Mar 13 2017

March 1, 2017: Tim Culbertson on Maudiae Type Paphs

Left: Paph. Maudiae ‘Bankhouse’ AM-AOS

March 1 st: Paphiopedilum Maudiae Hybrids Speaker: Tim Culbertson

Although I teach middle school kids for a living, one of my passions has always been plants. I 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 selected clones of historic importance, of which my collection numbers nearly 3000. While I love finding old, rare stepping stones in Paph. breeding, I also do a little hybridizing of my own, and growing up my own babies is a blast. I am the youngest accredited judge with the American Orchid Society, and have served in various capacities with various orchid societies in California and on the East Coast. I love meeting other people who like orchids too, and doing so often finds me traveling to shows, vendors, and peoples’ greenhouses to see the latest and greatest in new hybrids and to get the best orchid gossip. I like to be involved in plants as much as possible: in addition to Longwood, I’ve 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, I really like plants. For your meeting, I’ll be sharing a presentation on Maudiae-type Paphs. These plants are easy to grow and flower, are vigorous, and have low demands on light and fertilizer, and as such are wonderful plants! Tremendous advancements in breeding Maudiae-type Paphs have been made recently, and I will share some of these with you, as well as help identify some of the important species in the backgrounds of historically important and modern Maudiae-type Paphs. By the end of this presentation, you will have a new appreciation of what goes into breeding trends for these types of plants, as well as an appreciation of their beautiful flowers and ease-of-growth. I will be providing a plant table of the newest, modern, cutting-edge Maudiae-Paph-style breeding, with both blooming and un-bloomed plants.

Photograph Right: Maudiae ‘Gen X’ AM-AOS

Sep 26 2016

October 5th: Displaying Beautiful Blooms

Arthur Pinkers at the 2014 SDCOS Show

We enjoy our orchids when they look their best. We love beautiful arrangements when we go to shows and see the exhibits. With a desire to increase our personal enjoyment and with show season upon us, we will be looking at techniques to have our plants present their beautiful blooms to their best. Tips on staking, plant grooming and small table top displays will also be covered. Join us on Wednesday, October 5^th for this interesting presentation by our President, Arthur Pinkers.

Arthur 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 and has served in most executive positions on the Board of the Northwest Orchid Society, including serving as President from 1988 to 1989, and as a center photographer for the Pacific Northwest Judging region. Currently, Arthur serves as the Center Judging Chair at the 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-seven years, and has two adult children. 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.

Recent American Orchid Society Awards

The American Orchid Society recently granted awards at the Pacific South Monthly Judging in San Marino which was held at the Huntington Botanical Gardens. This photo was taken by Arthur Pinkers.

Dendrobium amabile ‘Huntington’s Cotton Candy’

Award of Merit – 80 pts.

Parents: Species

108 flowers and 75 buds on 5 inflorescences

Natural Spread: 5.0 cm

Vertical Spread: 4.0 cm

Exhibited by Huntington Botanical Gardens

Jun 8 2016

“Christmas In July” coming to the SFVOS next month

The San Fernando Valley Orchid Society is pleased to announce our second annual “Christmas in July” Party which will be held on Wednesday, July 6, 2016 at 7:00 pm. We will be meeting at the Sepulveda Garden Center, located at 16633 Magnolia Blvd, Encino, CA 91436.

Guests are always welcome!
July is the beginning of the new fiscal year for our Society and this year we have a lot to celebrate. We are thrilled to announce that at the July meeting we will be installing our new President, who is none other than the eminently qualified Orchid Expert and AOS Certified Judge, Arthur Pinkers. We will also be installing a new Treasurer and several additional members who have graciously volunteered to serve on our Board of Directors.

To kick the new year off properly we will be having a special event at the next meeting. It’s our second annual “Christmas in July” Potluck Dinner. Everyone had so much fun last year at this event, and we will hopefully make this an annual tradition. We will be sharing a Potluck dinner. We have some great cooks in our membership, so be prepared to have a great dinner and delicious desserts. Each member is asked to bring a dish to serve eight persons.

We will be calling all members to take a poll of what delicious homemade creations they are planning to bring. You should receive a call soon but if, perchance, you do not receive a call, please call Millie at (805) 532-0080 to let her know what you are bringing. Please remember to bring serving utensils too. This is a low-waste event, so please bring a reusable place setting if you are able.

After dinner we plan to play a few Bingo games and then a few of our members will be bringing and showing off a few of their favorite plants. Be sure to mark your calendars, because you won’t want to miss this party. We really do have a lot to celebrate! See you there!

Mar 26 2016

THE GREAT ORCHID SALE – Saturday April 9, 2016 – 10:00 am – 2:00 pm

The San Fernando Valley Orchid Society is pleased to announce it’s first annual Orchid Sale. This is our major fundraising event of the year and we hope to raise enough funds to pay for our expenses, educational programs and fabulous speakers for the remainder of the year.

This sale is open to the public. We have managed to procure some really beautiful orchid plants, most of which are in bud or in bloom. We were able to get many of them from Hawaii, and the rest are from great California growers. Our members will be on hand to answer any questions you may have at the show. We will have a plant hotel to hold your selections until you are ready to check out and take your prized plants home. We will also be serving light refreshments. This is a great opportunity to find our more about our society and our friendly and knowledgeable members.

SFVOS Members only: All members are urged to proudly wear their badge and help out at the sale for as many hours as possible. You can be a host, greeting prospective buyers and assisting them in selecting plants. If you find questions you cannot answer, there will be other members who can help. For those of you volunteering to work at the sale we will get our set up started at 9:00 AM. We need volunteers to help register the buyers and help carry plants to the plant hotel. We also need a few of you to stay after 2:00 PM to help us clean-up. This is a wonderful opportunity to tell guests about the benefits of membership in our Society: the educational speakers, the plant opportunity table, and the interchange of ideas and experiences with fellow orchid lovers. If you have some blooming plants you wish to contribute to the sale please bring them to Ned Daniger’s home: 17351 Nordhoff Street in Northridge on April 7^th between 12:00 noon and 5:00 PM,or you can bring them on the day of the sale, April 9^th, at 9:00 AM to the Sepulveda Garden Center. This is YOUR opportunity to support our Society. We look forward to seeing you at the sale!

Jan 27 2016

SFVOS Guest Speaker February 3rd, 2016: Doug Overstreet on the Care and Feeding of Orchids

Orchid educator Doug Overstreet, considered by some to be a “man of all orchids,” will present the program when the San Fernando Valley Orchid Society meets at 7:00 p.m. Wednesday, February 3^{rd, 2016} at the Sepulveda Garden Center. The program is free and open to our members and to the public. Doug will be speaking about the care and feeding of orchids. He will be demonstrating re-potting techniques, and giving us all his tips and tricks to help our plants be healthy and beautiful.

Many of you already know Doug as our interesting and knowledgeable auctioneer at our annual orchid auctions. His encyclopedic knowledge of orchids and lively banter always make for a great orchid auction experience.

Doug Overstreet was born and raised in New Mexico. He is a descendant on both sides from a long line of farmers and is the son a floral designer, so he comes by his interest in orchids naturally. Overstreet began growing orchids at the age of 10 and said he has been avidly involved in the hobby ever since. He continued his love affair with orchids after moving to California in 1975.

In 1984, his collection began to grow by leaps and bounds, and he now maintains a mixed collection of approximately 1,000 plants. Overstreet also became an active participant in the local orchid community. Over the years, he has served on the board of the Orchid Society of Southern California, and he is a past president and board member of the Southland Orchid Show Committee. He is a former ribbon-judging chairman for the Orchid Society of Southern California and is an accredited American Orchid Society judge in the Pacific South Region.

A frequent lecturer on orchids and related topics, he has spoken for numerous orchid societies, botanical gardens and orchid nurseries. He is noted for his ability to present complex information on orchids clearly, concisely and in a manner suitable for the advanced enthusiast but also easily understandable by the beginner.

Overstreet has written articles for Orchid Digest and has served on the editorial committee of that publication as assistant editor. He lives in the Glendale area and owns and operates Nature’s Bounty Orchids, a small nursery serving the Southern California hobbyist and gift plant community through local certified farmers’ markets.

Oct 27 2015

November 4th – Tim Culberton to speak on Lycastes at the SFVOS

In Tim’s own words:

While I love finding old, rare stepping stones in paph breeding, I also do a little hybridizing of my own, and growing up my own babies is a blast. I enjoy making my culture the best it can be, and I have had numerous experiences with professional growers in California and on the East Coast, which has helped tremendously.

I am the youngest accredited judge with the American Orchid Society, and have served in various capacities with local orchid societies. I love meeting other people who like orchids too, and doing so often finds me traveling to shows, vendors, and peoples’ greenhouses to see the latest and greatest in new hybrids and to get the best orchid gossip. I like to be involved in plants as much as possible: in addition to Longwood, I’ve 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.

For your meeting, I’ll be sharing a presentation on recent advances in Lycaste breeding, culture, and growing. These plants are easy to grow and flower, are vigorous, and have low demands on culture, and as such are wonderful plants! Tremendous advancements in breeding Lycastes have been made recently, and I will share some of these with you, as well as help identify some of the important species in the backgrounds of historically important and modern Lycastes.

By the end of this presentation, you will have a new appreciation of what goes into breeding trends for these types of plants, as well as an appreciation of their beautiful flowers and ease-of-growth. I will be providing a plant table of the newest, modern, cutting-edge Lycaste breeding, with both blooming and un-bloomed plants.

Sep 25 2015

October 7th, 2015 Presentation: Orchids: Sex, Lies and Deceptions

The Flying Duck Orchid

Our guest speaker for our next San Fernando Valley Orchid Society General meeting on October 7^th is our very own SFVOS member Pamela Aitchison, who will give us a presentation about the amazing world of orchid pollination.

Orchid flowers are different than the flowers of most other plant species, and their reproductive methods are even more unique. Many orchid flowers resort to clever illusions and trickery to lure their pollinators.

Pam has been growing orchids for more than 30 years, and her collection includes Cattleyas, Dendrobiums, Epidendrums, Miltonias & Miltoniopsis, Oncidiums, Masdevallias, as well as Phalaenopsis, Cymbidiums, Vandas, Vanilla Orchids and Zygopetalums.

Pam is a UCCE Master Gardener, and has been teaching organic gardening for many years. She has spoken at many locations throughout Southern California including California State University Northridge (CSUN), the LA County Fair, and many schools and non-profit organizations in our region.

Jul 5 2015

President’s Message July 1, 2015

A Message from our President: Millie Peskay

We closed our fiscal year with a Pot Luck dinner at the June meeting. Members contributed generously and innovatively for the Pot Luck tables. Dinner was followed by memberspeakers Art Mendoza and Millie Peskay who told of their experiences with cymbidium and

Vanda orchids. Thanks Art and Millie.

Millie donated a lovely plant purchased at the Conejo Orchid Society’s annual sale. It was sold at auction with proceeds to our Society.

Treasurer Bob Peskay gave a short summary of our finances for the Fiscal Year 2014-2015. Expenses exceeded income by $557 for the year and would have been more except for contributions of $625 from our members. Bob pointed out the great help of the contributions to support the ongoing programs and was greeted with generous contributions from Frank and Florence Shimizu and new member Jessie Broussard. Members may contribute at meetings or by mail directly to the treasurer. A more detailed financial report is elsewhere in this newsletter. We all had fun with three Bingo games with P.O.T. drawings between each game. Prizes were orchids purchased from Cal Orchids in Santa Barbara.

Finally, thanks to all the members for making a great year. As Usual, there will be no meeting in August so I look forward to seeing everybody on September 5th .

Millie Peskay

Apr 30 2015

May 6, 2015 – The SFVOS will present “Orchid Care Basics”

Mastering the Art of Growing Orchids at Home

Our next monthly meeting we will be showing an educational video entitled Orchid Care Basics: Mastering the Art of Growing Orchids at Home. The host of our program is Mr. Mark S. Lee, a well-known Orchid Grower and expert. Mr. Lee discusses many aspects of growing including light requirements, watering and feeding techniques, repotting, selecting the proper potting mix, managing pests and disease and much, much more. It is a well done program and whether you are just getting started growing or have been growing orchids for years, everyone will learn something.

Pam Aitchison will also be giving us a virtual tour through our very own website: sfvos.com. Pam will demonstrate all the features of the website including orchid care, culture sheets, links, as well as show you how to find instructional videos on YouTube. Please join us for our next SFVOS monthly meeting. It should be very interesting and informative.

Dec 30 2014

Peter Lin “12 Months of Orchids” talk at the SFVOS

12 Months of Orchids – Building a collection with blooms every month of the year.

At our next regular meeting at the San Fernando Valley Orchid Society, on January 7th at 7:00 pm, Peter Lin will be presenting his newest talk on “12 Months of Orchids”. This fast paced PowerPoint presentation will show you how to build an orchid collection to have blooming plants for each month of the year.

Peter started growing orchids over 30 years ago, but then stopped due to school and starting a career. It wasn’t until about 11 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. He also has hundreds of photos of his orchids that he maintains on Flickr. You can view them by typing this address into the internet: http://www.flickr.com/photos/minicatt/collections/

Due to limited growing space, Peter likes to specialize in miniature orchids, both species and hybrids, and has received numerous AOS awards. His other interests in orchids include Dendrobiums, Angraecoids, and Neofinetias. He maintains a collection of a thousand or more orchids at his home in Southern California in 3 small greenhouses, as well as an offsite greenhouse.

Don’t forget to bring a notepad and a pen. You just might want to take notes.

Have a safe and Happy New Year!

San Fernando Valley Orchid Society

Learning About Orchids in the Company of Friends

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