show.  He will again be in Santa Barbara for the Santa Barbara International Orchid Fair (July 8-10), and I am sure he would welcome meeting any of our members there.

 Royale Orchids will be supplying the raffle table for this meeting.

For this meeting, we are truly privileged to have one of the icons of the orchid industry of California. Further, during this 65th year of celebration as the oldest Orchid Society in Southern California, our speaker will be able to relate events of our society's early years, as he was one of its very early members, joining shortly after the end of World War Two.

Mr. Hetherington began his career in 1936 as an orchid grower for the Bracey brothers at their world renowned firm of Armacost and Royston. Ernest had able tutors who were of the old school and demanded extremely high standards. Cattleyas were the firm’s specialty, and Ernest became very active in the breeding program carried out at Armacost and Royston. This early training and interest was the foundation for all of his future successes achieved during an illustrious career.

During the Second World War, he served with distinction in the Air Force Intelligence Division and was stationed in the Southwestern Pacific. After the war he returned to his duties at Armacost and Royston.

Ernest points out that at that time there were no good cymbidiums or white phalaenopsis, no miniature cymbidiums, and only a few good cattleya hybrids. He played a pivotal role in bringing about change.

In 1947, a new orchid company in the San Gabriel Valley, Stewart Orchids, recruited Ernest to manage and expand their operations, which at that time comprised three employees. The breeding programs mainly focused on two genera: cattleyas and cymbidiums. Ernest was responsible for breeding the first American orchid hybrid registered after WWII that was released in quantity – Cymbidium California (Alexander 'Westonbirt' x Blue Smoke). During the 1950’s, Stewart Orchids expanded their breeding programs under Ernest's watchful eye. Great strides were made in breeding, resulting in many of the best known hybrids that were developed during that exciting period in history.

Ernest established a propagation laboratory at Stewart's, enabling the dissemination of large quantities of high quality orchid seedlings at more affordable prices. Under his astute eye, Stewart Orchids became the leading commercial orchid nursery in the country, employing about 100 people.

Ernest was also integrally involved with the larger orchid community and was an active member of our very own Orchid Society of Southern California. He served as President of this society in 1955. As a member, in 1949, he established a point scoring system for this society to evaluate excellence in orchid flowers; this system was later combined with the American Orchid Society’s judging system. Ernest has served as chair of the Fifth World Orchid Congress, as well as President of the Cymbidium Society of America, and too many other positions to mention here. He is currently involved with the County Arboretum, the AOS awards committee, and chairs the Orchid Digest’s publication committee. He is also very involved at the Huntington Botanical Gardens in many capacities, but his real obsession is maintaining and expanding the orchid reference materials maintained there.

He has a great love and enthusiasm to document and record orchid history and pass it on to all orchid lovers and enthusiasts; thus the choice of the topic to be presented.

Thanks to The Orchid Digest Corporation for certain extracts contained herein which have been taken from their 2004 year end publication dealing with cattleyas. This special edition was dedicated to Ernest for all he has achieved during the course of his career in the Orchid World.

Mr. Bentow holds a B.S. degree in Biology from UCLA, having graduated in 1976.  He has been growing orchids since 1994, having started his collection with a few hybrids purchased in Hawaii. He soon thereafter changed his interest to species and now concentrates mainly on species.

The orchid plant family is the largest of all flowering plants which is most evident in the many thousands of known species.  His main interest in species is because of their interesting diversity and adaptation features, rather than their large inflorescence and bright coloration.

Mark has made several trips to Central and South America in search of orchids.  These trips include visits to Costa Rico, Belize, Mexico, Peru, and Ecuador. He is currently planning possible trips to Brazil, Venezuela or Nicaragua.  He has legally collected plants in Belize and Mexico and has taken many photos of the plants growing in their natural habitat in the countries he has visited.

Our speaker believes that studying orchids in their natural habitat and conditions provides the most information on how to cultivate them successfully in captivity.  Through his presentation he hopes to pass on to all of us some of this valuable knowledge.

Topic:  "Alien Invaders!  Dealing With Orchid Pests and Problems". 

Mr. DeLano has worked for Fairplex (in Pomona) since 1991 as their Horticulturist. He supervises the year-round landscape activities (maintenance, planning, design, and installation) and most aspects of landscaping and garden design for the Los Angeles County Fair, with the exception of the Floral Buildings interior displays.

Previously, Don worked for Fairplex with various managers to put on the Fair time public display located in Flower and Garden Show building and hillside area: from 1974-1983 under the instruction of Bob Lamp; 1984-1991 in conjunction with James Wilkerson.  

As a graduate of California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, he has a Bachelors of Science Degree in Ornamental Horticulture (1976) and extensive post-graduate studies in Genetics, Plant morphology, Plant Pathology, and Plant Bio-Diversity.  He held the position of Lecturer at Cal Poly Pomona in the Ornamental Horticulture Department from 1975-1984, continuing with the department as their Facilities and Greenhouse Structure Advisor, Research and Nursery Technician, 1984-1991.  Additionally, he acted as Cal Poly Pomona’s liaison with Raymond Burr for his donations to the university’s Horticulture program 1983-1991, and helped facilitate Raymond Burr’s move from the hills of North Hollywood to Geyserville along with the relocation of his orchid nursery at that time to Petaluma, California.  Most of the Nursery is currently located on the Raymond Burr Winery property in Dry Creek Canyon.

Over the years, Mr. DeLano has worked with many plant societies in Southern California, holding offices in numerous individual branches including the Begonia Society, Fuchsia Society, Gesneriad Society, Fern Society, and the African Violet Society.

Beyond horticulture, Don was involved with the Pomona YMCA as chief of the local Indian Guide/Indian Princess program for 2 years, then served as vice-president and finally president of the Claremont High School Marching Band and Drill Team Boosters covering a 3-year span.

Currently, he actively promotes most aspects of gardening, plant care, and plant identification via various programs presented throughout Southern California to many Gardening Clubs and Plant Societies, as well as local civic groups.  Programs are also presented covering the history and uses, past and current, of Fairplex, and how plants are used to enhance one’s enjoyment of the Fairplex Facility.  He presents an average of 3 programs per month. 

We are pleased to welcome Dr. Ron Harlan, an expert who knows through his passion for tropical fish and orchids that water straight from the tap is not beneficial  Some of the best growers use reverse osmosis  ("RO")  to provide water that is closer to nature and thereby ease the process of growing orchids.

Dr. Harlan is a biology professor and chairperson of the Biology Division at Glendale Community College.  He is also the owner of Back to Nature Filtration. Founded in 1985, Back to Nature Filtration was the first manufacturer to produce hobbyist RO units for the tropical fish hobby and, since 1990, has served the orchid hobby.  With the combination of biology, specimen collecting, and reverse osmosis, Ron is in a unique position to give his talk. Dr. Harlan will cover the different kinds of RO equipment, watering, misting, humidifying, and orchid health.  He will then open up the talk to your questions and will also have some of his products for display and sale. 

You do not want to miss this month's meeting, when the Orchid Society Of Southern California welcomes a “speaktackular” special guest, David Banks of Australia. Mr. Banks, a leading expert on native Australian orchids (especially Dendrobiums), a world renowned author and traveler, and editor of the Australian Orchid Review, will be lecturing on "The World of Bulbophyllum Species". David's friendly personality and in-depth knowledge makes him a favorite among orchidists everywhere. G’day and see you "down under" in Burbank!

This topic will be presented by Allison Mia Starcher, author of Good Bugs for Your Garden.  Allison is an illustrator, writer and avid gardener, and her illustrations can regularly be found in Fine Gardening Magazine.  She has also appeared on a variety of television programs discussing gardening methods that encourage "good bugs" to make your garden their home.  Ms. Starcher will bring copies of her book for purchase that she will gladly sign.  I hope everyone will be able to attend this intriguing presentation!

Topic: "Semi-Hydroponics™ and You"

A few months ago I wandered upon an orchid culture seminar that asked: Are you tired of rotten roots and rotten media?  OK…  Tired of repotting your collection every year?  YOU BET!  Are you sick of trying to remember a dozen different watering and feeding schedules?  ARE YOU KIDDING?  Would you like to take a vacation without putting your neighbor through a six week course on care and watering? WHAT VACATION???  Well, be sure to join us for this month's SPEAKTACULAR SPEAKER, Jim Rowley, to find out how when he talks about Semi-Hydroponics™ and You!

Mr. Rowley, a native of Southern California, has grown orchids for the past eight years.  Jim was tired of low quality bark, rotten roots and yearly repotting.  He happened upon an Internet discussion of Semi-Hydroponics (S/H) from the person who perfected the method - Ray Barkalow.  Jim moved his collection out of bark and into S/H over three years ago.  The ease of culture and overall health of his plants moved him to start lecturing on S/H culture and starting his own home-based business selling the necessary supplies with free phone and/or e-mail support.

No slide show here!  Jim will bring plants from his collection to illustrate how the culture works and how you can get started.  For those eager to convert, Jim will have available for purchase all the necessary supplies and MSU based fertilizer for pure water.

Looking forward to seeing everyone there!

Mr. Croezen is a retired high school teacher from Ontario, Canada who has been propagating orchids from seed since 1986, both in his lab at home and at the University of Guelph's Botany Department.  He grows several orchid genera, exclusively under HID lamps, and has a special interest in the Native North American Cypripediums, particularly Cyp. reginae.  Peter's second hobby is orchid mycorrhizas, isolating symbiotic fungi from orchid roots, obtaining pure cultures and using the symbionts in the propagation of endangered orchid species.  His interest in orchid conservation has taken him three times to Peru, where he has taught orchid cultivation courses at UNALM, Lima's Agrarian University and Lima's Pestalozzi College.  He has been instrumental in setting up two orchid propagation laboratories in Lima, for orchid conservation, and trained the lab technicians for them.  Peter has visited orchid habitats on the eastern slopes of the Andes in Central Eastern Peru and in the Amazonas jungles of Northern Central Peru.

This month's "speaktacular" topic will illustrate some of the beautiful orchids that may be found in the South African bush, as well as some of the beasts.  Hendrik van der Hoven, who is travelling all the way from South Africa, has been involved with orchids in some form since about 1960.  Hendrik's main interest is in growing species as well as photographing orchids in the wild.  He is the President of the Cape Orchid Society and an orchid judge with the South African Orchid Council.  Mr. van der Hoven will be bringing some exclusive African Orchids for purchase.  "Daaronder Totsiens!" (translation: Farewell from the  bush!)
 

Harold will illuminate us on Phragmipediums in situ, including the infamous Phragmipedium kovachii. He is one of the fortunate few to have seen and studied Phragmipediums in their natural habitat.

Harold grew up in South Africa where he attended university majoring in both Botany and Zoology.  He completed a doctorate at UCLA in 1968.  A professor at UCI since graduating, he was also the Director of the UCI Arboretum for twenty years.  He is now Professor of Biology in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, where he does research in plant ecology of Narcissus in Spain.  Harold has looked at Phragmipedium populations in both Ecuador and Peru, and has also worked in Zimbabwe for several years on Aerangis verdickii.  He is author of several books and a large number of research papers.  He is a member of the Species Survival Committee for Orchids, as well as the Species Survival Committee for Bulbs for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.  In addition, he is a member of the International Orchid Commission.  He is well known for his work on slipper orchids, both species and hybrids.

Harold is the Editor in Chief of the Orchid Digest.  His most recent books include "Orchids and their Conservation" and "Clivias."  He is currently working on a new book on "Tropical Slipper Orchids" for Timber Press.

Doug's presentation will give an overview of "orchid judging" and what is meant when we say an orchid is "award quality", how and by whom these standards were devised, and how they are applicable to today's orchid world. Doug is a well recognized orchid grower and speaker. Some of the many hats that Mr. Conkin wears are: Probationary Judge in the American Orchid Society judging system, Pacific South Region, past and current President of the East-West Orchid Show, creator of "Anyone Can Grow Orchids...Even You" video tapes and OSSC auctioneer. Doug has the ability to present the complex world of orchids in a manner suitable for the advanced enthusiast and yet easily understood by the novice. So, please join us to learn what makes an award winning orchid.

Marilyn Levy was born in Detroit, Michigan and began growing flowers with her father when she was very young. She began growing orchids 30 years ago. At first she began growing on a windowsill, then an indoor light system and finally she advanced to building a greenhouse. After a 34 year career as a schoolteacher in the Detroit area, Marilyn and her husband retired to the San Diego area in 1987 and there built a greenhouse, two lath houses and a large indoor ‘grow light’ system. She is an accredited judge of both the American Orchid Society and the Cymbidium Society of America.
She has had tremendous experience and success growing a large number of plants of many different genera. She will share her secrets with us so that we too can successfully grow warmth tolerant plants with the cool growing plants and……get them to BLOOM! You certainly will not want to miss this talk!

After the army Bill went to work for the Atomic Energy Commission until the reactors were shut down. He then worked for many of the top corporations in the defense industry. Bill later moved to Marquadt to work on rocket engines. He began successfully selling Cattleya and Cymbidium Hybrids through the AOS. Bill made many collecting trips to Mexico, Panama and Peru with the advice about particulars from his good friends George Kennedy and Dr. Fowlie. He has been published often in the Orchid Digest. Bergstrom Orchids Nursery is in Hawaii where Bill lives with his wife Dorris and cat Sibelius. You may look at his plants and contact him at his website: http://bergstromorchids.com.  Bill's prime enjoyment today, along with being an AOS judge, is growing the weird and wonderful.

Larry Moskovitz has been growing orchids since he was 12 years old. Years later, in the mid 1980's, he started Orchidanica, an orchid company devoted to propagating rare and unusual orchids. He earned a degree in photography from Southern Illinois University, and has taken many courses in botany and landscape gardening. In addition, he has taught courses in orchid growing.

Larry served as President of the San Francisco Orchid Society and has been speaking to orchid groups throughout the U.S. and Canada since 1989. He is listed in the AOS directory of speakers for orchid societies. He is now located in Fallbrook, CA near San Diego, CA, and will be providing the opportunity table for this meeting.

George Hatfield, who has over 15 years of experience in raising award quality Cymbidium orchids, is the owner of Hatfield Orchids, which specializes in Pendulous & Upright Cymbidium seedlings. George is active in the Cymbidium Society America and the American Orchid Society, as well as several Southern California regional orchid organizations. He is an orchid judge for both the CSA and AOS, and is currently the chairman of the Santa Barbara judging region for the CSA. George is also past-president of the CSA and was the Chairman of the CSA Cymbidium Congress from 1998-2001, and served as president of the Santa Barbara International Orchid Show in 2002 & 2003. Articles written by him have been published in the American Orchid Society Awards Quarterly and the Cymbidium Society of America Journal. Mr. Hatfield will share his experience and knowledge with a dynamic slide show and lecture and also provide a great raffle table.

Mr. Gordon is a retired US Air Force officer living and growing Phalaenopsis orchids in Southern California for the past 30 years. He lectures nationally and internationally on Phalaenopsis culture, and is the author of beginner, journeyman and advanced Phalaenopsis culture books that are the standard texts of the orchid world. Mr. Gordon considers himself a "Phalaenopsis evangelist". He is also the author of a basic book on general orchid seedling care which introduces the reader, at the semi-scientific level, to the world of plant nutrition and water quality, essentials to long term successful care. Bob will have books available for purchase and will sign on request.

Andrea Niessen was born in Cali, Colombia to a German family. She received her high school degree from the Cali German School and was an exchange student in California where she graduated again at the St. Lucy’s Priory High School. She went on to earn a Biology degree with an emphasis in Botany at the Universidad del Valle, Cali. She then worked as a research associate at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture in the Pastures Entomology Department and later in the Virology Unit. Andrea then earned a Masters of Science from the University of Florida, majoring in Electron Microscopy and minoring in Virology. She has been a dedicated hobby orchid grower all of her life. Andrea has served as a board member and president (1992 to 1997) of the local orchid society, Asociación Vallecaucana de Orquideologia. Andrea has lectured about Colombian Orchids in Colombia, USA, Canada, Belgium and Germany. With her husband, Juan Carlos Uribe, she has maintained her own orchid nursery since 1989, Orquideas del Valle Ltda., which has grown to include two retail shops, one in downtown Cali and the other in the town of Ginebra, and also two nurseries, one for warm growing and the other for cool growing plants. She can be contacted through her web site, www.orquivalle.com. Ms. Niessen will be providing an exotic raffle table of Columbian orchids.

Helen Congleton is a hobbyist who started growing orchids in a small patio twenty-seven years ago on a dare from her husband to "grow something more challenging than African violets." Four years later she and her husband moved to a new home, so that they could build a greenhouse and grow more orchids. Their collection rapidly filled the new greenhouse and expanded into an outdoor growing area. Helen is know internationally for her fine collection of Paphiopedilums (Lady Slipper Orchids). She enjoys making a few crosses and growing seedlings, and will be supplying the plants for our raffle table. She is a member of the Orchid Digest Corporation and the AOS, and is a CSA orchid judge.

Dr. Arditti is Professor of Biology Emeritus   -   Developmental and Cell Biology University of California at Irvine.   He  has written, edited ,  and taught comprehensive and detailed references for professionals, growers, plant scientists and hobbyists.  Dr. Arditti, who received his Ph.D. from the University of Southern California, spent his career doing research on orchids at the University of California at Irvine.  Joseph Arditti has made extensive visits to the Bogor Botanical Gardens in Indonesia, National University of Singapore, and Singapore Botanic Gardens as well as the University of Malaya.

Helmut first encountered orchids as a child during frequent day-hikes in the Bavarian Alps, where he found various species of Cypripedium, Dactylorhiza, Orchis and Ophrys. He began raising orchids under the tutelage of the late Robert Dugger of Solana Beach, CA. He has published numerous papers on orchidology in various journals. including the Orchid Digest, and created a large number of hybrids in several alliances. He is Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at the San Diego campus of the University of California. Currently he is an AOS student judge.

Paul is a legendary, long time member of OSSC since 1952.  Mr. Gripp is most known for his association with the Santa Barbara Orchid Estate where he began with a managerial position in 1957.  He later purchased the Estate in 1967, retired in 1986, and currently his children share ownership.  Paul has remained active within the Estate as a Senior Citizen Volunteer.  Mr. Gripp and the Santa Barbara Orchid Estate are one of the world's foremost collectors and propagators of orchid species and hybrids, specializing in outdoor temperature-tolerant varieties.  Paul has held many distinguished offices: President, Cymbidium Society of America; President, Santa Barbara Orchid Show (four times); Member, Research Committee of the American Orchid Society (fifteen years).  Paul's favorite saying: " When you can say you like all orchids equally, you can call your self an orchid man." Alas, Paul's favorite orchid: "All orchids, equally."