This month our speaker is Tyler Albrecht. Tyler will be speaking on Australian Dendrobiums: Finding the Right Fit for Your Home Growing.

Dendrobium delicatum

The meeting will be a hybrid IN PERSON/ZOOM meeting. Please contact Henry Shaw (dvosshowandtell@gmail.com) if you want the link for the ZOOM meeting. But I would certainly try to be at the meeting in person.

Tyler will be supplying the raffle table.

Tyler’s Orchid Biography
“Orchids have been a thing of interest, passion, mystery, disappointment, exploration, and love of mine since I was 8 years old. It’s all my father’s fault for introducing me to Cymbidiums in the early 80’s. After finding success in not killing Cyms for a year or so, I tried some other genera and fell in love with Paphiopedilums and a keen interest in all things weird.
Living in the Bay Area was great for Orchid enthusiasts, and access to many fantastic people who later went on to become mentors to me early on in growing. People like Lil Severin, Dennis Olivas, Gerardus Staal and Dorothy Stevens to name just a few. Now I am surrounded by some additionally fantastic mentors who are not only encouraging but incredible people as well.
Fast forward 30 something years and with a short hiatus for five years, I’m back full steam doing what I love, growing orchids. With an eye on the future and blessing from my wife of 15 years, things are set in motion to transition to full time nursery production in the coming years. Also immersing myself into the AOS Judging program with the California Sierra Nevada Judging Center. In the meantime, my day job is servicing aquarium and ponds out of our home in Loomis at the base of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Other day jobs include shuttling my daughter Reagan back and forth to the barn where she rides as a competitive Hunter/Jumper at shows around the state and region. Also making sure that my son Reece gets to his Taekwondo studio where he recently acquired his blackbelt and his various competitions! And last but certainly not least, go out on the occasional date with my lovely wife Dana……when we are not knee deep in kid and work stuff.”

Dinner with the Speaker
Members of DVOS are invited to a no-host, pre-meeting dinner with our guest speaker, Tyler Albrecht. We will meet for dinner at 5 PM on Thursday September 14th at:
Aung Burm, 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 5 PM Wednesday, September 13th so that she can make reservations.

Dendrobium x suffusum ‘Reece’ HCC/AOS

This is one of Tyler’s recently awarded Australian Dendrobiums

We will NOT be meeting at Contra Costa Water District August 10!!

We will have the Annal Auction and Picnic Saturday August 12 instead.

Donation plant submission starts 9:00-9:30

Auction starts at 10:00
Pleasant Hill Park
147 Gregory Ln
Pleasant Hill, CA 94523

It is in Area #3 (just north of the parking lot in the southeast corner of the park).  We need help the day of the auction. If you have any of these items, PLEASE BRING THEM… Chairs, Tables, Shade-tents, umbrellas, refreshments.

Pleasant Hill Park Site

The Picnic

Immediately following the auction we will have a picnic at the same location. Provided: Plates, cups, utensils.

Please bring potluck picnic fare to share: Salads, Mains, Desserts, Beverages.

• Come to the auction and bid. This is your opportunity to obtain some excellent and potentially unusual/rare plants. It could also be your opportunity to get a division of one of those plants you saw at a Show and Tell or on Facebook that you coveted. Everyone can find a little space for a new orchid!
• Publicize the event and invite your friends to attend. The Auction and picnic are open to the public. Tell the members of any other orchid, garden, or plant clubs you belong to about the event. If you know someone who buys Trader Joe’s Phals. and might want to explore other species, invite them! We are
  actively trying to rebuild our membership post-COVID.
• Volunteer to help set up before and clean up after the event.
• Bring some food and drink and spend time socializing with other DVOS members after the auction. Remember to bring your own chair!

The auction will start around 10 AM, with setup and logging-in of donations about an hour earlier. The auction should be over by noon, which will leave us ample time to make use of the
picnic and barbeque facilities of the venue. Additional details will be forthcoming in the August Newsletter.

This year we have again a catalog for the auction.

DVOS August 2023 Plant Auction Catalog.  and

2023 DVOS August Auction Catalog ADDENDUM 230808

All of the plants in this catalog will be available to bid on as well as all of the plants that come in the day of the auction. Distribute this catalog to anyone who might be interested.  Start making your list of must haves!

YOU CANNOT BE PRESENT IN PERSON, BUT WOULD LIKE TO BID on items in the catalog, we have appointed Pat Bacchetti to act as Proxy and bid for you. Please contact her at bacpab@comcast.net no later than August 6 for details.

Safe the Date!

DVOS Fall Auction August 12, 2023

Planning is underway for our annual auction, which will return to our pre-COVID format and include a picnic/barbeque as part of the event. This year, the event will be held under the trees at the Pleasant Hill Park, 147 Gregory Lane, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523

Our Fall auction is our main fundraising event of the year. The funds the Society receives as a result of this event provide the resources we need to bring in the wonderful speakers and plant tables that we have at our monthly meetings, as well as pay for social events like the annual Holiday Dinner. Ideally all our members will participate this year. There are many ways to participate:

• Donate plants.   It’s summer and therefore repotting time for many of us. Designate some nice juicy divisions to donate to the DVOS auction. Pot those plants now so that they will be well-adjusted and growing by the time of the auction. We will be putting together an auction catalog again this year. Instructions for submitting information on donated plants for the catalog will be sent in an e-mail to all members.
• Come to the auction and bid. This is your opportunity to obtain some excellent and potentially unusual/rare plants. It could also be your opportunity to get a division of one of those plants you saw at a Show and Tell or on Facebook that you coveted. Everyone can find a little space for a new orchid!
• Publicize the event and invite your friends to attend. The Auction and picnic are open to the public. Tell the members of any other orchid, garden, or plant clubs you belong to about the event. If you know someone who buys Trader Joe’s Phals. and might want to explore other species, invite them! We are
  actively trying to rebuild our membership post-COVID.
• Volunteer to help set up before and clean up after the event.
• Bring some food and drink and spend time socializing with other DVOS members after the auction. Remember to bring your own chair!

The auction will start around 10 AM, with setup and logging-in of donations about an hour earlier. The auction should be over by noon, which will leave us ample time to make use of the
picnic and barbeque facilities of the venue. Additional details will be forthcoming in the August Newsletter..

This month our speaker is George Hatfield. George will share his wisdom and experience in growing and breeding Cymbidiums.

The meeting will be a hybrid IN PERSON/ZOOM meeting. Please contact Henry Shaw (dvosshowandtell@gmail.com) if
you want the link for the ZOOM meeting. But I would certainly try to be at the meeting in person. Dennis Olivas will be supplying the raffle table.

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

George’s Orchid Biography

George graduated with honors from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona with a Bachelor of Science in Plant and Soil Science. George is the founder of Hatfield Orchids which was established in 1999.

George served as President of the American Orchid Society 2016 – 2018.

George received the Hudlow Trophy from the Cymbidium Society of America recognizing his achievements in Cymbidium hybridizing.

Cym. Pinata x Cym. Kirby Lesh

There will not be a ‘speaker dinner’ before the meeting.

Cymbidium Lambert Day ‘Amber’

Safe the Date!

DVOS Fall Auction August 12, 2023

Planning is underway for our annual auction, which will return to our pre-COVID format and include a picnic/barbeque as part of the event. This year, the event will be held under the trees at the Pleasant Hill Park, 147 Gregory Lane, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523

Our Fall auction is our main fundraising event of the year. The funds the Society receives as a result of this event provide the resources we need to bring in the wonderful speakers and plant tables that we have at our monthly meetings, as well as pay for social events like the annual Holiday Dinner. Ideally all our members will participate this year. There are many ways to participate:

• Donate plants.   It’s summer and therefore repotting time for many of us. Designate some nice juicy divisions to donate to the DVOS auction. Pot those plants now so that they will be well-adjusted and growing by the time of the auction. We will be putting together an auction catalog again this year. Instructions for submitting information on donated plants for the catalog will be sent in an e-mail to all members.
• Come to the auction and bid. This is your opportunity to obtain some excellent and potentially unusual/rare plants. It could also be your opportunity to get a division of one of those plants you saw at a Show and Tell or on Facebook that you coveted. Everyone can find a little space for a new orchid!
• Publicize the event and invite your friends to attend. The Auction and picnic are open to the public. Tell the members of any other orchid, garden, or plant clubs you belong to about the event. If you know someone who buys Trader Joe’s Phals. and might want to explore other species, invite them! We are
  actively trying to rebuild our membership post-COVID.
• Volunteer to help set up before and clean up after the event.
• Bring some food and drink and spend time socializing with other DVOS members after the auction. Remember to bring your own chair!

The auction will start around 10 AM, with setup and logging-in of donations about an hour earlier. The auction should be over by noon, which will leave us ample time to make use of the
picnic and barbeque facilities of the venue. Additional details will be forthcoming in the August Newsletter.

This month our speaker is Dave Sorokowsky of Paph Paradise.  The title of his talk will be “Don’t Fear the Slippers”.   This will be a talk about culture of these beautiful plants.

The meeting will be a hybrid in person/ZOOM meeting. Please contact Henry Shaw (dvosshowandtell@gmail.com) if you want the link for the ZOOM meeting. But I would certainly try to be at the meeting in person.  Dave will be supplying the raffle table. 

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

Dave’s Orchid Biography

After receiving his degree in biochemistry from the University of Toronto, Dave opted to step outside his chosen field and operated a tropical fish import business for eight years.  Upon returning to school, Dave received a degree in enology and viticulture from Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario.  While attending Brock, Dave began acquiring orchids one 2” pot at a time and before he graduated, Dave had over 100 orchids.  Winemaking and a passion for orchids prompted Dave to seek a warmer climate in California about one year later.  Dave has been growing paphiopedilums for about 15 years and seriously hybridizing for the past 10 years.  He is an accredited AOS judge and his paphiopedilums have received over 100 awards to date from the AOS and CSA. Many of those awarded plants playing important roles in his breeding program. In 2018 Dave left winemaking in order to focus all of his time running Paph Paradise Orchids.

Please visit Dave’s site: https://paphparadise.com/ to see the plants he has available for sale.    Macabre Midnight ‘Dornfelder’ HCC/AOS is one of Dave’s recent AOS awarded plants.

Paph. Macabre Midnight ‘Dornfelder’ HCC/AO

Members of DOVS are invited to a no-host, pre-meeting dinner with our guest speaker.  We will meet for dinner at 5 PM on Thursday June 08 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 07 so that I can make reservations.

This month our speaker is Marni Turkel (pronounced tur KELL).  The title of her talk will be “Show Me the Plant”.  The meeting will be a hybrid in person/ZOOM meeting. Please contact Henry Shaw (dvosshowandtell@gmail.com) if you want the link for the ZOOM meeting. But I would certainly try to be at the meeting in person.  Marni will be supplying the raffle table. 

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

“Show Me the Plant” is a presentation that uses images of blooming specimen plants as well as close-ups to consider the whole plant for a sense of proportion and relationship and not the flower in isolation. Marni will be talking about many of her favorite plants and will cover some basic information as well as specific needs for individual plants and strategies for growing specimen plants. This is a chance to see some of the best of her collection and learn how she grows it.

Marni’s Orchid Biography

Marni is a native of the San Francisco Bay Area and has been growing orchids since 1980. She grows in four greenhouses in Santa Rosa with approximately 1250 sq ft of growing space. Her main interest is in 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. 

Starting in 2009, Marni expanded her work with orchids to include propagation of orchids from seed and has set up a flasking lab of her own to take the process from start to finish and sell flasks of many of the orchids species in her collection. After working for over 43 years as a potter, she has retired from ceramics to pursue orchids full-time.

The April meeting will a hybrid in-person/Zoom meeting.

Please contact Henry Shaw (dvosshowandtell@gmail.com) if you want the link for the ZOOM meeting. But I would certainly try to be at the meeting in person. Peter will be supplying the raffle table.

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

Peter started growing orchids over 40 years ago, but then stopped due to school and starting a career. It wasn’t until about 15 years ago that the orchid “bug” came back, and he is now heavilyinvolved once again! He is an accredited judge with the American Orchid Society, and a hybridizer of mini-catts. He enjoys meeting with other orchid enthusiasts and can often be found at various orchid shows and societies around the country.

Due to limited growing space, Peter likes to specialize in miniature orchids, both species and hybrids, and has received numerous AOS awards. His interests in orchids include Dendrobiums, Angraecoids, and Neofinetias. He is also known as “Mr Sophronitis” as he has a passion for growing and collecting them. He maintains a collection of a several thousand orchids at his home in Southern California in 3 small greenhouses, outdoors, as well as an offsite greenhouse.

The March meeting will again be an in-person meeting.

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

Ron Parsons has been growing orchids for more than 40 years and has been interested in and has grown species for most of that time. Ron loves to photograph orchids and other flowers whenever he can, whether it be in trips to see them in nature or in collections. Ron has nearly 60,000 digital images, most of which are orchids, and still retains a slide library that exceeds 100,000 botanical images. He has over 3000 published photos that have appeared in magazines, periodicals, journals and books. Ron has co-authored three botanical books, all with Mary Gerritsen. The first two, published by Timber Press, are Masdevallias, Gems of the Orchid World; Calochortus, Mariposa Lilies and their Relatives. Most recently the third book, a large, luxurious 2-volume set A Compendium of Miniature Orchid Species was published by RedFern Natural History Productions. The latter has nearly 1200 pages, 1800 photographs and features more than 500 species.

Members of DVOS are invited to a no-host, pre-meeting dinner with our guest speaker, Ron Parsons.  We will meet for dinner at 5 PM on Thursday March 09 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, March 08 so that I can make reservations.

February meeting will be ZOOM ONLY

Because our monthly meeting is the day before the set up for the show and sale, we decided to spend that time preparing for the
show. The meeting will be via ZOOM. Members will receive a link to the meeting by email in the next couple of days.

Before Opening

Topics:

 Overview of show calendar
o Friday set up
o Saturday

 Ribbon judging
 AOS judging
 Member sales
 Speakers
 Clean up
 Volunteer opportunities still available
 Preparing you plants for the show
o Trimming, washing, staking
o Check for pests
o How to label your plants
o What happens when you get your plant to the show

Live monthly meeting!

The January Meeting starts at 7:15 pm PST at the Contra Costa Water District Building Board Room.  Doors open at 6:30 pm for Show & Tell setup and conversation.

Tanya Lam

This month’s topic should be interesting to everyone. We are all trying to create collections with at least a few blossoms to enjoy, no matter the time of year. Many of us are also becoming more interested in growing more of the many fascinating orchid species. This lecture brings together both of these desires in a talk about long lasting and frequently blooming orchid species.

Our January speaker will be Tanya Lam. Tanya is an accomplished orchid grower and has spoken to many societies on various orchid topics. She lives in San Jose California where she grows many orchid genera both outdoors and in greenhouses. Tanya juggles her time to work full time, travel frequently for business, take care of family, and tend to her orchid collections. As Tanya has expanded her collections over the past 20 years, she has tried to have different orchids in bloom every day of the year. She does not want to miss seeing the blooms just because she is on business trips. After seeing plants grow in their habitats in Thailand, Brazil, Ecuador, Australia, and China, she realized that acquiring an orchid collection that encompasses the geographical diversity of orchids would help her achieve her goals. Tanya has now grown species from every continent and continues to search for long lasting and frequently blooming species to add to her collections.

For her presentation this month, she will share a list of recommended plants, including photos and a brief overview of the growing conditions for each. This is a great opportunity to learn about some orchid species that will add diversity and flowers to your collection. Don’t miss it!

Members of DVOS are invited to a no-host, pre-meeting dinner with our DVOS guest speaker. We will meet for dinner at 5 pm on Thursday, January 12 at Aung Burma, 2151 Salvio St. Suite E, Concord, CA 94520   <https://www.aungburmaca.com/>.

This restaurant is a 5-minute drive from the meeting venue.  If you wish to attend, please RSVP to bonddiane9@gmail.com by 5 pm Wednesday, January 11 so that Diane can make reservations.