It is that time of year again. Our annual holiday party is coming up.

Thursday, December 12, 2024

Set up 6:00 PM, Dinner 7:00 PM

Pleasant Hill Community Center

320 Civic Drive

Pleasant Hill, CA

Free for all for potluck, but if you’d like recommendations:

• A-G Hot Dish
• H-O Desserts
• P-Z Salads

We will have many of our favorite activities:

• Potluck dinner
• Gift exchange
• Dennis Olivas is providing a plant for members who have renewed their membership (for 2025) BEFORE the party.
• We have a liquor license, so you can bring wine or beer if you would like.
• If you’re bringing something Vegan, Gluten-Free, or Allergens, please bring a note card so people know what’s in the dish.

Doors open at 6:30pm for Show & Tell setup and conversations

Dennis Olivas

This month’s speaker will be a perennial crowd favorite- Dennis Olivas. Dennis will tell us about Asian Cymbidiums. The presentation will include live demonstrations, Q&A, and a PowerPoint presentation.

Doors open at 6:30pm for Show & Tell setup and conversations

Our speaker this month will be one of our own. Kathy Barrett has been growing orchids since the mid 1990s. She’s been a long-time
member of the DVOS (where she held every job except president) and the AOS where she was co-chair of the AOS Publication Board,
and member of the AOS Conservation Committee. She was also a member of the Orchid Conservation Alliance board. She edited
OrchidSafari an internet chatroom and email list – assuming anyone remembers that far back.

Kathy will give us a look at the past 40 years in the orchid business. She will cover the winding up and dissolving of the mega orchid ranges, the advent of the internet and today’s specialized small businesses and what this all means for orchid collectors. She will give us her view of the future of orchid collecting.

Kathy will not be joining us for dinner so the speakers dinner has been cancelled for this month.

SAVE THE DATE

DVOS Fall Auction and Picnic will be Sunday September 15, 2024

What to expect?

Please see 86 entries in the catalog so far.

DVOS Auction 2024 Catalog

Catalog-Addendum 

Doors open at 6:30pm for Show & Tell setup and conversations

Catesetum

Since we have no speaker this month, there will not be a dinner with the speaker.

______________________________________________________________________

SAVE THE DATE

DVOS Fall Auction and Picnic will be Sunday September 15, 2024

Doors open at 6:30pm for Show & Tell setup and conversations

Bob Hamilton Bio: Born in Berkeley, CA in 1946, one of four children of Berkeley-born parents. My education was at Berkeley schools. My career began as a scientific glassblower for UC Berkeley’s the Department of Electrical Engineer & Computer Sciences, (EECS) fabricating experimental electron tubes and lasers. As research funding waned I was tasked with designing the facilities and managing the equipment for EECS’ Microfabrication Facility, a shared semiconductor research used by about 400 researchers. I retired from UC after 50 years as Principal Development Engineer for the Marvell Nanofabrication Laboratory, the successor to the Microlab. Alumni from these labs are responsible for the donation of two new UC Berkeley Buildings.

In 1975 I met my partner John Leathers. Our first house came with a solarium and we began growing exotic plants and orchids. We have passionately pursued orchid raising for more than four decades. We grow in our home glass greenhouse and a rented greenhouse in Pacifica California. We hybridize plants and do our own lab work. John’s specialties are Pleurothallids and mine Odontoglossum, both cool growing Andean orchids. John received the American Orchid Society’s Hybridizer Award and I the President’s Award for my contributions to manipulating the chromosome numbers of orchids.

Together we operate Hawk Hill Orchids, a non-commercial effort at hybridizing as well as preserving high-elevation Andean orchids.

The Victorian Orchid Craze

At the end of the 19th Century through World War I orchid growing became a passion of the rich and famous. England was the epicenter of the craze. Given the volume of orchid imports the early hybrids contained genomes of some of the finest plants ever collected from nature. The switch from absolute faith based knowledge to science and exploration produced a frenzy, often competitive in the discoveries of nature. This talk is a 50/50 talk. The last part is about what John Leathers and I do and have been doing for almost 50 years. I’ll try and obey the 11th Commandment, “Thou Shalt Not Bore”.

Dinner with the Speakers:

Members of DVOS are invited to a no-host, pre-meeting dinner with our speaker, Bob Hamilton. We will meet for dinner at 5 PM on Thursday July 11th at:

Aung Burma, 2151 Salvio St Suite E, Concord, CA 94520

This restaurant is a 5-minute drive from the meeting venue. If you wish to attend, please RSVP to bonddiane9@gmail.com by 5PM Wednesday, July 10th so that Diane can make reservations.

Doors open at 6:30pm for Show & Tell setup and conversations

Ron Parsons

Ron Parsons has been growing orchids for nearly 49 years and has been interested in the species for most of that time. He loves to photograph orchids and other flowers whenever he can and does so as often as possible. Ron has more than 100,000 digital images, most of which are of orchids. He still retains a slide library that exceeds 100,000 botanical images. He has given more than 500 talks on various botanical topics and has nearly 6500 published photos. Ron has co-authored four books on botanical subjects, all with Mary E. Gerritsen. The first two, published by Timber Press, are Masdevallias, Gems of the Orchid World and Calochortus, Mariposa Lilies and their Relatives. Their third book, a two-volume set, A Compendium of Miniature Orchid Species was published by Redfern Natural History Productions in January 2014. In 2019 The American Orchid Society Guide to Orchids and their Culture was released, and is on its third printing. They have recently completed a fifth book, a much-revised second edition of A Compendium of Miniature Orchids Species. It is now in four volumes with 3100 photos (1800 of those are new), including those of more than 500 species not in the first edition. The set was released in early October, 2021.

Madagascar, A Land of Many Contrasts

The vast island nation of Madagascar, is a land that should be visited sooner rather than later. It is home to many hundreds of native orchid species, most of which are as unique as the other flora and the fauna of this fourth largest island in the world. Unfortunately, much of the land is environmentally devastated, but the wild areas are home to some of the most incredible experiences a person can have. Ron may not have had great initial impressions upon arrival and for the first several days, but as the trip progressed his feelings changed and he was filled with indelible and wonderful memories, and a longing to return.

Dinner with the Speakers:

Members of DVOS are invited to a no-host, pre-meeting dinner with our speaker, Ron Parsons. We will meet for dinner at 5 PM on Thursday June 13th at:

Aung Burma, 2151 Salvio St Suite E, Concord, CA 94520

This restaurant is a 5-minute drive from the meeting venue. If you wish to attend, please RSVP to bonddiane9@gmail.com by 5PM Wednesday, June 12th so that Diane can make reservations.

Doors open at 6:30pm for Show & Tell setup and conversations

 
Carol Klonowski has been growing orchids since the 1980’s when a friend in Berkeley, California, gave her a cattleya
and it bloomed out with three big, dark lavender flowers and an intoxicating fragrance. She built an entire greenhouse in her
backyard to accommodate the precious plant, which only led her to buying more orchids. Then another friend gave her a
gift membership to the Orchid Society of California, and it’s been a serious hobby and passion ever since. She can recall going to
monthly meetings where orchid legends such as the late Frank Fordyce would be available to answer the many questions an
eager hobbyist could ask.
Carol is currently the President of the Orchid Society of California and a fully Accredited Judge with the American Orchid Society,
California Sierra Nevada Judging Center.  She is starting her tenure as a Trustee for the American Orchid Society and writes for Orchids Magazine.

Bifoliate Cattleyas

This program talks about the ‘other’ plants of the genus Cattleya. These are the ones that have two, sometimes three leaves per pseudobulb and a wide color and pattern range. Besides
describing the 20 or so species in this group, the talk also explains how bifoliate cattleya hybrids make the spots, patterns, and color forms that brought a new palette to cattleya breeding.
Their culture can also be different from their large-flowered, unifoliate cousins. This talk is for anyone interested in learning more about Cattleyas, their culture, and their history.

Dinner with the Speakers:

Members of DVOS are invited to a no-host, pre-meeting dinner with our speakers, Paul and Karen Olson. We will meet for dinner at 5 PM on Thursday May 9th at:

Aung Burma, 2151 Salvio St Suite E, Concord, CA 94520

This restaurant is a 5-minute drive from the meeting venue. If you wish to attend, please RSVP to bonddiane9@gmail.com by 5PM Wednesday, May8th so that Diane can make reservations.

Doors open at 6:30pm for Show & Tell setup and conversations

 
Karen’s Bio: I have grown orchids for 37+ years and have been a member of the Napa Valley Orchid Society longer than anyone and I used to be the youngest member! I grow a variety of genera in my 16 ft. x 6 ft. greenhouse.  My current favorites are Masdevallias, Draculas and the Cattleya Alliance. My evaporative cooler keeps them pretty happy in the warm months. I love to travel and include orchid society meetings, botanical gardens or seeing orchids in nature as much as possible. I have even enjoyed orchids in the sands of Ireland.

Paul’s Bio: I started growing orchids 20 years ago after my wife gave me a blooming cymbidium.  Knowing nothing about it she saw an ad in the Napa paper for an orchid society meeting so I went to one and haven’t missed many since.  I have about 200 cymbidiums in front
of my east facing house front and a small greenhouse with about 200 mostly cattleya family orchids in the backyard.  Growing orchids is a great hobby and has led to some very nice friendships, among them members of your club, DVOS.

Karen and Paul will be talking about their recent trip to Africa:
Paul and I decided to join an Orchid Conservation Alliance 2 week tour in South Africa. But you can’t go to Africa and not see the large animals, so we added a 5 day safari to the beginning of our stay.  It was thrilling to see the animals sometimes only 10 feet away from our open roofed truck.  We will show you photos of animals and birds, the rocky landscape that is South Africa and of course lots of orchids and other interesting plants.  South Africa is one of the top areas in the world for plant diversity.

Dinner with the Speakers:

Members of DVOS are invited to a no-host, pre-meeting dinner with our speakers, Paul and Karen Olson. We will meet for dinner at 5 PM on Thursday April 11th at:

Aung Burma, 2151 Salvio St Suite E, Concord, CA 94520

This restaurant is a 5-minute drive from the meeting venue. If you wish to attend, please RSVP to dvosshowandtell@gmail.com by 5PM Wednesday, April 10th so that Henry can make reservations.

Dendrobium delicatum

The meeting is Mar. 14 at 7:15 pm PST, at the Concord Water District, 1331 Concord Ave, Concord 94521
Doors open at 6:30pm for Show & Tell setup and conversations

This month our speakers will be a group of Members:

• Diane Bond will introduce orchids and five interesting genera.
• Eileen will talk about orchid culture.
• Liz Charlton and Mara Kauffman-Puchall will cover repotting.

Dinner with the Speakers:

Members of DVOS are invited to a no-host, pre-meeting dinner with our speakers. We will meet for dinner at 5 PM on Thursday March 14th at:

Aung Burma, 2151 Salvio St Suite E, Concord, CA 94520

This restaurant is a 5-minute drive from the meeting venue. If you wish to attend, please RSVP to bonddiane9@gmail.com by 5PM Wednesday, March 13th so that Diane can make reservations.