Eyes on Orchids. President s Message

Transcription

1 Eyes on Orchids Newsletter of the Baton Rouge Orchid Society P.O. Box Baton Rouge, LA Volume 57 - Issue info@batonrougeorchidsociety.org March Meeting - Wednesday, March 18-7 p.m. Burden Center Essen Lane Program: Water and Fertilizer By Bob Danka, James Jeansonne, & Beth Blackstock President s Message March is here and hopefully spring is also! I do not know about you, but I am tried to having the A/C on in the house and then go out to make sure the heaters are on in the greenhouse because the temperature is going down into the 30 s. I want to apologize for the mix up at Burden for last month s meeting, we now have access to a key so this will not happen again. I have heard a lot of positive comments about last month s speaker and am thinking about trying to grow a Stanhopea once the weather warms up a little. After this month s meeting with a discussion of watering and fertilization to be given by members of our society, our growing of plants will certainly improve, I know mine will. This comes at a perfect time as we begin working on plants that we want to enter into our show on July (set up on 7/10). The Program and Publicity Committees are both hard at work promoting our Society and bringing us programs of interest to all, but they can always use more volunteers! This month we will be at the LSU show to be held at the John M Parker Center on March 14 and 15, and we can use people to man the booth from 9-5 both Saturday and Sunday. We will also have a booth at the EBR Master Gardner s Plant sale on Saturday April 11th from 9 until 3 to promote our Society. BROS has great members and I want to thank two of them for volunteering. First, Dr. Terry Rehn has graciously agreed to host the Potting Workshop at his home on Saturday, May 2 nd from 2 until about 6. Clyde Howland has hosted this for many years. He has asked to take a break this year but will still be involved. Terry s home and property will provide a great location and I am sure that we can get him to give us a tour of his property and greenhouse. More details will be provided as we approach May 2 nd. Also, Nancy Morrison has agreed to take on the responsibility of being the Refreshment Chairperson for the remainder of this year. Thanks to both for stepping up for our Society. Our annual show is just around the corner and work is well underway for it. Begin thinking about areas you will be willing to work to help make it a great success. Signup sheets will be out at every meeting. We are having a Board of Directors meeting at my home on Sunday, March 15 th at 6:00PM if anyone would like to come and ask questions or make suggestions. 1

2 Minutes of February Meeting President, Bob Lank opened the February 18th meeting at 7:20 p.m. with 30 members attending. Bob introduced a guest, John Tillman. Bob reminded the membership that the directory is to be printed with only those who have paid their dues by tonight. The president presented members who had birthdays during February and had attended the meeting, with seedling plants, with the hope that the members will bring the seedlings back next year showing new growth. Those presented with plants were Danna Spayde, Kathy Conerly, Charmaine Mocsary, and Debby Shaffett. It was announced that the LSU Spring Garden show will be held March 14 and 15. Randy Johnson and Carolyn Clay are in charge of our information table. Volunteers are needed to help inform the public about orchids and announce our upcoming show. There is a SWROGA show scheduled for March in Tyler, Texas. New Orleans show is May The Acadian Orchid Show is June The BROS Orchid show will be July 10-12th at the Garden Center. The potting workshop will not be held at Clyde s this year, so Bob asked for a volunteer to host this event. Randy introduced our speaker, Laurie Skov, from Santa Fe, Texas. Laurie has grown orchids for over 25 years and stated that his favorite orchid is the Stanhopea. Laurie gave a very informative presentation on the Stanhopea species native to South America. Bob thanked all members who brought refreshments to the meeting and announced that there is a need for a chairman to coordinate the refreshments. John Graham presided over the bloom table. The door prize and raffle plants were given to the winners. The meeting was adjourned at 9:15 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Marie Williams Secretary An AOS Benefit Are you aware that membership in the AOS gets you a 5% discount with the following vendors? Don t forget to mention that you are an AOS member when you are making your purchases with these vendors to get your discount: Exotic Orchids of Maui, Krull-Smith, Orchid Doctor, Orchid Inn, Ltd, Seagrove Orchids, Sunset Valley Orchids, and Woodstream Orchids. BROS Officers, 2015 President Bob Lank pops1548@cox.net Vice-President Valerie Creehan vcreehan@bellsouth.net Secretary Marie Williams damaresq@bellsouth.net Treasurer John Nelson john@laorchid.com Show Chairman, 2014 Lata Johnson ljohnson@sulc.edu Newsletter Editor Danna Spayde orchidnut_2000@yahoo.com Board Members John Graham, thru 2015 Jim Gershey, thru 2016 Randy Johnson, thru 2017 SWROGA Reps: James Jeansonne &Tin-Wein Yu AOS Rep: Tin-Wein Yu Orchid Digest Rep: Frank Zachariah Standing Committee Chairs: Program Co-Chairs Lata Johnson Tin-Wein Yu Membership Valerie Creehan Finance John Nelson Librarian Bob Danka Refreshments Nancy Morrison 2

3 March Program BROS members Bob Danka, James Jeansonne, and Beth Blackstock will present our program for March. They will cover our efforts to determine the quality of our local water, the analyses of some common fertilizer solutions, and the implications of these things for orchid nutrition. This should be a fascinating discussion that will be helpful to all of us in growing better plants. BROS Meeting Dates 2015 Meeting Dates April 15 August 19 May 20 September 16 June 17 October 21 November 18 July - Show - No Meeting December?? - TBA Christmas Party Mark these dates now on your new 2015 calendars so you won t miss any meetings! April Program Our April speaker will be Glen Ladnier from the Gulf Coast Orchid Society. At this time the program topic has not been announced, but Glen is an interesting and knowledgeable grower and it will be a treat to have him with us again. Happy March Birthday to the Following Members: John Nelson 3/2 Janet Gianelloni 3/6 Jim Gershey 3/22 Cmr. Ed Gaskell 3/22 Ashley Matherne I am happy to report that our good friend Ashley Matherne is recovering well from his recent accident. While working in his yard, he fell on concrete and, as a result, lost the sight in one eye. He reports that he is adjusting to this loss and learning to function with just one eye. AOS Webinars The AOS will offer the following Webinar during March: Pests and Diseases Part 2 - Wednesday, March 25, 2015, 8:30 PM EST Ron McHatton, Director of Education of the American Orchid Society, will share information on various kinds of diseases that can affect our orchid collections and how to manage them. No orchid grower is completely immune from the introduction of pests and diseases to their collection. This means that sooner or later we are all going to be faced with having to go to battle on some level with the forces of nature that have decided to infect our plants. Join us for this webinar and learn how to prevent and manage the diseases. The AOS webinar lineup for April: Cattleya lueddemanniana: April14 Greg Allikas (This is a members only webinar.) subject.cymbidium.all.html - source of cymbidium pictures in newsletter. Greenhouse Chat: April 21 Ron McHatton (This webinar is open to everyone.) 3

4 Upcoming Shows 1. LSU Garden Show, March 13-14, Botanical Gardens, Baton Rouge. We will have a table and need volunteers to staff it. Randy and Carolyn are in charge of our table. 2. SWROGA Show, March 27-29, Tyler Rose Garden Center, 420 S. Rose Park Drive, Tyler TX. 3. Redland International Orchid Show, May 15-17, Fruit and Spice Park, Homestead, FL. 4. New Orleans Annual Orchid Show and Sale, May 29-31, Lakeside Mall, Metairie, LA. 5. Acadian Orchid Society Annual Orchid Sale and Show, June at Ira Nelson Horticultural Center, Lafayette, LA. 6. Baton Rouge Orchid Society Annual Show and Sale, July 10-12, BREC Center, 7950 Independence Blvd., Baton Rouge, LA. AOS RULE FOR ORCHIDS IN EXHIBITS Some exhibitors don t realize when placing an orchid in an exhibit that the orchid is being entered for judging. If you do not want your orchid judged, all you have to do is note Not for AOS Judging on the entry form. In addition, an AOS award is considered Probationary until all items in the process are completed. If an exhibitor decides not to pay the award fee, the award is nullified and the exhibitor can no longer enter a plant into any AOS sponsored show. AOS AWARD CERTIFICATES AOS orchid flower quality awards are given on a scale of 100 points. An HCC/AOS, (Highly Commended Certificate) is given for good quality and ranges from points. An AM/AOS (Award of Merit) is given for very high quality and ranges from points. A FCC/AOS (First Class Certificate) is a highly prized award and begins from points. 4

5 Since March is the month for the wearin of the green, I ve used all green orchid pictures as fillers - all cymbidiums Green Growers Schedule April 8 Potting Workshop May 2 No other meeting June 10 August 12 September 9 October 14 7 p.m. at the home of Gene & Thelma Berg 425 Nelson Dr. Come for good fellowship, refreshments, and learning - and door prizes. 5

6 Example of an AOS Certificate awarded To Lata Johnson Internet Orchid Species Photo Encyclopedia If you re a fan of the Internet Orchid Species Photo Encyclopedia (IOSPE) - and if you re not you should check it out - you will be interested in the following information that Jay Pfahl, list owner, posted in February. For the last 60 days I have been reworking Dendrobium within my pages of Many of you have asked and I can now present them grouped together in sections as I have done for Bulbophyllum and Epidendrum etc. This helps with identification as similar plants are all presented together in smaller groups. I hope that you all enjoy the presentation. I would appreciate any feedback that you have sent to this forum or to me directly at jfal@sprynet.com. BTW I am trying to learn how to do thumbnails so that all the photos appear on the page as well for quick easy reference! So you do not need to have give feedback on this omission. Some Tidbits of Orchid Trivia Gleaned from recent posts of Orchids Digest online (orchids@freelists.org) on orchid longevity. The consensus seems to be that sympodial orchids can live at least a century - a few cymbidiums have been handed down through families for more than that. A.J. Hicks, Arizona ****************** In the glasshouses of the Senate in France, oldest orchid collection in France, there are some paphiopedilum hybrids divisions of more than 140 years. ****************** My oldest vanilla planifolia is 35+ old and kicking. From lepetitmartien <le.petit.martien@free.fr> 6

7 Sue Bottom, Vice President of Programs of the St. Augustine Orchid Society, gave permission to us to copy her Orchid Questions and Answers page of that Society s March newsletter. 7

8 February Photo Gallery 8

9 Bloom Tables 9