We are thrilled to announce that Winn Winmaw has agreed to return for an encore performance at our July meeting. We all enjoyed his PowerPoint presentation last time, and we are very lucky to get him to return so soon. His specialty is Vandaceous Orchids, as you may recall, but this time he will be surprising us with a new program he has created.
Winn was born in the Shan State of eastern Burma, where Cymbidium lowianum, Vanda coerulea and Paphiliopedilum charlesworthii are found abundantly in the wild. The first orchid that Winn collected from the forest floor was a dendrobium species when he was 7 years old. With this introduction to orchids, he began taking care of his family’s
extensive orchid collection. As an undergraduate, Winn studied physics at the University of Rangoon, where he
was also an active member of the Department of Botany’s Orchid Society. In 1988, Winn moved to the United
States and settled in Orange County.

Today he has a large orchid collection with many vandaceous species and varieties that he grows in a shade house and a greenhouse. Since 1995, he has been a member of the Newport Harbor Orchid Society. In recent years, he has made several trips back to Burma to explore and study orchids growing in nature.