Welcome to the Palomar Orchid Society Website!

Phyllis PrestiaThis month, our guest speaker is POS member Phyllis Prestia.  She will discuss her trip to the World Orchid Conference, held last year in Johannesburg, South Africa.  

Phyllis will take us on a tour of the displays and orchids at the WOC, including those that received the highest awards at the conference. She will also discuss some of the orchids of the South African and Madagascar regions, which she saw and photographed.  Since Phyllis herself grows many of those species, her presentation will include details and tips on the culture of rainforest and savannah terrestrials.

Phyllis is a retired educator and middle school principal. She received a Doctorate of Education at Rutgers University, where she also served as instructor in the graduate education program.

Originally from New Jersey, she moved to California with her husband to retire in the sunny San Diego area and grow orchids. Her collection includes a variety of species and hybrids across several genera grown both in a small greenhouse as well as three outdoor growing areas under shade cloth.

In her orchid life Phyllis has been the president of the San Diego County Cymbidium Society and she currently serves as the vice-president of the Cymbidium Society of America.  She served as second vice-president for POS, as well as chairman of the annual auction committee for several years. She is active in several other Southern California orchid societies and is currently participating in the orchid judge training programs of both the American Orchid Society and Cymbidium Society of America.

Satomi KasaharaOur guest speaker this month is Satomi Kasahara of Seed Engei.  Her topic is Neofinetia falcata, an orchid native to Japan.   She will discuss the history, culture and special methods that are used to judge this unique orchid. 

The Japanese have been cultivating Neofinetia falcata (now officially named Vanda falcata) for over 400 years.  In Japan, it is called Fūki-ran (富貴蘭), which means the orchid of the rich and noble people, because many years ago, only the rich and royalty could own them.

Satomi’s father, Shigeru, started Seed Engei 35 years ago in Shiuzuoka, Japan.  They specialize in growing Neofinetia falcata as well as other Japanese orchids.   Satomi grew up around Neofinetia falcata and interacted with some of the best growers in Japan. She started working for her father in 2006.  After a visit to Santa Barbara, he declared that the U.S. would be the perfect place to grow Neofinetia falcata.   After that, Satomi started coming to orchid shows in California to expand the business.  

She is the founder of the Fūkiran Society of America, created to promote Fūkiran growing in the United States, Canada and other parts the world.  The Fūkiran Society of America is an offshoot of the Japan Fūkiran Society, which is responsible for registering Neofinetia falcata varieties.  There are over 250 registered varieties, but if you add unregistered varieties to that, the total is 1000.   Read more »

Brandon TamThis month, our guest speaker is Brandon Tam, Orchid Collection Specialist at the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, CA.  The Huntington has one of the largest orchid collections in the United States with 16,000 plants.  Brandon will present an overview of the collection and discuss the Huntington’s involvement in the orchid world.  Then, he will present his 10 favorite orchids in the collection including their origins and growing culture.

Brandon has been with the Huntington for over 8 years.  He began volunteering at the institution at the age of 14.  There were always plenty of opportunities to quench his thirst for plant knowledge, from tending plants in the Conservatory to database entry of pressed specimens in the Herbarium. 

Brandon credits his grandmother for inspiring him to further his studies within the botanical world and pursue a career within that field.  She bought him his first orchid at age 7, a white flowering cymbidium. She would take him to their local nursery and let him pick out a plant on every visit.  Over time, his orchid collection grew, and his knowledge of orchids grew also.   Read more »