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.

July 2019 – Norman Fang

Wed, 07/03/2019 6:30pm – 9:30pm

We are delighted to welcome Mr. Norman Fang to our society for the first time. Norman will speak to us on ‘Development of Harelquin Phalaenopsis’, which resulted in a major advancement in the popularity of Phals due to the generation of unusually colored and spotted patterns of these most popular orchids. Norman’s visit is co-sponsored with the San Diego County Orchid Society, where he will speak on ‘New Color Forms of Phalaenopsis Species’ on Tuesday, July 2 in Balboa Park. All of our members are invited to the talk and meeting. These are presentations not to be missed by one… [Continue Reading]

June 2019 – Paul Tuskes

Wed, 06/05/2019 6:30pm – 9:30pm

We are delighted to welcome back Dr. Paul Tuskes of the San Diego County Orchid Society as our June speaker. Paul will be giving us a talk on Schomburkias . His presentation will deal with three orchid genera Schomburgkia, Myrmecophila, and Laelia, which are really only two genera. Paul will examine the similarities and differences between Schomburgkia and its relatives, including morphology and DNA sequencing. What makes a genus? The rest of the talk will focus on the individual species and their culture… so bring your questions. This group of orchids is generally great outdoor growers in our area and… [Continue Reading]

April 2019 – Fred Clarke

Wed, 04/03/2019 6:30pm – 9:30pm

It is our distinct pleasure to welcome back one of our most favorite speakers, Fred Clarke. Fred will provide us with an update on his breeding efforts with Australian Dendrobiums in a talk title "Aussie Dendrobiums and Their Cultivation". Fred has been doing extensive work on improving the hybrids in this very interesting class of orchids. As several of you may know, Aussie Dends are very tough and hardy plants that do very well in our San Diego area. They are quite attractive orchids in that they are easy to grow, tolerant of heat and cold, have fragrant flowers, and… [Continue Reading]

March 2019 – Ken Campbell & Alex Nadzan

Wed, 03/06/2019 6:30pm – 9:30pm

Two of our more experienced members, Ken Campbell and Alex Nadzan, will speak on growing orchids in a greenhouse and outdoors under shade cloth, respectively. They will share their conditions and tips for successful growing a variety of orchids under a climate controlled environment and outdoors. The presentation should be educational for both experienced and novice orchid growers alike. It is a timely topic to kick off the 2019 orchid growing season as your plants emerge from their winter resting period. The plant table this month is provided by Cal Orchid of Santa Barbara.When Ken Campbell’s in-laws passed away about… [Continue Reading]

February 2019 – John Oswalt

Wed, 02/06/2019 6:30pm – 9:30pm

We are delighted to welcome John Oswalt, second VP of the SD County Orchid Society, who will speak on ‘Lessons Learned from Growing Cymbidium Orchids’. John’s talk will highlight his experiences in growing and repotting cymbidium orchids and provide useful tips to both new and experienced orchid growers. This is a very timely talk as winter and spring are the main times for cymbidium flowering and the ideal time to divide and repot them is shortly after their blooming period. This month’s plant table will be provided by Casa de las Orquideas.John Oswalt began growing orchids over 40 years ago… [Continue Reading]

January 2019 – Brandon Tam

Wed, 01/09/2019 6:30pm – 9:30pm

It is our distinct pleasure to welcome back Brandon Tam as our first speaker of 2019. Brandon will talk to us on "Wild Orchids of Ecuador" which resulted from a trip he took in May, 2017 that included Harold Koopowitz and others on a trek in Ecuador led by Pepe Portilla (President of Ecuagenera), where the group saw many wild orchids and focused on the study of Selenipedium aequinoctiale. Brandon’s presentation is a multimedia talk that includes both photos and videos of his trip highlighting the diversity of orchids found in Ecuador as well as the interesting local cuisine and… [Continue Reading]

November 2018 – Phyllis Prestia

Wed, 11/07/2018 6:30pm – 9:30pm

We are delighted to have one of our own longtime members, Phyllis Prestia, speak at our November meeting. She will talk on ‘Wild Orchids of France’ and her educational presentation will highlight her trip through the woods, meadows, and spectacular gorges of France in search of the spectacular and often elusive native terrestrial orchids. Having trekked extensively in France over the last five years, Phyllis will present several genera through photos taken in situ of the habitats where they grow and are being conserved in the wild. Both species and natural hybrids will be included. The beauty of the landscapes… [Continue Reading]

October 2018 – Angelic Nguyen

Wed, 10/03/2018 6:30pm – 9:30pm

We are happy to welcome Angelic Nguyen to our society as our October speaker. Angelic’s topic will be ‘The Fascinating Orchids of Vietnam’ where she will provide us information on established and new species identified from Vietnam.Angelic emigrated from Vietnam to the US in 1990 and has been growing orchids for over 20 years. She started her company, Orchid Design, in 1999 located in San Jose, CA and sells a variety of orchids at several orchid shows throughout California. Angelic grows several varieties of orchids including hybrids and species of cattleyas, phalanopsis, laelias, dendrobiums, oncidiums, paphs, phrags, lycastes, bulbophylums, and… [Continue Reading]

September 2018 – Tanya Lam

Wed, 09/05/2018 6:30pm – 9:30pm

It is a pleasure to welcome to our society for the first time Tanya Lam. Tanya hails from San Jose, CA, where she has been growing orchids since 1997. Tanya will be speaking on ‘ Helping your Orchids Thrive in Challenging Environments’. Since Tanya leads a very busy life juggling a full time job, frequently traveling for business, taking care of her family as well as her large orchid collection, she has had to develop successful conditions to grow her orchids to accommodate her life style and minimized the loss of plants during her travels.After seeing orchids growing in their… [Continue Reading]

August 2018 – Peter Lin

Wed, 08/01/2018 6:30pm – 9:30pm

We are delighted to welcome back Peter Lin to our society. Peter is an excellent speaker who is quite knowledgeable on many classes of orchids, their growth and culture. Peter will speak on "Favorite Fragrant Orchids". Along with the beauty of the flowers, many orchids have an alluring fragrance that is hard to beat in the plant world. This fast paced PowerPoint presentation will highlight some of Peter's favorite orchids with truly fragrant flowers, and how to grow them.Peter started growing orchids over 30 years ago, but then stopped due to school and starting a career. It wasn't until about… [Continue Reading]