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.

March 2023 – Culture Class

Wed, 03/01/2023 6:30pm – 9:30pm

Our March meeting represents the first culture meeting of the year that features two our very experienced orchid growers, Ken Campbell and Jerry Spencer, who will share their orchid knowledge with us. Ken will speak to us about pest and virus management. Ken has considerable experience in growing orchids in his small greenhouse that contains both mounted and potted cattleyas, phalaenopsis and hanging vandas. Ken says that if managing the temperature, the amount of light, and an irrigation and fertilization schedule isn’t enough of a challenge growing orchids, let’s not forget dealing with our friends the orchid pests. Creepy little… [Continue Reading]

February 2023 – Brandon Tam

Wed, 02/01/2023 6:30pm – 9:30pm

We are delighted to welcome back our friend Brandon Tam, Orchid Collection Specialist at the Huntington Library, who will take us through a virtual tour of The Huntington’s Orchid Collection. As the Orchid Collection Specialist, Brandon curates one of the largest and most diverse orchid species collections in the world, including over 1500 unique species and 3,600 different varieties across 280 orchid genera. He oversees day-to-day horticultural operations, including acquisitions, propagation, conservation, and supervision of over 40 orchid volunteers. Under Brandon's stewardship, The Huntington has won over 100 awards from the American Orchid Society. He supervises numerous public education events,… [Continue Reading]

January 2023 – Carol Klonowski

Wed, 01/04/2023 6:30pm – 9:30pm

For our first meeting of the year, we are pleased to welcome Carol Klonowski from the Bay area, who will speak on the ‘Orchids of South Africa’. Carol will take everyone on a tour of the orchid growing areas of this fascinating part of Africa and the world. Long known as one of the garden hot-spots of the planet, South Africa has a diverse and fascinating number of habitats and climates that provide a robust setting for flora and fauna of all types. Hear about the ‘other’ orchids Down Under and how to grow them in your collection. South Africa… [Continue Reading]

2022 Holiday Dinner

Wed, 12/07/2022 6:30pm – 9:30pm

Our 2022 Holiday Dinner will be held on December 7, 2022 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 soft drinks and water. Every guest will be gifted an orchid.Please mail the completed RSVP form by December 1 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 2022 – Arnold Gum

Wed, 11/02/2022 6:30pm – 9:30pm

We are delighted to welcome back Arnold Gum as speaker for our November meeting. Arnie will present the talk ‘Orchid Sherlock’ which addresses genetic influences of different species. Arnie will teach us how to spot what's in the background of your orchids. He will talk about tag sleuthing (broken tags, faded tags, lost tags, etc.) including Cattleya species influences and Phalaenopsis species influences. Arnie is an excellent and engaging speaker who readily shares his wealth of knowledge with the orchid community. It is a talk not to be missed.Arnie recently retired in July of this year from his career as… [Continue Reading]

October 2022 – Peter Lin

Wed, 10/05/2022 6:30pm – 9:30pm

We are delighted to welcome back one of our favorite speakers Peter Lin. Peter will be presenting his newest talk on: ‘Orchids Alfresco! Best Orchids to Grow Outdoors’. This fast paced PowerPoint presentation will show you some of the best orchid species and hybrids to grow outdoors in Southern California. Peter will also discuss some of the challenges to growing outside and some great tips to overcome them. Peter started growing orchids over 30 years ago, but then stopped due to school and starting a career. It wasn't until about 10 years ago that the orchid "bug" came back and he… [Continue Reading]

September 2022 – Jerry Spencer and Ken Campbell

Wed, 09/07/2022 6:30pm – 9:30pm

For September, we welcome two of our veteran, highly successful orchid hobbyists, Ken Campbell and Jerry Spencer, to present our second culture session of the year. Both members have received multiple awards for their impressive orchids at local shows and each has several years of experience in growing and maintaining a variety of orchid classes. For this novel culture meeting, Ken and Jerry will discuss the challenges of growing in greenhouse and shade structure environments and the steps they take to grow their most beautiful orchids. Not only are they growing in different environments, but their collections are at the… [Continue Reading]

July 2022 – Scott McGregor

Wed, 07/06/2022 6:30pm – 9:30pm

We are delighted to welcome Scott McGregor to speak on "Pushing Limits -- Growing Species in Southern California.” We are blessed to live in a great climate for growing orchids outdoors and Scott will share with us his story of an experiment to try growing over 500 orchid species without a greenhouse in coastal Southern California. Not all succeeded, but many that were thought to require a greenhouse have been proven to thrive in our climate. Scott’s talk will inspire those without a greenhouse to try some new species, and for those with a greenhouse -- you can make room… [Continue Reading]

June 2022 – Fred Clarke

Wed, 06/01/2022 6:30pm – 9:30pm

We are happy to welcome back Fred Clarke who will speak on ‘Spotted and Splashed Cattleyas’. Spotted and splashed cattleyas come in many colors and shapes. Fred will teach us about the important breeding plants and what hybrids are available for the orchid enthusiast and highlight many of the interesting orchids he has developed in this class. In conclusion Fred will cover the ‘best growing practices’ for cultivation of these colorful and showy orchids.As many of you know, Fred is a world renown hybridizer and grower of award winning cattleya species and hybrids as well as several other classes of… [Continue Reading]

May 2022 – Carlos Lopez

Wed, 05/04/2022 6:30pm – 9:30pm

POS welcomes back our friend Carlos Lopez as our May speaker. Carlos will present an interesting talk on ‘Habinerias and their Hybrids’. He will review the species and hybrids from this class of orchids and discuss culture and care for these unusual and beautiful terrestrial orchids.Many of us know Carlos from his work at Sunset Valley Orchids. Carlos is a Business student at Mira Costa College who has been cultivating orchids for over 10 years. His orchid venture began at the age of thirteen years old when he started to follow his father to work at Sunset Valley Orchids. Before… [Continue Reading]