Category Rare Orchid

May 11 2016

Arthur Pinkers will be our Guest Speaker in June

We are delighted to welcome Arthur Pinkers as speaker for our June 1st meeting.

Arthur PinkersArthur has been an orchid enthusiast for almost 40 years when, as a 16 year-old, he acquired a plant of Slc. Glittering Jewel (Sl. Gratrixiae x Slc. Hermes) and was infected by the orchid bug.  He and his wife Margie of over 25 years have two adult children who recently graduated from high school and are attending College of the Canyons.  Arthur grew up in the Seattle area and attended Western Washington University graduating with a B.S. in Chemistry and Biology. He and his wife currently live in Santa Clarita, California where Arthur is learning to grow orchids under extreme conditions, very different than those in his native Pacific Northwest.  Arthur worked for many years as a chemist and also had the fortune of holding his dream job as the Lab Director for Beall Orchid Company until shortly before its close in 1990.  Arthur’s interest in orchids covers a broad range of types with botanicals being a special draw.  Arthur has served on most executive positions on the Board of the Northwest Orchid Society and is a Past President.  He is a veteran Accredited Orchid Judge and serves as a photographer and as Chair of Information for the Pacific South Judging region. Previously he served as center photographer for the Pacific Northwest Judging region.

Arthur’s talk should be very informative on a subject that we have not had in recent history. Arthur will provide the POT, which will feature plants from Santa Barbara Orchid Estate and Orchids Royale.

 

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 7th  between 12:00 noon and 5:00 PM,or you can bring them on the day of the sale, April 9th,  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!

Dec 28 2015

January 6th, 2016 Guest Speaker James Rose of Cal Orchids

James and Lauris Rose.large thumbnailOur guest speaker for January will be James Rose, owner of Cal Orchids.  Jim will open his presentation by teaching us the best way to re-pot our orchids.  This is an important skill, and is a subject many have requested. 

His main topic will be the “Orchids of Madagascar”. Madagascar is best known for its remarkable fauna, including the famous lemurs.  It is also home to over 900 orchid species in 57 genera, many of which are as endangered as the lemurs. These orchids are so beautiful and unique.

You may be familiar with the story of “Darwin’s” orchid.  Angraecum sesquipedale, which is also known as the Christmas orchid, Star of Bethlehem orchid, and King of the Angraecums, is an epiphytic orchid in the genus Angraecum endemic to Madagascar.   It is noteworthy for its long spur and its association with the naturalist Charles Darwin, who surmised that the flower was pollinated by a then undiscovered moth with a proboscis whose length was unprecedented at the time. His prediction had gone unverified until 21 years after his death, when the moth was discovered and his conjecture vindicated.

These orchids are highly prized and hunted by collectors and the orchid trade. Additionally, much of Madagascar is rainforest, and much of that rainforest is disappearing.   When the rainforest the threatened, the orchids that live there are also in peril.  Some of the threatened species are AngraeDarwin's orchid and moth.cum longicalcar, Angraecum magdalenae,    Bulbophyllum hamelinii, Grammangis spectabilis

and Eulophiella roempleriana.  Be sure to mark your calendar.  You won’t want to miss this highly informative talk and the culture session on “repotting”.

(Right: Darwins Orchid: Angraecum sesquipedale and its pollinator, a long-tongued moth)

 

 

Nov 14 2015

SFVOS Annual Holiday Party 12/2/15

Attention SFVOS Members:

The San Fernando Valley Orchid Society

Cordially invites you to our

ANNUAL HOLIDAY PARTY

December 2, 2015

7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

The Sepulveda Garden Center

16633 Magnolia Blvd.  
Encino, CA 91436

Admission: One Salad, side dish or dessert (8+ Servings)  and the Chicken and Beef Entrées will be provided by SFVOS.  Please bring serving utensils

Our special program will include: Refreshments, Bingo Games, Orchid Plant Exchange *(Optional), Special POT Raffle!

Please R.S.V.P. by November 30 to
Millie Peskay at: peskay@att.net
or call (805) 532-0080 or if you haven’t signed up yet

call Marcia Melcombe at (818) 349-8677

 *Bring an orchid plant in a 4”-6” pot to exchange with the other members, and take home a beauty for yourself. 

This is a great way to expand your own orchid collection and your knowledge.

SFVOS.2015.Holiday party flyer.3

SFVOS.2015.Holiday party flyer.2

Oct 27 2015

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

 

In Tim’s own words:

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 GardeTimCulbertson.headshotns in Philadelphia just after college.  From the very beginning it was all about Paphs, particularly awarded and select clones of historic importance, of which my collection numbers nearly 1000.

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

The Flying Duck Orchid  

Our guest speaker for our next San Fernando Valley Orchid Society General meeting on October 7th 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

The Many Benefits of SFVOS Membership

 

  1. Learn about collecting, growing, re-potting, and pest control from our monthly meetings’ guest speakers, many of whom are local, national and internationally recognized orchid experts. For just the cost of your annual dues, you can see their fabulous photographs, techniques, and presentations. You have the opportunity to listen and ask questions of these experts up close and personal.   How great is that!
  2. Rub elbows with your fellow orchid enthusiasts. Many of our members have become good friends. Several of our members are expert growers in their own right.  Ask questions, swap ideas and learn from each other, while you share a tasty snack from our well stocked refreshment table every month.
  3. Share your beautiful blooming orchids and see what the other members are growing at our monthly “Show and Tell”. Exhibitors have the opportunity to share information about their special plants and members can ask questions.  You can also bring your camera a test your photographic skills.
  1. As a member, you will receive our Monthly SFVOS Newsletter via email (or by snail mail). Each issue is packed with the information you need to keep up with what’s happening in the orchid world.  Every month you receive a preview of our upcoming meeting, plus a Calendar of upcoming events, educational articles, and much, much more.
  1. You’ll have unlimited access to our own com website that has hundreds of tips on how to care for your orchids. Discover what happening in the orchid world, look up a solution to a problem or download culture sheets. There is also a library of past issues of our Newsletter, links to instructional videos, and Monthly Orchid Care Checklists just to name a few of the features found on our website.
  1. Take home fabulous orchids every month from our Plant Opportunity Table (POT). For just the cost of a few “opportunity” tickets you could be a big winner.
  2. You are invited to attend our annual Holiday Party in December to share a meal and fun times.

The San Fernando Valley Orchid Society is a non-profit organization. Your membership dues pay for our Guest Speakers every month, provide the plants for the POT each month and pay our ongoing expenses such as our rent, website fees, and required insurance costs.  Our Monthly meetings are held on the 1st Wednesday of the month at the Sepulveda Garden Center, located at 16633 Magnolia Blvd, Encino, CA 91436.  Meeting starts at 7:00 pm.

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!

 

 

 

Mar 16 2014

San Fernando Valley Orchid Society Annual Auction April 2nd

The SFVOS will be holding their annual Orchid Auction on the first Wednesday in April.    The doors open at 7:00 pm so that bidders can preview the beautiful plants before the auction starts. The bidding will start at 7:30 pm, and we will go until we run out of plants.    Refreshments will also be served.

We are very pleased to announce that Doug Overstreet has graciously agreed to be our auctioneer again this year. Doug is very knowledgeable about all orchids as as each plant comes up for bid, Doug gives us a brief description of each plant and describes the type of environment needed for that orchid to thrive.   If you haven’t seen Doug in action,  you must come and learn from his vast wealth of knowledge.

This auction is our major fundraiser for the year, some come out to help support your society.   It is a win-win situation as this is your chance to add some great orchids to your collection at bargain prices, while helping the SFVOS fund it’s various activities throughout the year. Come early to get a good seat and have enough time to check out all the orchid plants that will be put up for bid. 

The auction will be held at the Sepulveda Garden Center,  just like our regular meetings.  For the address, directions and a map, see the home page of this website.    You don’t need to be a member of the SFVOS to attend.  Guests are always welcome.     Plan to attend this great auction and bring a guest!   See you there.

 

Feb 26 2014

AOS Monthly Checklists Now Available

Please check out our new menu item featuring the AOS Monthly Checklists.  The current issue covers March and April.  These checklists are designed to help hobby growers learn how to care for their orchids in every season.   Each checklist features several types of orchids, and explains what is going on with them at this particular time of year, what we should be watching out for and what practices to adopt and/or avoid at this time.  There are six of these checklists a year.  I hope you find them as helpful as I do.  Enjoy.