Speaker’s Choice

Dear Orchid Friends,

The DVOS Board has discussed the COVID-19 concerns as they impact our upcoming meeting Thursday, March 12. We have decided to cancel this meeting. We have made this decision based on the document cited below.
Public Health Recommendations for COVID-19 – March 10, 2020 from the Contra Costa Health Sevices https://cchealth.org/coronavirus/pdf/COVID-19-Interim-Guidance-for-Social-Distancing.pdf Excerpt:
• Cancel or postpone large gatherings such as concerts, sporting events, celebrations, conventions, religious services and community events where 50 or more people are within arm’s length of each other.
• Cancel or postpone events for or attended by older adults or others who are at higher risk for severe illness.
I know that we are all interested in attending this meeting but our health and disease containment are the most important factor. Stay safe. I send you my greetings and will see you when this risk is past.

Regards,
Diane

Debra Attwood will give this presentation at a future time.

Debra Attwood: “It’s out of the pot, now what?” A practical demonstration of making the best choices for re-potting

Founder of Napa Valley Orchids, Debra Attwood is a third generation Napan who grows Angraecoids, species Phalaenopsis, Neofinetias, Maxillarias, Encyclias and what ever else catches her fancy. Her greenhouse maintains an intermediate temperature range and her plants thrive in the Mediterranean climate of Napa. In addition to caring for a greenhouse full of beautiful orchids, she consults, is a regular speaker at orchid societies and garden clubs and performs greenhouse maintenance for clients. She has taught orchid classes for many years, and still conducts workshops as time allows.

The Plant Table will be supplied by the speaker.  Debra Attwood will also bring some plants to sell.

Our no-host Speaker Dinner will be  at 5:30 p.m. is at Aung MayLika 1050 Contra Costa Blvd, Concord, CA 94423

If you have any orchid related question in need of an answer, our February meeting is for you! There will be a total of five speakers; Dennis Olivas; Eileen Jackson; Peter Ansdell; Sung Lee Han and Tom Pickford, all members of DVOS. Eileen, Peter, Sung and Tom will form a panel to answer your questions and Dennis will act as moderator with full powers to intervene.

Eileen Jackson

Eileen grows her Cymbidiums and many other award-winning orchids in Vallejo.

Peter Ansdell

Sung Han Lee

Peter is an inveterate Walnut Creek windowsill grower of Phalaenopsis species and hybrids.

Sung has won so many awards at DVOS with his Castro Valley Cattleyas and other species he is now hors concours and

Tom is an American Orchid Society judge growing innumerable different orchids, many of them beautifully mounted, in his greenhouse in Bolinas.

Tom-Pickford

Dennis will be accumulating written questions at the beginning of the evening or you may ask the panel “live”. Please do not bring plants. If your question involves a specific plant, please bring the clearest possible colored image. If you think the plant may be sick or has a pest, the panel would appreciate a typical leaf and/or an example of the pest in a closed plastic bag.

Dennis Olivas

The Plant Table will be supplied by the club.

Learn the basics about how to take care of your Sarcochilus orchid!

Dennis was born on the island of Kauai, Hawaii. As a lad he helped his mom grow her orchids and got hooked. He joined the Future Farmers of America and his project was raising and selling orchids.
In 1980 he moved to the mainland and swore off the orchid family; not for long, as he was introduced to Rod McLellan’s ‘Acres of Orchids’. First, he filled his home with upwards of 6,000 plants. Later he leased greenhouse space for his collection. A glutton for punishment, he continued to add to his collection, overflowing the 3,000 sq. ft. greenhouse in Half Moon Bay. Currently his greenhouse (D&D Flowers) is in Daly City.

Dennis has been president of Peninsula Orchid Society, San Francisco Orchid Society, Diablo View Orchid Society and the Santa Cruz Orchid Society. He is an accredited judge of the American Orchid Society. Dennis belongs to over 14 orchid societies and tries to assist them whenever possible.  

The Plant Table will be supplied by Dennis Olivas

Note Change in VENUE AND TIME for the December Meeting

6:00 pm – 10:00 pm at Pleasant Hill Community Center, 320 Civic Drive, Large Room

Gift Exchange and Small Auction

Setup at 6:00 pm with Dinner beginning at 7:00 pm

Turkey and ham and soft drinks will be provided by the Board … the rest … by you, our members! We have a liquor license, so you can BYOB!

For the potluck, bring a side dish, salad or desert … enough for 8 … according to the beginning letter of your last name…

A-G Desert, H-O Salad, P-Z Side Dish

For the Gift Exchange bring a nice plant (bug free) or an orchid related item (a pot, gardening tool etc … something that you would like to receive yourself).

There will also be a small auction for some very special items!

Note: This is a members only event… spouses/partners are welcome, too.

The 2020 dues should be paid by the January meeting, but feel free to pay at the party! ($30)

Holiday Party Bonus: The first 40 people who have paid dues for 2020 will receive a free plant grown by Dennis Olivas!  Please bring the completed form with your check. Renewal Form

Carol Klonowski as been growing orchids since the 1980s when a friend in Berkeley, California gave her a cattleya orchid 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 buy more orchids. Then another friend gave her a gift membership to the Orchid Society of California, and it’s been a serious hobby eve since.

Carol has served as director, vice president, and president of the Orchid Society of California for most of the past two decades and is currently a fully accredited judge with the American Orchid Society in the California Sierra Nevada Judging Center.

The History of Unifoliate Cattleyas

Carol Klonowski will explore the discovery, cultivation, and popularization of labiata-type cattleyas. She’ll start with their discovery in the jungles of Central and South America, follow them through the floral industry trade, and share how their popularity has re-emerged in recent years. Aside from Phalaenopsis, no other orchid comes to mind as quickly when someone mentions the phrase orchid flower. The culture information from the talk can easily apply to most other orchid genera.

DVOS speaker for October will be Dan Asbell of Asbell Orchids. Dan took over his father’s business of outdoor growing orchids in 2006. Since then he has changed the business from only cymbidiums to a great variety of orchids that are temperature tolerant and can survive outside all year.

He crosses cool growing with warm growing, runs his own lab and makes a living selling his creations. He will talk about his crosses and will have many on the raffle table.

The Plant Table will be supplied by Dan Asbell

DVOS members Eileen Jackson and Kathy Barrett are sharing their experiences of a trip on the Rio Negro in Brazil
in search of orchids in their native habitat.

In June 2019 Eileen and Kathy went on this trip organized by OCA – Orchid Conservation Alliance. The OCA mission is to save orchids in the wild.  Members of the OCA work to preserve orchids and orchid habitats. They create protected reserves where wild orchids can continue to live and blossom in the rain and sunshine. A side benefit is that everything else that lives in the reserve is protected too.

To learn more about OCA, the projects and past and future trips go to orchidconservationalliance.org

Here is a list of OCA Orchids in the Wild trips planned for 2020.

2019_09 AOS

The Plant Table will be supplied by Dennis Olivas

DVOS Auction – NEW DATE Aug 15th!

Note Change in VENUE for the July Meeting

at Pleasant Hill Community Center, 320 Civic Drive, McHale Room

Jim Heilig has been growing orchids for over 20 years. His interests have revolved around Phalaenopsis and relatives, along with many others. He has been breeding orchids for over 10 years with a particular interest in exploring the genetics of various Phalaenopsis species in simple hybrids (primary and near primary) with a goal of bringing fragrance and other traits back into standard type hybrids. Over the last several years his interest in breeding has turned to conserving Habnenaria species as well as creating hybrids. He grows most of his plants under lights, but after his move from Michigan to California has added plants that can grow outdoors in his coastal California environment such as Cymbidium, Lycaste, Laelia, and Cattleya.
Jim began his judging career at the Great Lakes Judging Center in Ann Arbor, MI and is currently a judge at the Pacific Central Judging Center. He is also a Trustee of the American Orchid Society.
Jim purchased his first Habenaria at the Greater Lansing Orchid Society Show in East Lansing, MI, from Natt’s Orchids in the mid-2000s. It was labelled “Habenaria rhodocheila Pink Form” and had an amazing clove fragrance. While several people said it would be impossible to grow, it flourished (and is still alive!). His Habenaria collection has grown considerably since that first plant. Jim will share what he has learned about Habenaria culture as well as discuss taxonomy and breeding. While having a reputation for being difficult (they really aren’t), the colors and forms of the various species and hybrids make Habenaria a rewarding and intriguing group of orchids to grow.

Our DVOS members Liz Charlton and Tom Pickford will demonstrate how and why to mount orchids on a variety of surfaces

Plant table will be provided  by California Orchids