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David BrownThis month we welcome David Brown as our guest speaker. David will present on "A Year at the San Diego Zoo Orchid Greenhouse" in which he will highlight those plants that typically flower in each month. 

The greenhouse at the San Diego Zoo is open to the public every third Friday of the month as part of the zoo's "Orchid Odyssey". David first attended that event in 1999, and became fascinated with the orchids in the zoo’s collection. "There was so much diversity in shape, size, color and form." he remembers. David came to see the greenhouse as one of the hidden jewel of the zoo and he returned every month after that. Eventually, he met Janette Gerrity, who is in charge of the orchid collection at the zoo. Janette began to mentor him in his new orchid obsession and David also came to know the volunteers who worked there and who shared their information and knowledge with him. After a few years, he knew enough about the orchid collection to become a volunteer himself. Upon a suggestion by other volunteers, he began to attend the meetings of the San Diego County Orchid Society and soon became an active member, later serving as a member of the board and, eventually, as President.

The orchid collection at the Zoo consists of about 3000 plants in 300 genera and 800 species. David especially favors the large species collection: "As pretty and intriguing as hybrids are, there is just something about species," he said. During his talk, he will share some of the zoo’s "impressive plants."

Francisco Miranda

We welcome Francisco Miranda as our guest speaker this month. Francisco’s presentation will focus on cattleya species and their habitats and his talk is titled "The genus Cattleya in Brazil".  Cattleya species can be found throughout Brazil and Francisco will show examples from most of the major regions where they occur.  

Francisco was born in Rio de Janeiro and he has been growing orchids since 1979, the same year he received his degree in Biology.  He began his taxonomic studies of the orchid family in 1981. In 1985, he completed a Master’s Degree and his thesis “Section Cattleyodes of the genus Laelia”.  

Francisco has made frequent field trips to study the habitats of Brazilian orchids, resulting in many new described species.  He has authored two books and several scientific papers.  In 1996, he served as the Program Chairman for the 15th World Orchid Conference in Rio de Janiero.   Read more »

Fred Clarke

We welcome back Fred Clarke as our guest speaker this month. Fred will discuss the fundamentals of growing orchids and explore some advanced techniques.  Orchid plant culture will be explained and techniques on how to maximize growth and flowering will be reviewed.  Fred says If you do 80% of what you’re supposed to do correctly, you will be a good grower.

Fred is a long time, generous supporter of the Palomar Orchid Society and one of our most favorite speakers. Fred Clarke has been growing orchids for 35 years and has been hybridizing for 32 of those years. With over 28 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 has considerable information, plants for sale and many beautiful pics of his award winning orchids.

He is a passionate orchid grower whose curiosity in orchids is broad and varied. Although developing Cattleya hybrids has been his sustaining interest, he is also actively creating new Bulbophylum and Paphiopedilum hybrids.    Read more »

Peter Lin’s presentation "12 Months of Orchids" is a 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 stopped to focus on school and starting a career.  It wasn’t until 11 years ago that the orchid “bug” came back, and he is now heavily involved again.  He is an accredited judge with the American Orchid Society and a hybridizer of mini-Cattleyas.  He enjoys interacting with other orchid enthusiasts and can often be found at various orchid shows and societies around the country.  

Due to limited growing space, Peter specializes in miniature orchids, both species and hybrids, and has received numerous AOS awards.  His other interests in orchids include Dendrobiums,  and Neofenetias.  He maintains a collection of a thousand or more orchids at his home in Southern California in three small greenhouses, as well as in an offsite greenhouse.  

Peter has hundreds of photos of his orchids that he maintains on Flickr. Peter also maintains a personal web site including a small catalog of orchids available for purchase at www.diamondorchids.com

Peter will also provide plants for the opportunity table.