August 2012 - Virginia Orchid Society

August 2012
Virginia Orchid Society.
The Orchid Keiki
Special points of interest:
Blc. Golden Tang
>
September 2012 Meeting and Picnic
>
Growing Orchids in Horse Manure
>
NCOS and Merritt Huntington Events
>
Web “Gems” and other Orchid Information
September Meeting
Volume 1, Issue 1
The first meeting of the
2012/2013 year will be
held on Sunday, September
16th at Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens at 2:00pm in
the Robin’s Room.
In lieu of a picnic this year,
we request members contribute refreshments to kick
of the new meeting year.
Fruit, finger foods and, of
course, something for the
sweet tooth, would be enjoyed by all!!
And, don’t forget, the most
important reason for our
gathering …..Please be sure
to bring your blooming orchids and orchid culture to
share with the rest of the
membership.
Let’s experience orchid
fellowship between all
growers, experienced and
amateur, windowsill or
greenshouse, large or small
collection!!
Jeff Morris, who is a member of the Charlottesville
Orchid Society, will be join
us in September. He will be
discussing growing specimen orchids. For those of
you who have had the opportunity to see some of
Jeff’s displays, you know he
grows some spectacular
orchid specimens.
Maxillaria luteo-alba
Ren. Brookie Chandler AM/AOS
Maxillaria luteoluteo-alba is about to bloom in
Garland’s orchid pergola. Like most Maxillarias, this one likes shady conditions. He
fertilizes at every watering and the plant is
potted in sphagnum moss in a wire basket.
He grows it outside during the summer under
65% shade cloth and other plants. It came
from Carolina Orchids originally and when it
blooms, it has the strong aroma of
honey! Looks like at least 10 spikes emerging! SUPER Easy to grow!
Tentative Speaker
Schedule
September: Jeff Morris will
speak on Growing Specimen Plants.
October: Thomas Mirenda
will speak on the Orchids of
Western Australia
November: Bill Goldner will
speak on Miniature
Phragmipediums
December: Eric Sauer will
speak on Maxillarias
January: Mike Owen will
speak on the Fakahatchee
Swamp.
The Orchid Keiki
Volume 1, Issue 1
Page 2
Show Committee - NCOS and Merritt Huntington
Happy Summer All!
As we move into August, it's
time to start looking towards
our activities for our 20122013 year. As Show Committee Chair, Valerie and the
Board of Directors have
tasked me with moving forward with plans to participate in some of our sister
society's shows this year. So
I am trying to get ahead of
schedule and put
some plans together
now. My first need is for vol-
unteers for the Show Committee. This committee
would be responsible for
finding plants and helpers
with each show we visit. It
does not mean volunteering
to do everything, just volunteering to make some phone
calls, and gather some
plants from fellow members
for our display. If you are
interested, please contact
me at [email protected].
Show Calendar:
NCOS show (National Capitol
Orchid Society) - Oct 6 - 8,
2012 - at US National Arboretum
Volunteers and plants
needed for set-up on Thursday, Oct 4 (9am until finished)
Volunteer needed for takedown on Monday, Oct 8 at
3pm
A larger vehicle can be
rented by VOS if needed, or
reimbursement for gas if
your vehicle is suitable.
Cavalier Oceanfront Hotel, Virginia Beach
Schedule for set
up and take-down
TBD
PLEASE
NOTE: Show experience is not
required to help. We have
C. Mark Jones ‘SVO’ HCC/AOS
X
experienced display people
Blc. Suncoast Sunspot ‘Nice’ 2
willing (and wanting) to
pass along the fun and art
(another of Sunset Valley’s new
of setting up show discrosses)
plays. It does not require
fancy building, or an art
major; just a desire to learn
how to place plants pleasingly in a display to draw attention to the beauty of each
orchid. Please consider this
wonderful way to get involved, and see beautiful
plants brought by other growers in other societies.
Please do not hesitate
to contact me if you have any
questions. I look forward to
hearing from you soon!
Betty Jo Fulghum
Merritt Huntington Symposium - Oct 26, 27, 2012 - at
Neofinitia falcata
Neofinitia falcata
One of my all-time favorite
plants! This is Neofinitia falcata, a compact orchid species from Japan where it is
commonly known as the
Japanese Wind Orchid. I
have seen photos of this
species in bloom and covered with snow!
It can thrive in an extremely
wide temperature range. This
plant loves Virginia Summers
outdoors in a basket! I generally get this first flush of
blooms (6 spikes this time)
and smaller blooming
throughout the Summer and
Fall. The scent is intoxicating
and a cross between honey-
suckle and vanilla! It is very
easy to grow
and there are
MANY varieties
available; some
extremely
pricey!
Garland Hanson
Page 3
Cattleya Hybrid—Sunset Valley Orchids
Blc. Waianae Leopard
x
Slc. Jungle Gem
The is photo of a Cattleya
hybrid I bought from Fred
Clarke at Sunset Valley Orchids some time ago. This is
its first bloom in a 2 1/2" pot.
The second bud is about to
bloom. This flower has tremendous substance and a
nice fragrance. Like all my
other Cattleyas, I'm growing
this one outside under shadecloth on my patio. I'm feeding
with a 14-14-14 Osmocote
time-release fertilizer and
weak solutions of Dynagrow
at every watering (sometime
3 times per week).
Here is the description of this
cross from the breeder..."This
will be a mid-size plant with
yellow flowers and red spots.
Waianae Leopard has large
clusters of bronze flowers
with spots and a red lip. Jungle Gem (Lc. Jungle Elf x Slc.
Precious Stones) is a nice
bright yellow flower with red
spots and red lip. Here we are
expecting flowers in shades
of yellow with all having red
spots and red lips." (Sounds
like Fred got what he was
shooting for!)
Fred also told me that on subsequent blooming on a mature plant, it should have up
to 10 flowers per spike and
bloom up to 3 times per
year!!! It already has two new
leads and should bloom again
later this season!
Garland Hanson
Be sure to check
Web “Gems” - Marble Branch Farms
In my search for a unique
compact Cattleya Alliance
cross, I was surfing the web
and stumbled upon an orchid
nursery that most folks are
probably not aware of or they
were new to me. Their name
is Marble Branch Farms,
located in South Carolina,
about 45 min west of
Greenville, in the foothills of
the Blue Ridge Mountains
and their location offers par-
ticularly good growing conditions.
If you are looking for something different such as a
compact cattleya, or oddball
type cross, then this might
be the place for you. Their
website is easy to navigate
and gives you great information on their different offerings.
out the “Virginia
While they do not offer walk
in business, you can make
an appointment to visit them
when or if you are in the
area. Next time you are surfing the web, take a moment
to visit their site and see if
there is something in their
catalog you just can't do
without.
Delicate, delightful the morning air,
Petals of magenta and palest
purple
With fragrance elusive and
rare,
The perfect flowers, large,
Facebook
page with
interesting Orchid
articles and
culture
www.marblebranchfarms.com
information from
David Sombach
around the World!!
Ode to an Orchid
Five flowers in the morning,
Four and unfolding bud tonight
My window shelf adorning.
Scented, sweet and light.
Orchids”
ethereal.
Green leaves broad and
soaring,
Sunlight on blooms of
orchid color,
Five flowers this morning
Bringing a message of
beauty and wonder.
Frances Tew
Growing Orchids is Fun and Addicting!!!.
.
Virginia Orchid Society
Valerie Thacker
President
Betty Jo Fulghum
President Elect
In keeping with the tradition and by-laws of the
David Sombach
Vice President
Virginia Orchid Society, members of the society
Dick Burch
Treasurer
are not to bring plants for sale to meetings
wherein a guest speaker is selling his own plants.
Duane Polkis
Corresponding Secretary
A member may request a plant to be displayed on
Lauren Stewart
Recording Secretary
the Silent Auction table with a requested minimum bid . There will be a 70%/30% split; 30% of
which will be donated to the Virginia Orchid
Society to be given to the Treasurer at the time of
Contributions:
sale.
Garland Hanson, David Sombach,
Betty Jo Fulghum and Allen Black,
Jeff van den Bosch and Frances Tew
Horsemanure, the Perfect Orchid Growing Medium
Boschnet.net/horsemanure/index.htm
There is an excellent website which discusses the
advantages of growing
orchids in horse manure
by Nic van den Borch’s
website. Nic van de Borch
passed away at the age of
95 but his website is maintained in his memory.
He was an orchid grower
in Tasmania, Australia,
growing mainly cymbidiums in a glass house.
His ‘hobbyhorse’ was promoting horse manure as
the ideal growing medium
for orchids.
He began growing orchids
at retirement after his
working lifetime was spent
in horticulture as a market
gardener.
He had excellent result
with his orchids growing in
the simple formula of
fresh horse manure with
sphagnum moss on top.
The site contains 10 reasons to use horse manure
as a orchid growing medium. There are simple
potting instructions along
with “how to” photos.
Included as well are results photos not only of
cymbidiums full of blooms
but cattleya and paphs,
too. There is a photo of a
cymbidium out of it’s pot
with excellent roots and
discussion of how to prevent root rot.
Be sure to check out the Q
& A page which answers
questions like: Isn’t the
smell a problem, Does
watering every day wash
away the nutrients and
Don’t you have to compost
the manure before using
it?