Eyes on Orchids Newsletter of the Baton Rouge Orchid Society P.O. Box 66242—Baton Rouge, LA 70896-6242 October, 2012 - Volume 54 - Issue 9 www.batonrougeorchidsociety.org - 225.308.1404 –[email protected]October Meeting - Wednesday, October 17 - 7 p.m. Baton Rouge Garden Center - 7950 Independence Blvd. Program: “New Breeding Trends in Phalaenopsis from Taiwan & How to Grow Them Here” Presenter: Carlos Fighetti, former President American Orchid Society November Meeting - Saturday, November 3 at Houmas House - Darrow, LA Brunch at 10:30 a.m. Meeting at 11: a.m. Program: Mini Cattleyas In the absence of a President’s message I’m taking this space to announce our programs for this month and November since they’ll be fairly close together, and I don’t plan to send out an- other newsletter before the November meeting. Maybe afterwards . . . . . Maybe not. We’ll see. At any rate, the Program Committee has some outstanding guest speakers on tap for us. Plan to attend, as these are meetings that you don’t want to miss. This month we will have Carlos Fighetti, past President of the American Orchid Society, and phalaenopsis expert. In November we will hear Alan Koch, owner of Gold Country Orchids in Lin- coln, CA. More details below. The November gathering will be at Houmas House Plantation in Darrow. Below are directions for finding it. There will be a brunch starting at 10:30. Cost is $15. There is a menu with a large se- lection, and the food is excellent. If you’ve never visited Houmas House (www.houmashouse.com) - and even if you have - you’re in for a treat. It is probably Louisiana's best restoration, with sev- eral acres of beautiful plantation gardens. The facility opens at 9 a.m. for those of you who might want to get in a tour of the grounds before the brunch. Enter through the gift shop and say that you are going to the Orchid Brunch. You can also tour after the brunch, of course. A golf cart can be arranged for disabled persons. Directions to Houmas House from Baton Rouge Take Interstate - 10 East to Gonzales. Take Exit 179 (Hwy 44). Turn right off the exit onto Hwy 44 and proceed past Pelican Point Homes and Golf Club, across the intersection with LA Hwy 22. Af- ter you cross HWY 22, go about a half mile and turn right at the levee onto River Road. Houmas House is on your right in less than a half mile. Enter the parking area on the far side of the prop- erty just past the white fence along the front of the property. See biographical information on both speakers on Page 3
Transcript
Eyes on Orchids Newsletter of the Baton Rouge Orchid Society
Baton Rouge Garden Center - 7950 Independence Blvd.
Program: “New Breeding Trends in Phalaenopsis from Taiwan &
How to Grow Them Here”
Presenter: Carlos Fighetti, former President
American Orchid Society
November Meeting - Saturday, November 3 at
Houmas House - Darrow, LA
Brunch at 10:30 a.m. Meeting at 11: a.m.
Program: Mini Cattleyas
In the absence of a President’s message I’m taking this space to announce our programs for this month and November since they’ll be fairly close together, and I don’t plan to send out an-other newsletter before the November meeting. Maybe afterwards . . . . . Maybe not. We’ll see. At any rate, the Program Committee has some outstanding guest speakers on tap for us. Plan to attend, as these are meetings that you don’t want to miss. This month we will have Carlos Fighetti, past President of the American Orchid Society, and phalaenopsis expert. In November we will hear Alan Koch, owner of Gold Country Orchids in Lin-coln, CA.
More details below.
The November gathering will be at Houmas House Plantation in Darrow. Below are directions for finding it. There will be a brunch starting at 10:30. Cost is $15. There is a menu with a large se-lection, and the food is excellent. If you’ve never visited Houmas House (www.houmashouse.com) - and even if you have - you’re in for a treat. It is probably Louisiana's best restoration, with sev-eral acres of beautiful plantation gardens. The facility opens at 9 a.m. for those of you who might want to get in a tour of the grounds before the brunch. Enter through the gift shop and say that you are going to the Orchid Brunch. You can also tour after the brunch, of course. A golf cart can be arranged for disabled persons.
Directions to Houmas House from Baton Rouge Take Interstate - 10 East to Gonzales. Take Exit 179 (Hwy 44). Turn right off the exit onto Hwy 44 and proceed past Pelican Point Homes and Golf Club, across the intersection with LA Hwy 22. Af-ter you cross HWY 22, go about a half mile and turn right at the levee onto River Road. Houmas House is on your right in less than a half mile. Enter the parking area on the far side of the prop-
erty just past the white fence along the front of the property.
See biographical information on both speakers on Page 3
Board Members Clyde Howland, thru 2012 Lata Johnson, thru 2013 Beth Blackstock, thru 2014
SWROGA Representative: James Jeansonne AOS and Orchid Digest Representative: John Huner
Chairs of Standing Committees: Program Co-Chairs ♦ Lata John-son, Tin-Wein Yu, Tanner Single-ton Membership ♦ Bob Lank Finance ♦ Blair Many Librarian ♦ Bob Danka Refreshments ♦ Vacant
Minutes of September Meeting
President Danka called the meeting to order at 7:15 p.m. He wel-comed the following guests: Jim Gershey, Alisha Andrews, Trudy Blanchard, and Terrie Hoover. Alisha Andrews and Terrie Hoover joined the Society tonight. Lata reported that the Program Committee has scheduled Carlos Fighetti, a past AOS President, as the speaker for the October meeting. Blair gave the Treasurer’s report. See him for details. Patty and Bob D. presented the Nominating Committee’s nominees for the Officers and Board Member-at-Large for 2013. They are: Presi-dent: Bob Danka, Vice President: Bob Lank, Treasurer: Blair Many, Sec-retary: Valerie Creehan, and Board Member: Clyde Howland. There were no nominations from the floor. The election will be held in November. Bob D. reminded members of the SWROGA Show in Shreveport in late October. The Society will likely set up an exhibit. President Danka introduced our speaker, Frank Zachariah. Frank pre-sented a very informative program on the AOS criteria for “Judging Cattleya”. He showed pictures of flowers and made comparisons using the standards the Judges use. After the break, Lata picked the three plants chosen from the bloom table. Carolyn provided the refreshments; Frank furnished free garden plants and seedling orchids; James and Tin donated plants to the Silent Auction. The raffle was held and the meeting was adjourned at 8:50. Respectfully submitted,
, Secretary
Thanks to the Nominating Committee
Patty sends a big thank you to Pam Scholz, Frank Zachariah, Blair Many, and Clyde Howland who served with her on the Nominating Committee. She really appreciated their meeting and helping with the nominations. Election of new officers will happen at the October meeting. Nominees are President: Bob Danka; Vice-President Bob Lank; Secretary, Valerie Creehan; Treasurer, Blair Many; Board Member, Clyde Howland. I will continue as Newsletter Editor unless someone else would like the job. This is a volunteer job, not an elected office. This is probably a good place to express the Society’s thanks to the officers of 2011-2012 for the great job they have done this past year in leading the Society to greater heights! We ap-preciate all that they have done.
Did you know that . . . .An orchid blossom can be as small as the head of a pin or up to 11 inches across. There is one with a bloom that is only one cell thick. There have been rare orchids seen that are larger than 11 inches, with plants up to 25 feet tall.
About Our Speakers for October and November
Alan Koch (November 3)
In 1978 Alan and Cheryl Koch opened Koch Orchids in Newbury Park, California. At this location they concentrated on orchids that could grow outdoors in Califor- nia and some Cattleyas. Soon the Catt-leyas be- came the major interest and started to require more green-house space. A 16 x 30 foot greenhouse and two 10 x 60 foot lath house were soon outgrown and a new loca-tion was needed. In 1983 the move was made to Northern California. With the move, a new name was in order and Koch Orchids soon became Gold Country Orchids. For two years we leased greenhouse space in the Sac-ramento Valley, and in 1985 purchased 10 acres in Lincoln, California where we are to-day. We now have 3 modern greenhouses with rolling benches and computer controls to house our orchids. With 16,000 square feet of growing area and three climate zones we have plenty of room for all of our lovely plants. Alan Koch owns and operates Gold Coun-try Orchids where he specializes in miniature and compact Cattleya’s. Alan started grow-ing orchids in 1969 with three Cymbidiums given to him by an aunt. While in college, he became interested in other orchids and dis-covered many would grow outdoors in South-ern California. He has moved five times as his orchid obsession has led to the need for more growing space. With the last move, he purchased 10 acres of land in Lincoln, Cali-fornia for his 300,000 orchids. He is recog-nized as an expert in the Brazilian Cattleya alliance and a trend setter in miniature Catt-leya breeding. Alan has been published in the Orchid Digest, and the American Orchid Society magazines. He has also been pub-lished in the proceedings of the World Orchid Conference. He is an internationally known speaker. He is a past member of the AOS Judging Committee, and the Research Com-mittee, as well as an Accredited Judge and is
Carlos Fighetti (October 17)
Carlos Fighetti, past President of the American Orchid Society (AOS), has been involved in orchids for more than 30 years. He has served on the Board of the AOS, as Vice-President and President 2007 - 2008. He has also served as a mem-
ber of the AOS's Affiliated Society Committee; a member of the Information Committee for four years (three as its Chair); and the Library and Archives Committee, of which he was Chair for two years. Carlos has also been a member of the Finance Committee and has volunteered his time as a member of two Nominating Com-mittees of the Society. He is the past President and a current Trus-tee of the Greater New York Orchid Society, where he also served for eight years as show Chair of the prestigious New York International Orchid Show. In addition, he is a Trustee of the Ramapo Orchid Society, and a member of the North Jersey Orchid Society, the Manhattan Or-chid Society, the Puerto Rican Orchid Society and the Peruvian Orchid Society. Carlos was the founding president, and is currently 1st Vice-President and director, of the International Phalaenopsis Alliance. An accredited AOS Judge, Carlos has amongst his judging experiences two World Orchid Con-ferences, the Tokyo Grand Prix Orchid Show, the Taiwan show and several Latin American shows. He has lectured about orchids all over the USA and Canada, as well as at many inter-national venues. Carlos lives in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, where he grows a mixed collection of approxi-mately 1,200 orchid plants. His plants have re-ceived more than 90 awards from the AOS for horticultural, flower quality and cultural mer-its, including three FCCs. He has also received eight AOS show trophies and many other awards for exhibits at orchid shows around the country. Carlos retired as a Senior Research Associ-ate of the Engineering School at Columbia Uni-versity, where he was Director of a research laboratory working on nuclear reactor safety.
Orchids for Seniors
The Orchids for Seniors Study Group will hold its final meeting of 2012 this month on the 22nd. This will be a “wrap up the year” meeting and pot luck lunch. Come and join us at 10 a.m at Independence Park.
BROS Meeting &
Program
Calendar, 2012
November 3 - Alan Koch, own-er, Gold Country Orchids - note that this meeting will be on the 1st Saturday at Houmas House. December 12 - Christmas Party at Bob Danka’s house
Green Growers
No meeting in either November or December.
Meetings will resume in January 2013
This is the group that made the September trip to Kellogg’s Nursery and the
Dinner Bell. You’ll recognize a couple of them.
Seated from left: Blanche Hoover, Helen Winter, Cherry Boudreaux, Judi Sylvester.
Standing: Mary Etta Conner, Patty Granier, Blair Many, Clyde Howland, and our
fun van driver Albert Toussaint. I was there too taking the picture. It was great fun
& wonderful “down home” food.
Welcome New Members
We have been delighted to welcome several new members since our July Show. Here is their infor-
mation for your Membership Directory.
Alisha Andrews Susan Lindig Charmaine Moksary 4546 Orchid St. 1021 Pompey Dr. 30090 Julia St. Baton Rouge, LA 70808 Baton Rouge, LA 70816 Albany, LA 70711 225.955.0233 (cell & home) 225.753.5109 (home) 225.567.9431 (home) [email protected] 225.938.8426 (cell) 985.507.0843 (cell) [email protected][email protected] Terrie Hoover Jim Gershey 29865 Hoover Rd. 264 Richland Holden, LA 70744 Baton Rouge, LA 70806 985.630.1000 (cell) 225.338.1815 (w) No email 225.354.9304 [email protected]
Nobody claims to have an October birthday, but we have four for November. Gene Berg 11/10 Thelma Berg 11/5 Durward Templet 11/21 Ronnie Kennedy 11/18 Happy Birthday to you all and many more!
Let’s be Frank
About Orchids
By Frank Zachariah
Let’s contrast the American and Asian or-chids. With any diverse biological group there are exceptions, but there are generalities we can make. The most important difference is that many Asian orchids live in a relatively stable environ-ment. The temperature doesn’t fluctuate greatly and the rainfall is consistent. Some bulbos and paphs actually benefit from a saucer under their pot so they never dry out. Those that have a dry season -- it is really dry! For the Americans, mixed in the wet days are periods of no rain and they benefit from oc-casional watering even during the dormancy. Some can take temps down to light freezes. The plants are telling us this. The thicker the pseudobulbs, the more drastic the wet and dry seasons. The stiffer the leaves, the more expo-sure to harsh sunlight. Bob Danka reminded me that in their native range, most Cattleyas have high temperatures that average the upper 80's F. If you read the AOS handout on Cattleyas, it recommends night temperatures of 55-60 F. So what are we to do? First, look at the plants being brought to our meetings. NONE of them are getting that cool. And ALL of them have had summer temperatures in the 90's. As I started this article, American orchids toler-ate fluctuations. So, would it be better to keep the summer temperature in the 80's? Yes (ideally), ... but No. If we think this through – The only way we can lower the temp is by in-creasing shade. This decreases the amount of sunlight that the plant can use for its food. This slows growth and lowers our flower count. Between these choices, my advice is let the plants get a little hotter. You’ll have healthier plants than those grown in too much shade. Last year I didn’t notice any unusual stress even when the temps approached 100's. What about the Asians? As I said they are less tolerant of extremes, but – fortunately -- they do fine in temps in the low 90's. (The See next column
mountain ones we will always have trouble with.) But because they are not as adapted to fluctuations, they usually need to be kept warm-er in the winter. They benefit from steady, con-stant watering in their growing season and should be planted in loose mix and tiny pots (or mounted) so that the roots can dry out every day. If you are trying to grow American Catts and Asian Dens in the same greenhouse, best to plant the New Worlds in the loose mix also.
It’s Almost Short Course
Time!
The 52nd annual Orchid Short Course spon-sored by the Acadiana Orchid Society is sched-uled on December 1 at the Homewood Suites, 201 Kaliste Saloom Rd. in Lafayette. This is a not to be missed event that I and many others look forward to every year. Some of you who have been in previous years proba-bly got a registration form in the mail as I did, and I’ve already sent mine in. Get yours in soon to get the best registration and hotel rates. Speakers this year will be Tom Kuligowski of Pompano Beach, Florida whose topics are “Unusual and Natural Mounting” and “Angraecums” and Peter Lin of Diamond Bar, CA. His topics will be “Wild, Weird and Won-derful Orchids: A Portrait of Orchid Oddities” and “Genus Dendrobium: A Family Portrait of Dendrobium Species”. A block of rooms has been reserved at Homewood Suites for those who want to go over on Friday night, November 30, so they can attend the social at the home of Dr. Joe and Missy Abendroth. Their address is 219 Oakwood Dr., Lafayette. Party starts at 6 p.m. A registration form will be attached to the newsletter as a separate page. Sign up to go. You’ll be glad you did!
September meeting Collage by Lata Johnson.
Some pics from our September Meeting
Beth’s beautiful Vanda Paki Learning to be a cattleya orchid judge
