Helge W.'s posts

November 2016 – Tom Biggart

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.

Date: 
Wed, 11/02/2016 - 6:30pm - 9:30pm

October 2016 General Meeting – James Rose

James RoseJames 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 »

Date: 
Wed, 10/05/2016 - 6:30pm - 9:30pm

September 2016 General Meeting – Marni Turkel

Marni Turkel: Photo by John VarigosMarni 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 »

Date: 
Wed, 09/07/2016 - 6:30pm - 9:30pm

August 2016 General Meeting – Harold Koopowitz

Harold KoopowitzHarold 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 »

Date: 
Wed, 08/03/2016 - 6:30pm - 9:30pm

July 2016 General Meeting – Ron Parsons

Ron ParsonsRon ParsonsWe are happy to welcome back Ron Parsons to speak on “Orchids of Southeastern Australia” and share with us the excellent photos taken on his trip.  Ron describes his Australian experience as follows: ‘For five weeks of the austral spring of 2011, from early October to mid-early November, I traveled through southeastern Australia. My trip started on the island state of Tasmania (the north and northwest part) where friends took me out to see and photograph orchids I would not have found on my own. From there I traveled to Victoria where I was taken to Grampians National Park in the west, the Anglesea Peninsula west of Melbourne, and Wilson’s Promontory to the southeast of Melbourne, where again many exciting orchids were found. Next stop was Canberra for a few days, then to areas both north and south of Sydney in New South Wales where many fantastic ground, lithophytic and epiphytic orchids were seen. My incredible trip ended with several days spent on the beautiful isle of Bruny Island, southeast of the capitol of Hobart, an island off an island off an island!’ 

Ron is considered by many to be one of the finest flower photographers in the United States. His photography and encyclopedic knowledge of orchids is known both nationally and internationally. He has been photographing orchids, wildflowers, and almost every other kind of plant for over 25 years, and he has taken thousands of photos of orchids, wildflowers and other rare plants.   Read more »

Date: 
Wed, 07/06/2016 - 6:30pm - 9:30pm

June 2016 - Karen Muir

The Palomar Orchid Society is pleased to welcome Karen Muir for a presnetation on Maxillarias. WikipediaKaren MuirKaren Muir describes that genus as “a diverse genus, with very different morphological forms. Their characteristics can vary widely. [Maxillarias] are commonly called spider orchids, flame orchids or tiger orchids. Their scientific name is derived from the Latin word maxilla, meaning jawbone, reflecting on the column and the base of the lip of some species, that may evoke a protruding jaw.”

Karen hails originally from Michigan where she started raising orchids in 1972.  She was a member of the Michigan Orchid Society and held all of the offices of the Society including show chair, program chair, vice president and president.  In 1997, Karen became an accredited American Orchid Society Judge. Eighteen years ago, Karen moved to Irvine, California where she retired in 2002. Karen now resides in Laguna Niguel, California.

Karen served five years as Chair of the Pacific South Judging Region and was an AOS Trustee. She is the Affiliated Societies Chair and Treasurer for Orchid Digest.  Karen has traveled to Canada, Guatemala, Ecuador, Brazil, South Africa and Japan to attend, lecture at, and judge orchid shows.

Date: 
Wed, 06/01/2016 - 6:30pm - 9:30pm

April 2016 – Paul Tuskes

Paul TuskesPaul TuskesThe Palomar Orchid Society is pleased to welcome back Dr. Paul Tuskes. Paul’s presentation will be on “Encyclias and their relatives”.

Encyclia and related genera occur from south Florida to Brazil and live in a wide range of habitats and elevations….. meaning they are ideal for everybody.  He will focus on the best plants for the San Diego area and some of their hybrids.

Paul has been growing orchids for 30 years and his photographs have been used in various books and journals.  He serves as an AOS orchid judge and co-founded with his wife Ann the orchid species study group of the San Diego County Orchid Society. He was one of the first members of that society’s conservation group, which received a Conservation Achievement award from the American Orchid Society.

Date: 
Wed, 04/06/2016 - 6:30pm - 9:30pm

March 2016 – Kay Klausing

Kai Klausing (and daughter)Kai Klausing (and daughter)We are delighted to welcome back Dr. Kay Klausing, 1st VP of the San Diego County Orchid Society who will speak to us on orchids viruses. The title of his talk is "Orchid Viruses:  Introduction and Practical Aspects of Virus Testing". During his Masters and PhD work, Kay used a virus as a model system for replication and, as such, he has had a long interest in and fascination with viruses. Kay will give a brief introduction to orchid viruses, but will focus mainly on the practical aspects from the point of growing orchids. He will give a live demo on how to perform tests, share the test results for his collection and provide tips on how to prevent the spread of virus in a collection.

Kay was born and raised in Germany, but he did not start growing orchids until he was in college. The University of Konstanz, where he got his Master and PhD in Molecular Genetics, had a lone Dendrobium kingianum specimen covering 2 huge baskets that had developed thousands of keikis due to being kept too warm. The gardener gave him a few keikis, which got him hooked on orchids. Kay moved to the US in 1990 to do a postdoc at UCSD and gave his collection to his dad who also got “infected” with the dreaded orchid virus, much to his mom’s dismay.    Read more »

Date: 
Wed, 03/02/2016 - 6:30pm - 9:30pm

February 2016 – Ron Midgett

Ron MidgettRon MidgettWe are pleased to welcome Ron Midgett of New Earth Orchids, NM, as our speaker for February.   Ron is an accomplished orchid hybridizer who will be describing his cattleya hybridizing efforts with a talk entitled   ‘Beyond Sc. Beaufort – A 20 Year Odyssey in Cattleya Breeding’.  Ron’s visit is being co-sponsored by POS and SDCOS, thus he will be talking about his experiences with oncidium hybrids at SDCOS on Tuesday evening with the talk “Oncidinae Intergeneric Hybrids—What Are They and How Do I Grow Them?”.  He also will be providing the POS opportunity table and have some of his novel cattleyas crosses available for purchase.

Ron began growing orchids in 1969 in an orchid-rich environment of Southern California. Since then, he has grown orchids in many different regions of the US and in the Caribbean for 3 years. Currently, Ron resides in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He is a breeder with an emphasis on Cattleyas, Paphiopedilums, and Oncidinae. Several cultivars from his crosses have received AOS awards.  

In 1990, Ron founded the New England Orchid Company in Franklin, MA. In 2003 he moved his orchid business to New Jersey and changed the name to New Earth Orchid Co., aka, New Earth Orchids. In 2010, New Earth Orchids was moved to Santa Fe, NM.

In addition to Ron’s activities in the orchid business, he has been very active in the local orchid societies wherever he lived. This includes serving as an officer, chairing orchid shows, and running the New England Orchid Fair for 3 years.  Before leaving New Jersey, Ron founded the Jersey Highlands Orchid Society.

Date: 
Wed, 02/03/2016 - 6:30pm - 9:30pm

January 2016 – Orchid Culture Class with Alex Nadzan and Jerry Spencer

We start out 2016 with a meeting devoted to orchid culture.  This topic will be highly beneficial for many of our newer members who are just entering the wonderful world of orchids. Experienced member will gain some new insights from the presentations as well.  

Alex Nadzan will address the basics of orchid culture, by reviewing the common orchid classes and emphasizing the basic light, temperature and cultural preferences for each class. He will bring in examples of each class and provide suggestions for growing them successfully.  Jerry Spencer, our expert cymbidium grower, will review the basic cultural requirements for cymbidiums and give a timely demonstration on repotting of these wonderful orchids that are well suited to our San Diego growing conditions. Members also are welcome to bring any orchid questions for the speakers.

Our plant table will be comprised of numerous Australian dendrobiums donated by Ruben Colmenares and several of Fred Clarke’s select cattleya divisions given to us at year’s end.

Date: 
Wed, 01/06/2016 - 6:30pm - 9:30pm