Welcome to the Palomar Orchid Society Website!

We welcome back Tom Biggart to POS this month.  Tom will be speaking on the culture of orchids of North Thailand.  He will be discussing climatic issues and how to adapt these plants to our situation.  The second part of his talk will highlight some of the orchid species that he encountered during his trip to Thailand.

Tom Biggart is the owner and head grower of Granite Hills Orchids in El Cajon, CA (a small town 15 miles east of San Diego).  His nursery is a hobby-based business, which means he doesn’t make a living growing plants.  It is more of a labor of love!  Tom loves plants in general, and orchids are his main passion.  He is very interested in encyclias and has a large collection of encyclia species and hybrids. The Australian cool growers are a current interest as well as Brazilian rupicolous laelias.  

Tom is a retired elementary school teacher with orchids as his new students.  He would love to have anyone stop by to talk orchids should one be in the San Diego area.

The past few years he and his wife, Neal, have gotten interested in ceramics.  In typical Biggart fashion they now have a throwing building, a glazing building, and a kiln yard with 3 kilns.  His pottery is designed primarily for plants and can be seen at most of the local orchid shows and at the nursery.  He would love to talk orchids and pottery with anyone interested!

Tom will provide the opportunity plant table this month.

James RoseWe are happy to welcome James Rose from Cal Orchid in Santa Barbara back to our society. James is a very experienced orchid nurseryman who readily shares his wealth of orchid knowledge with novices and experienced growers alike. James will be speaking on outdoor growing orchid species from Mexico. He will discuss where they come from, how to grow them, and provide a few illustrations of their progeny.  This is a new talk with a fresh perspective. 

James’s visit is being co-sponsored with SDCOS. He will be giving a talk on Tuesday evening, Oct. 4 on Orchids from Madagascar and all are welcome to attend the presentation at 6:30 pm in Balboa Park.  James also will be providing plant tables for both societies.  

James attended University of Cal Santa Barbara as an anthropology major.  In 1971, he began working at Santa Barbara Orchid Estate. After 16 years there, and becoming manager, he left to establish his own nursery with his wife, Lauris.  In 1987, they purchased Orchids By Rowe, a 2 acre cymbidium nursery a mere 2 blocks from the Pacific Ocean. After only a few years, James and Lauris totally redesigned the former cymbidium cut flower range to what is now, after 29 years,  a world famous orchid nursery that provides one of the largest varieties of orchid species and hybrids in the U.S.   Read more »

Marni Turkel: Photo by John VarigosWe are delighted to welcome Marni Turkel to our society. Marni will speak on "Coelygyne, Dendrochilum and Related Genera".  Her talk will cover the 9 horticulturally significant genera of the 21 or so that comprise the subtribe Coelogyninae. These include not only Coelogyne and Dendrochilum, but also Pleione, Chelonistele, Pholidota and others. She will discuss the diversity within the different genera, show both common and rarely seen species as well as discuss their habitats and how they relate to cultural needs.

Marni Turkel is a native of the San Francisco Bay Area and has been growing orchids since 1980. She grows in three greenhouses in Santa Rosa with approximately 1000 sq. ft. of growing space. Her main interest is in cool-growing miniature species but plenty of larger plants have crept into the collection as well. Marni has been a contributor to Orchids magazine with her series called 'Well Worth the Space' and 'Give It a Rest'. Her articles have been translated into Dutch, German, Portuguese and Swedish for international publication. Photographs of her plants have been feature in articles noted orchid publications including Orchids Magazine, Orchid Digest, Richardiana, The Orchid Review, and The Australian Orchid Review. For the last few years she has been sharing her photographs and knowledge on orchidsforum.com.    Read more »

Harold KoopowitzThe Palomar Orchid Society is welcoming Harold Koopowitz for a presentation on “Understanding color in orchid flowers.” Aside from being a well-known lecturer in the orchid circuit, Harold has been honored by being a recipient of the Herbert Medal from the International Bulb Society; the Orchid Digest Medal for meritorious service to orchids; the Ralph B. White Medal from the Royal Horticultural Society for innovations in daffodil breeding; the Gold Medal from the American Daffodil Society and the Gold Medal from the American Orchid Society as well as the Westonbirt Medal from the Royal Horticultural Society for outstanding achievement with orchids.

Harold grew up in South Africa where he attended university, majoring in both Botany and Zoology. He then completed a doctorate at UCLA in California in 1968. A professor at the University of California at Irvine since graduating, he was also the Director of the UCI Arboretum for twenty years. Harold is now Professor Emeritus of Biology in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at UCI, where he did research on conservation and ecology. 

He is Editor Emeritus for Orchid Digest, which he edited for ten years and still works on the editorial committee of that Journal.    Read more »