Category Refreshments

Aug 22 2016

September 7: Panel of Orchid Experts

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When:  September 7, 2016

Time:   7:00 pm – 9:00 pm 

Topic:  Growing your best orchids at home!

This is a meeting you won’t want to miss.  Our next SFVOS meeting will feature a panel of experts who will give you all info on how to get the best results from your own orchids at home.    Our panel of experts will be AOS Judge and our new president, Arthur Pinkers,  Orchid Expert and cymbidium grower extraordinaire, Art Mendoza and our new Vice President and long time orchid grower, Mark Bentow.

The panel will discuss the best way to keep your orchids healthy, how to water and fertilize each type of orchid,  how and when to report and how to coax your orchids to re-bloom.

Bring your questions, and if you have a plant that needs special attention, bring it to the meeting and ask our experts what to do to bring your plant back to optimal health.

Don’t forget to bring your blooming orchids to show in our Plant Forum, and if you can, bring a snack to share with the group.    Bring a guest, and we will see you there!

 

 

 

 

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!
sand.snowman.w.umbrellaJuly 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.

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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!

 

 

 

Feb 28 2016

3/2/16 “Keeping your Orchids Healthy” by Pam Aitchison

Our guest speaker for our next SFVOS General meeting on March 2, 2016 is our very own SFVOS Vice President Pamela Aitchison, who will be sharing information about how to keep our orchids healthy in our home environments.  Her talk will cover many topics that will especially be of interest to new orchid growers, but experienced orchid growers may learn a trick or two as well.

Pam is a Certified University of California Master Gardener, and has been teaching organic gardening for many years.  She provides training to the new Master Gardener Candidates every year, and is a regular guest lecturer at California State University Northridge (CSUN), the LA County Fair, and schools and non-profit organizations throughout Southern California.

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 will be showing us a PowerPoint Presentation and will hopefully give you many ideas and suggestions for caring for your orchids at home.   You won’t want to miss this lecture, so mark your calendar today.

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.

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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.

 

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.

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

Sep 24 2013

Bryce Augustine on Orchid Propagation

Bryce Augustine will be our speaker for the San Fernando Valley Orchid Society meeting on Wednesday, October 2nd, 2013.  Bryce is a long time member of the Santa Barbara Orchid society and an American Orchid Society judge.   He owns and operates Monsoon Flora Orchids (monsoonorchids.com), which he established in 1991 and where he produces Paphs and Phrags in flasks, compots and seedlings.

He is a 20-year veteran of the American Orchid Society judging system as an accredited AOS judge and brought AOS judging to the central coast in April 2008 by creating a new Judging site in Santa Barbara where he served as its chairman for two years. His presentations are always fun and informative and this coming meeting will be no exception.  He will cover many different aspects of Orchids, covering how propagation from seedpods, rainforests, and your own backyard jungle are interrelated. If you were unable to attend the July meeting at the Malibu Orchid Society, you missed a real treat.  I went to that meeting, and learned a great deal.  He had a great PowerPoint presentation and a live demonstration.  After the meeting, I asked Mr. Augustine if he would come and talk to our group, and he graciously agreed.  He also brought some great items for the POT.  Some were “compots” of many small plants in a single pot.   Mark your calendars so won’t miss this fabulous speaker!

Jun 28 2013

Installation of Officers will be at the July Meeting

Please join us for the Installation of our Officers and Directors for the upcoming year on Wednesday, July 3rd at our regular meeting immediately following our Guest Speaker, Winn Winmaw’s presentation.

We will be serving Cake and Ice Cream too.

This will take the place of the Installation Banquet normally held in August.  Remember, for just this year, there will be no meeting in August.

Our normal meeting schedule will resume the first Wednesday in September.

We hope to see you all at the July meeting.