Welcome to the Palomar Orchid Society Website!

We are fortunate to have return one of our favorite speakers and long time member and supporter of the Palomar Orchid Society, Fred Clarke of Sunset Valley Orchids, who will speak to us on “Growing the Best Orchids”.

Fred’s talk will cover multiple aspects of growing orchids including general orchid culture, repotting, potting materials, lighting, fertilization, what orchids grow best together, etc. Fred’s power point presentation will review the ‘best practices’ for growing a variety of orchids and include pictures of some of his novel hybrids and species.  The presentation should be of considerable interest to both the novice and advanced orchid hobbyist.  As many of our members know, Fred is an excellent, highly sought after lecturer in the orchid world so his presentation should not be missed.

Fred has been growing orchids for 34 years and has been hybridizing for 26 of those years. With over 26 years as a professional grower and manager in the horticultural industry, Fred applies these skills at his orchid nursery, Sunset Valley Orchids, located in Vista, California, just north of San Diego. His nursery’s website is http://www.sunsetvalleyorchids.com/ 

Fred is a passionate orchid grower whose curiosity in orchids is wide and varied. Although developing new Cattleya hybrids has been his sustaining interest, he is also actively creating new Bulbophyllum, Paphiopedilum and Aussie Dendrobium hybrids. Moreover, his pioneering work in Catasetum intergeneric hybrids led to the development of several notable hybrids, most recently the grex, Fredclarkeara After Dark, which produced “the closest flower color to black ever witnessed”. This grex received seven FCC’s and three AM’s on the first flowers shown for judging.    Read more »

Our annual auction will be held on August 18, 2012 at the Pavilion at Lake San Marcos. Preview starts at 11:00 am and the auction begins at noon. This annual orchid event celebrates Palomar Orchid Society with hundreds of flowering orchids (many rare) and other items to be auctioned off. Learn about orchids and their cultivation with numerous orchid experts on hand for questions. Free to the public.

Directions: The auction is held at the Pavilion at Lake San Marcos Resort (1105 La Bonita Dr, San Marcos, CA 92078). The entrance to the Lake San Marcos Resort is from Rancho Santa Fe Road where there is a large sign. See the interactive map to the right for details.

To reach the resort's entrance on Rancho Santa Fe Road:

• From Highway 78 traveling East
  Take the Rancho Santa Fe Rd. exit and go South. Continue through the intersection of Rancho Santa Fe Rd. and Palomar Airport Rd./San Marcos Blvd. Turn left into the resort after about 1/4 mile.
• From Highway 78 traveling West
  Take the San Marcos Blvd. exit and travel West/South to Rancho Santa Fe Rd.. Turn left on Rancho Santa Fe and turn left into the resort after about 1/4 mile.
• From Interstate 5 traveling South
  Take the Palomar Airport Rd. exit and head East for about 7 miles (Palomar Airport Rd. turns into San Marcos Blvd. about 5.8 miles East of the I-5). Turn right on Rancho Santa Fe Rd. and turn left into the resort after about 1/4 mile.
• From Interstate 5 traveling North
  Take the La Costa Ave. exit and head East for about 4 miles. Turn left on Rancho Santa Fe Rd. and turn right into the resort after about 3.9 miles.

Once in the resort, proceed downhill. At "T" intersection, turn left on San Marino Drive. At the next 4-way STOP, turn right on La Bonita Drive. Proceed ahead for one block on La Bonita. The pavilion will be on the left and there is parking in front of the pavilion.