Palomar Orchid Society

Welcome to the Palomar Orchid Society!

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.

Next Monthly Meeting

Next general meeting: August 5, 2026

The Palomar Orchid Society generally meets at 4:00 pm the FIRST WEDNESDAY of every month in the Activity Room 108 of the Pine Avenue Community Center located at 3209 Harding Street, Carlsbad, CA 92008.

IMPORTANT NOTE: For June, July, and August of 2026 the meeting location and time have changed: due to a conflict in scheduling, we are temporarily meeting at the Senior Center (799 Pine Ave, Carlsbad, CA 92008) adjacent to our current Pine Avenue Community Center location with the meeting running from 5-8 pm. There is ample parking and the meeting room is slightly smaller but will work for the 3 months listed. Starting September, we are back at the Community Center and the regular time slot from 4-7pm.

August 2026 - Jack Zhu: “An Adventure in Asian Cymbidium’s Natural Habitat” →

February 2024 – Donna Ballard

Wed, 02/07/2024 6:30pm – 9:30pm

Our society welcomes for the first time Donna Ballard of the San Fernando Valley Orchid Society who will talk to us on ‘Growing Orchids in the Middle of a Drought’. Although we are not under drought conditions at this time, most of our summers and falls in Southern California experience serious drought conditions and we can clearly benefit from Donna’s experience and suggestions for managing our orchids under such conditions. Donna is a shared speaker with our sister society SDCOS and she will be speaking on ‘The Difference Between Orchid Seedlings and Meristem Clones’ on Tuesday, February 6th in Balboa… [Continue Reading]

January 2024 – Carol Beule

Wed, 01/03/2024 6:30pm – 9:30pm

We are delighted to welcome Carol Beule from Holllywood Hills to our society as our first speaker of 2024. Carol will talk on ‘Sarchochilus’ a wonderful compact species from Australia that does well in our Southern California climate. While Sarcochilus can be grown in a greenhouse, they can easily grow alongside cattleyas and any other outdoor growing orchids in our area. The species have been extensively hybridized to produce Sarcos in a variety of colors and sizes and, as such, they are perfect additions to every orchid enthusiast’s collection. Most are compact but they also can develop into large specimen… [Continue Reading]

December 2023 – Holiday Dinner

Wed, 12/06/2023 6:30pm – 9:30pm

Our 2023 Holiday Dinner will be held on December 6, 2023 starting at 6:30 pm in the George and Patricia Gowland Meeting Room located in the Carlsbad City Library. Dinner will be catered at the cost of $30 per person, which includes good Chinese food, soft drinks, water and delicious desserts. Every guest will be gifted a blooming or near blooming orchid.Please mail the completed RSVP form by November 27th to Bill Wong with your check made payable to the Palomar Orchid Society. We cannot accept payment and/or walk-ins at the day of the event.

November 2023 – George Hatfield’s Webinar on “Cultural Techniques for Growing Award-Winning Cymbidiums’

Wed, 11/01/2023 6:30pm – 9:30pm

The onset of fall initiates the cymbidium flowering season that can last through late spring to early summer. Accordingly, we felt it would be good to review cymbidium culture at this time. As an affiliate member of AOS, our society has access to a large number of webinars featuring excellent orchid experts on a variety of topics. George Hatfield, cymbidium hybridizer and grower extraordinaire, produced an excellent webinar on how he grows award-winning cymbidiums. George covers numerous cultural techniques that allow him to produce such beautiful cymbidiums. He also addresses pests and diseases. We will feature George’s video, then ask… [Continue Reading]

October 2023 – Doug Overstreet

Wed, 10/04/2023 6:30pm – 9:30pm

We are delighted to welcome Douglas Overstreet, Orchid Specialist of the Thornton Conservatory at the Huntington Botancial Garden. Doug will present his talk on ‘My 10 Favorite Oncidiums, Some of Which are Still Oncidiums’. Doug is a shared speaker with our sister society, SDCOS, and he will be presenting the same topic on Tuesday in Balboa Park.’ Doug is a very experienced orchidist who has extensive knowledge on a large number of orchid genera. His talk will present a selection of beautiful and enjoyable species of plants in the Oncidiinae alliance that are easy to locate and grow in southern… [Continue Reading]

September 2023 – Tim Culbertson

Wed, 09/06/2023 6:30pm – 9:30pm

We are delighted to welcome back one of our favorite speakers, Tim Culbertson. Tim will be speaking on ‘Encyclias of Mexico and Beyond’. This is a very timely talk as many members of the Encyclia family are blooming at this time so Tim’s presentation will be very educational for our members. These spectacular cattleya relatives grow well outside in Southern California, and with their compact habit, great fragrance, and ease of growth, these are delightful plants for every collection. By extending the traditional definition of Encyclias to include recently separated groups like Anacheilum, Panarica, Prosthechea, Euchile, and others that Tim… [Continue Reading]

August 2023 – Satomi Kasahara

Wed, 08/02/2023 6:30pm – 9:30pm

We are pleased to welcome this month’s speaker Satomi Kasahara of Seed Engei who will speak about Neofinetia falcata, a native orchid of Japan. She is being jointly hosted by our society and SDCOS and will speak on the same topic in Balboa Park on Tuesday evening. Satomi will talk about the history of the plants, their basic characteristics, how to grow them, changes in Fūkiran over the past 15 years and will conduct a potting demo. Satomi also will be providing the plant table this month. Recently, the genus Neofinetia has been reclassified as Vanda but many hobbyists prefer… [Continue Reading]

July 2023 – Peter Lin

Wed, 07/05/2023 6:30pm – 9:30pm

We welcome back Peter Lin, one of our favorite and very knowledgable speakers who will be presenting his newest talk: Compact Vandaceous Species and Hybrids. We will learn about the many different small growing species and hybrids within the Vanda alliance. Several of these orchids can be grown successfully outdoors in Southern California, depending on the parents involved in the hybrid or the species. Peter’s fast-paced PowerPoint presentation will include many pictures along with cultural tips. Peter also will be providing the plant opportunity table. The talk will be streamed on zoom for those members who can’t attend in person.Peter… [Continue Reading]

June 2023 – Jack Zhu

Wed, 06/07/2023 6:30pm – 9:30pm

Our society is delighted to welcome Jack Zhu for the first time as our speaker on Wednesday, June 7th at 6:30 pm. Jack is a shared speaker with SDCOS and will speak with our sister society on Tuesday evening June 6th in Balboa Park. Jack will speak with us on the ‘Form and Color of Asian Cymbidiums’. He will give a brief introduction of Asian cymbidium history as well as the main species typically accepted in the Asian cymbidium culture. Then, Jack will go into details about the various flower forms and colors of various Asian cymbidiums. In the end,… [Continue Reading]

May 2023 – Fred Clarke

Wed, 05/03/2023 6:30pm – 9:30pm

We welcome back this month, Fred Clarke of Sunset Valley Orchids, one of our most favorite and impressive speakers. Fred will present a new talk entitled ‘Modern Blue Cattleyas’ that reviews the successes he has had in developing novel blue and spotted blue cattleyas by using several of the blue or coerulea cattleya species available to hybridizers. Fred also will discuss orchid culture and repotting which is a very timely topic as we enter the spring repotting and dividing season. Fred will be providing the plant opportunity table so bring yourself and friends for a very interesting and stimulating talk.… [Continue Reading]