Welcome to the Palomar Orchid Society Website!

The Palomar Orchid Society, incorporated in December of 1965 was formed when a few people banded together to talk about orchids. We then grew and bloomed into the roughly 200-member group of orchid enthusiasts that we have today. We represent everything orchid in North San Diego County! Come and join us!!

The Palomar Orchid Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the understanding and cultivation of both hybrid and species orchids. We welcome members of all levels to join us for orchid fun and learning! Our mission is to promote interest in the appreciation of orchids and to provide an opportunity for their display and the exchange and dissemination of information relating to their culture.

September 2012 - Fred Clarke

Submitted by Helge W. on Thu, 08/30/2012 - 2:55pm

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 »

Date:

Wed, 09/05/2012 - 6:30pm - 9:30pm

Monthly Meeting

2012 POS Orchid Auction Pictures

Submitted by Helge W. on Mon, 08/20/2012 - 5:24pm

Date:

Sat, 08/18/2012

Christina, Linda, Renee, Alex, Gil, and Charlie

Bidders picking up their plants for checkout

Source: Flickr

Annual Orchid Auction

2012 POS Orchid Auction Details

Submitted by Helge W. on Wed, 08/01/2012 - 11:03am

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.

Javascript is required to view this map.

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.

Date:

Sat, 08/18/2012 - 11:00am - 4:30pm

Annual Orchid Auction

Note from the President about the Virtual Show and Tell...

Submitted by giho on Thu, 07/26/2012 - 9:17am

Hi POS Members,

Since there are a lot of items for the virtual show and tell, we will take submissions until the 25th of each month, on which day they will be posted once for that month. Because of the quirky nature of Flickr, each addition requires a redo of the whole set. This saves my fingers from having to post and change the show and tell many times during the course of each month. Pics after that will be rolled to the next month's show and tell. Thanks for your help!

Gil Ho

Miscellaneous

The New POS Virtual Show-N-Tell for July 2012

Submitted by giho on Sat, 07/21/2012 - 5:53pm

Date:

Sat, 07/21/2012

Gil Ho's Maxillaria chrysantha - wow lots of blooms!

Stanhopea oculata (bucephalus) - Alex Nadzan

Neofinetia falcata 'Kushuryokufu' and friends - Gil Ho

Blc. Plum Island "Newberry" - Alex Nadzan

Tolumnia [(Wave Dancer x Robsan) x Sycamore Hollow] x Elfin Gem - Alex Nadzan

Lc. (Lc. Mini Purple 'Full Figure' x C. violacea 'Muse') - Alex Nadzan

Lc. Irene's Song 'Montclair' HCC/AOS - Alex Nadzan

L. purpurata 'San Bar Snow' - Alex Nadzan

Blc. (Lc. San Diego Surprise 'Billyb' x Blc. Panache Colormark) - Alex Nadzan

Maxillaria tonsbergii 'Smoky' - Alex Nadzan

San. (Brsdm.) Black Star 'Pacific Red Star' HCC/AOS - Alex Nadzan

Source: Flickr

Welcome to the new POS Virtual Online Show-n-Tell. I have been wanting for some time to setup a virtual place to show off POS member plants in bloom or with something interesting to display, that for one reason or another, couldn't get to the regular meeting show-n-tell session for all to see. From now on, Members, if you have a plant you want to show everyone, just send me the photo (giho@ucsd.edu), and I will put it up. Not every month will have a virtual show-n-tell, but if there are pictures, then they will be posted up. Please also send me a short description of the plant. Send feedback to me if you love the idea or hate it. I start us off, with my Maxillaria chrysantha in full bloom, a surprise for me this morning (7/21/12) stepping outside to check my plants. 16 flowers! Following are an Encyclia, my Neofinetias, and Alex Nadzan's first Stanhopea oculata in bloom! Excellent! At the end, more of Alex's wonderful Catts and other gems.

Enjoy and Happy Growing!
Gil Ho,
President, POS

Galleries

July 2012 General Meeting

Submitted by Debra F. on Fri, 07/20/2012 - 9:17am

Date:

Wed, 07/11/2012

Blc. Plum Island 'Newberry' HCC/AOS - Alex Nadzan

Z. Big Country 'Cinnamon' x Gptm. Koolsu Rainbow 'Charlie's Black Eye' HCC/AOS - Warren Stehle

Broughtonia sanguinea v. pink - Merle Robboy

Source: Flickr

Monthly Meeting

July 2012 - Arthur Pinkers

Submitted by Helge W. on Thu, 06/21/2012 - 8:00pm

Arthur PinkersWe are delighted to welcome Arthur Pinkers as speaker for our July 11 (please note the date change!) meeting. Arthur’s talk is entitled “Miltoniopsis, Pansy’s of the Orchid World: where they started and where we are now”. The genus Miltoniopsis (Mltps. or Mps.) consists of six species native to Costa Rica, Panama, Venezuela, Ecuador and Columbia. They are cool to intermediate growers and like moist conditions. Hybridizers have produced many magnificent and very colorful hybrids for orchid hobbyists and the general consumer. Arthur’s talk should be very informative on a subject that we have not had in recent history. Arthur will provide the plant table, which will feature plants from Santa Barbara Orchid Estate and Orchids Royal, including some Miltoniopsis. Read more »

Date:

Wed, 07/11/2012 - 6:30pm - 9:30pm

Monthly Meeting

June 2012 General Meeting

Submitted by Helge W. on Sat, 06/09/2012 - 2:25pm

Date:

Wed, 06/06/2012

Miltonia Up Country Puna 'Keaau Star' - Alex Nadzan

Tol. Memoria Ralph Yagi x Tol. Diego Star Five - Alex Nadzan

Neofinetia falcata x Darwinara charm 'Rainbow' - Gil Ho

Blc. Waianae Leopard 'Ching Hua' x Slc. Jungle Treasure - Warren Stehle

Rdm. Starlet 'Billy B' x Tol. Bob Dugger 'Sundance' - Warren Stehle

Enc. kennedy x Enc. adenocaula - Anita Spencer

Broughtonia sanguinea var. alba - Merle Robboy

Epidendrum parkinsonianum - Helge Weissig

Sarcochilus hartmannii var. alba - Phyllis Prestia

Source: Flickr

June 2012 - Nico Goossens

Submitted by Helge W. on Wed, 05/30/2012 - 10:59am

"Indoor and Outdoor Orchid Growing Structures for Southern California and Beyond"

Nico Goossens is a grower and co-owner of Lico Orchids and Flowers, Encinitas, CA. Since 1982, he has also worked in the construction industry. His first exposure to orchids came in 1978 when he was given custodial care of a shipment of bare root central American orchids that had been inspected by US Agriculture, fumigated, held in quarantine, and warehoused for over two months, and finally refused by the consignee. In spite of total degradation, with time and lots of research on orchid care, Nico managed to bloom some of the plants, thus, marking the beginning of his passion for orchids. He continued to sparingly and cautiously dabble with growing orchids outdoors until about 1995 when Lisa Humphreys and he started Lico Orchids & Flowers and build their greenhouse, thus adding greenhouse building and growing to his knowledge.

Nico enjoys growing all kinds of varied orchid genera and especially species. He is also very interested in the conservation of Southern California’s local native orchids. He has traveled to Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Ecuador, Brazil, and China to see orchids growing in the wild. This should be a very educational talk for our members.

Lico Orchids will provide plants for the opportunity table this month.

June's culture class will be given by our own Jerry Spencer who will provide culture tips on "Growing Magnificent Specimen Orchid Plants". As POS members know, Jerry and Anita Spencer are experts in producing wonderful specimen orchids, several of which have won awards.

Date:

Wed, 06/06/2012 - 7:00pm - 8:30pm