Manatee-Sarasota Group Boca Venice Area Orchid Society, P.O. Box 443, Venice, FL 34284-0443 A Message from your President: I’m so happy our members passed our new VAOS Bylaws. Thank you! These Bylaws position our Society for at least the next 5 years and represents our current opera- tions. Thank you, Mary Anne and Tom Digrazia – your Open House was a lovely experience (see photo below). We had 32 attendees at our last Growers Clinic – a new record for summer sessions. Thank you, Jimmy for sharing your expertise and Jay for running the video camera. Jay cre- ated a DVD about Orchid Diseases and Pests which will be available on our Raffle Table. Also, our thanks go to Judy for providing hand-outs and assisting our members. As one member said, “Our Society is on fire” – and I agree! Greg Allikas was our monthly speaker on “Orchid Photography for the Digital Age”. He is an internation- ally known photographer, having advised the UN, and his photos always grace the monthly American Orchid Society magazine. It was a wonderful presentation and for those of you who missed it I include some advice and techniques he taught us. To take a good photo: 1. First, choose a perfect open flower and remove dis- tractions such as hardware. 2. Use masking tape to move some leaves out of the way; the tape is easily removed. Cynthia Vance Next Meeting: Monday July 8th at 6:30 p.m. Speaker: Paul Phelps Topic: “Cattleya, Queen of Orchids” Paul Phelps and his wife, Patricia, are the owners of Phelps Farm Orchids, Inc., a com- mercial orchid farm located on five acres in northwest Hillsbor- ough County. Patri- cia’s love of orchids turned their hobby into a business in 1986 and their original 3500 sq. ft. greenhouse has doubled in size. A new 1600 sq. ft. greenhouse was recently added for their mounted plants. Cattleyas are their specialty but you will find Bulbophyl- lum, Coelogyne, Dendrobium, Oncidium, Paphiopedilum, Phragmipedium, Phalaenopsis and Vandaceous Orchids, as well as assorted species and hybrids of other genera. They began a breeding program in the late 80’s, with the main focus on the Cattleya alliance and Paul has developed more than 800 hybrids. Paul is a well-known speaker at local and regional orchid societies and Phelps Farm Orchids have been featured on NBC’s Daytime Show and the PBS series, America’s Heartland. Phelps Farm Orchids is open by appointment only Monday through Friday 9-5 and Satur- day 9-12. Please call (813) 961-8427 for your appointment and visit their online catalog at www.phelpsfarm.com. Paul’s motto has always been “Quality Plants at Reason- able Prices” and he will have a selection of his finest plants for sale. Note: This is a joint meeting with the Englewood Area Orchid Society at the Christ Lutheran Church, 701 N. Indiana Ave., Englewood. Continued on page 4 C. Green Emerald Digrazia Orchid House The newsletter is taking a short vacation and will resume with a combined August-September edition ap- pearing the third week of August.
Transcript
Manatee-Sarasota Group
Boca
Venice Area Orchid Society, P.O. Box 443, Venice, FL 34284-0443
A Message from your President:I’m so happy our members passed
our new VAOS Bylaws. Thank you! These Bylaws position our Society for at least the next 5 years and represents our current opera-tions. Thank you, Mary Anne and Tom Digrazia – your Open House was a lovely experience (see photo below). We had 32 attendees at our last Growers Clinic – a new record for summer sessions. Thank you, Jimmy for sharing your expertise and Jay for running the video camera. Jay cre-ated a DVD about Orchid Diseases and Pests which will be available on our Raffle Table. Also, our thanks go to Judy for providing hand-outs and assisting our members. As one member said, “Our Society is on fire” – and I agree!
Greg Allikas was our monthly speaker on “Orchid Photography for the Digital Age”. He is an internation-ally known photographer, having advised the UN, and his photos always grace the monthly American Orchid Society magazine. It was a wonderful presentation and for those of you who missed it I include some advice and techniques he taught us. To take a good photo:
1. First, choose a perfect open flower and remove dis-tractions such as hardware.
2. Use masking tape to move some leaves out of the way; the tape is easily removed.
Cynthia Vance
Next Meeting: MondayJuly 8th at 6:30 p.m.Speaker: Paul Phelps
Topic: “Cattleya, Queen of Orchids”Paul Phelps and his
wife, Patricia, are the owners of Phelps Farm Orchids, Inc., a com-mercial orchid farm located on five acres in northwest Hillsbor-ough County. Patri-cia’s love of orchids turned their hobby into a business in 1986 and their original 3500 sq. ft. greenhouse has doubled in size. A new 1600 sq. ft. greenhouse was recently added for their mounted plants.
Cattleyas are their specialty but you will find Bulbophyl-lum, Coelogyne, Dendrobium, Oncidium, Paphiopedilum, Phragmipedium, Phalaenopsis and Vandaceous Orchids, as well as assorted species and hybrids of other genera.
They began a breeding program in the late 80’s, with the main focus on the Cattleya alliance and Paul has developed more than 800 hybrids. Paul is a well-known speaker at local and regional orchid societies and Phelps Farm Orchids have been featured on NBC’s Daytime Show and the PBS series, America’s Heartland. Phelps Farm Orchids is open by appointment only Monday through Friday 9-5 and Satur-day 9-12. Please call (813) 961-8427 for your appointment and visit their online catalog at www.phelpsfarm.com.
Paul’s motto has always been “Quality Plants at Reason-able Prices” and he will have a selection of his finest plants for sale.
Note: This is a joint meeting with the Englewood Area Orchid Society at the Christ Lutheran Church, 701 N. Indiana Ave., Englewood.
Continued on page 4
C. Green Emerald
Digrazia Orchid House
The newsletter is taking a short vacation and will resume with a combined August-September edition ap-pearing the third week of August.
Cynthia Vance opened the meeting, welcoming new members and guests. She announced there would be no raffle because there were not enough orchids donated; current donations will be raffled next month. Cynthia asked for a show of hands by those who attended the Redlands International Orchid Festival in May. Numerous hands went up; partici-pants commented that it was “awesome.” Janice Felski was thanked for distributing the refreshments; members applauded Jimmy Thomas for his educational information during the bus trip. Jerry Manegold intro-duced his grandchildren who were visiting.
Cynthia discussed the newly revised VAOS Bylaws and explained the voting procedure. The purpose of the revision is to: 1) reflect current programs; 2) eliminate obsolete terms; 3) clarify officer duties; and 4) define other key leadership positions. Members unanimously voted for the revisions with a voice vote; there were none opposed. Cynthia thanked Peg Fahrenback for working on the Bylaw revision last year. She thanked Ted Kellogg, Carol Wood Janice Felski, Barbara Wagner, and Jimmy Thomas for their expertise in completing the Bylaw Revi-sions this year.
Cynthia reported that a Website Committee led by Ted Kellogg is making changes to improve the VAOS Website. The posting feature for members has been eliminated temporarily. New features include a calendar where current and future events are posted by the Webmaster.
Jimmy Thomas announced the July meeting will be a Joint meet-ing with Englewood at their location. He further reported the next two Growers Clinic sessions will focus upon plant diseases.
Cynthia introduced our speaker, Greg Allikas, whose topic was
Minutes of the June 5, 2013 VAOS Meeting
Continued on page 4
VAOS News 3 July 2013
Debi Wolfe took the First Place ribbon for her Vanda Pachara Delight, a very well grown hybrid with magnificent deep blue coloring. The parents are V. Karulea x V. Gordon Dil-lon and the plant has been included in the National Botanical Garden collec-tion on the National Mall.
Debi’s spectacular plant included a little stocking filled with time-release fer-tilizer (Dynamite), which no doubt contributed to the gorgeous blooms. Way to go, Debi!
The Second Place ribbon went to Tony Nacinovich for his Blc. Ports of Paradise ‘Emerald Isles’ FCC/AOS. The
plant is a cross of Rlc. Fortune x Rl. Digbyana, made by Stewart in 1970. This beautiful example combined the best of both parents, the yellow of Rlc. Fortune and the light green of Rl. Dig-byana, while retaining the feather ruffling of both parents. Congratulations, Tony! The Third Place ribbon went to Cynthia Vance for her Den. Madam Uraiwan x Den. May Neal, which was named Den. Watthana Gold in 1993. This lovely and hardy plant was so tall that we only photographed the blooms. This plant is a “mericlone”, a vegetative culture of a plant through the tissue culture of apical meristems. This produces a plant that is guaranteed to look exactly like its parent plant. The plant was well grown and is in
bloom throughout the year. Well done, Cynthia!
Tony Nacinovich also took the Best Species ribbon for his Enc. alata, with multiple spikes and a profusion of flow-ers. With a range from Mexico to Nicaragua, colors range from olive green and white to green and chocolate brown. Greg Allikas said it often has a grape fragrance. Congratula-tions again, Tony!
Richard Amos garnered the Speaker’s Commenda-tion ribbon for his Enc. tampensis, one of our Florida native orchids first found in the Tampa area, hence its eponymous name. Often called the Florida Butterfly Orchid, it is often found in live oak trees, blooming in April – August, in the Myakka State Park, Deer Creek Prairie and Sleep-ing Turtle Preserve. It’s wonderful that it’s now available to hobby growers and Richard has done a wonderful job with this beautiful and thriving specimen. Congratulations, Richard!
Judy Loeffler’s Neofinetia fal-cata var. Shutenno (photo on next page), a tiny orchid much smaller than its name, received the Members Choice ribbon. It was the first bloom with
five flowers and had a nice spicy floral aroma. The plant is found from Japan to Korea and is often used in hybridizing the Vanda family. This is the 2nd award the Loefflers have received and they’ve only been growers and members for one year. The Loefflers were last seen at the Byrd’s Closing Sale admiring another of these lovely mounted plants and their new greenhouse will certainly be aromatic every spring. Congratulations, Judy!
Receiving the New Member Grower ribbon for the second month in the row, Jerry and Kathy
Plant Table Awards June 5, 2013
V. Pachara Delight
Blc. Ports of Paradise ‘Emerald Isle’ FCC/AOS
Enc. tampensis
Den. Watthana Gold
Enc. alata
Continued on page 4
VAOS News 4 July 2013
Beck displayed a huge plant subsequently identified by Greg Allikas, our speaker, as a Gram. elegans, a member of the Gramatophyllum family, which contains the largest orchid in the world, the Gram. speciosium, listed in the Guiness Book of World Records as reaching 2000 pounds
with 7 foot leaves. Great job, Jerry and Kathy! Your beau-tiful specimen is on its way to setting its own new record.
Photos by Steve Vogelhaupt;narrative by Cynthia Vance
3. Pose the subject – turn the pot for the best view; show more than one flower if the plant has multiples.
4. To “pose it”, use an empty pot or basket to hold the plant in the right position.
5. Isolate the orchid by creating a background that shows off the plant. Use wrinkle-free black velvet or a matting board (30 x 40 inches).
6. Choose the “best” background color for that particu-lar orchid and have that color dull or muted. Blue is a good background for many; green is fine sometimes to place behind the leaves, so they don’t stand out as much; brown is good for white flowers as it’s not as harsh as black; black is good for bright, striking flowers. Avoid using red, orange and yellow backgrounds.
7. Place the background 2 feet behind the subject to keep out shadows from the plant.
8. While a DSLR camera is best, an EVF camera also produces an excellent photo.
9. Use “open shade” or the shady side of your home.10. If is dark and your flash will go off, place a Styro-
foam cup over the flash to mute the light so there is not a light reflection spot on the subject.
With fewer activities going on in the summer in Venice and elsewhere, perhaps YOU will have time to take beau-tiful photos of your plants which you can share with us!
Message from your President (continued from page 1)
Plant Table Awards (continued from page 3)
Minutes of the June 5, 2013 VAOS Meeting (continued from page 2)
“Orchid Photography for the Digital Age.” Greg is known throughout the world for his photographs of orchids, book publications and numerous articles. He used a PowerPoint presentation to show technical and low tech methods for photographing orchids. Greg’s website is www.orchid-works.com.
After the program, Cynthia reminded members the next meeting is July 8th at Englewood. She thanked Mary Anne Digrazia for hosting an Open House in May.
Plant Table orchids were presented by Greg Allikas and Jimmy Thomas; awards were announced. The meeting was adjourned.
Respectfully submitted by Peg Fahrenback
Have A Question???Have a question about your orchid? Has my hybrid
cross been named? Has my plant been awarded? What’s its parentage?
Several VAOS members subscribe to OrchidWiz and will be happy to look it up for you. Email your orchid name and question to one of the following:
If you were one of the 62 members, mentors, mentees and guests who were fortunate enough to attend the wildly success-ful event hosted by Jimmy Thomas and his many assistants, you surely remember the spectacular piece of large driftwood brought by Mike and Karen O’Brien. Admired by all, it was to become the mount for a beautiful phalaenopsis that they had also brought.
Unfortunately, even Jimmy hadn’t envisioned working with such a massive mount at the Clin-ic, and as the nec-essary hardware wasn’t available, the O’Brien’s had to take the mount
and plant back home, having heard and seen enough to allow them to tackle the project at a later date. As they left, I asked Mike to send me photos and occasionally wondered how the project had turned out.
I’m sure you’ll all agree that the result was worth the wait. Working with stainless steel cables, bolts and other assorted hardware, Mike and Karen created a gorgeous home for their plant.
Well done and thanks for sharing the photos!Article by Steve Vogelhaupt; photos by Mike O’Brien
Repotting without Pots Growers Clinic Revisited
Growers Clinic Goes High Tech In spite of the normal summer doldrums, 32 members,
mentors, mentees, and guests attended the latest Growers Clinic on June 13, 2013. We’re continuing to have record breaking attendance at each clinic and we can already see the results in the plants brought to the Plant Table by our
“less experienced” growers.With more than abundant rainfall and high humidity,
Jimmy Thomas, our own Orchid Doctor, and Richard Amos, one of our most experienced growers, focused on Orchid Diseases: their identification, treatment, and
prevention. Villains such as Bacterial Soft and Brown Rot, Black Rot, Fusarium Wilt and Fungal Root Rot were discussed in Part 2 and will continue in the next clinic. Jimmy and Richard examined and diagnosed several plants that they had brought as well as plants brought by the audience, ably assisted by Jay Loeffler, who handled the computer projection to the large screen. Jay also used his video camera to tape the many highlights of the ses-sion, creating a DVD which will be available at a future Raffle Table.
Reliable internet resources were identified and several were sampled and discussed. As always, Judy Loeffler and others provided hand-outs and assisted our members. Thank you all for a great job!
photos by Judy Loeffler; narrative by Steve Vogelhaupt
~More orchid show listings can be found on the American Orchid Society site, www.aos.org; Events page~
U p c o m i n g E v e n t sJuly 8, 2013 (2nd Monday) – Joint monthly meeting with Englewood Area Orchid Soci-ety Englewood Area Orchid Society is hosting. 6:30pm Christ Lutheran Church, 701 N. Indiana Ave., Engle-wood, FL. Speaker: Paul Phelps. Topic: Cattleya, Queen of Orchids. Plant sale and Q&A table begins at 6pm. This replaces our VAOS meet-ing usually held the first Wednesday in July.
July 11 - Growers Clinic, 7pm. (2nd Thursday)Venice Community Center. Presenter Jimmy Thomas. Topic: Orchid Dis-eases, Prevention and Treatment, Part 3. Open Q&A. Bring your problem plants for expert help.July 12-14 – R.F. Orchids “Sum-mer Sizzler” Sale28100 S.W. 182 Ave., Homestead, FL 33030, info: 305-245-4570 or [email protected]. Sale features new ar-rivals from Asia and special pricing on species, hybrids and meristems.
August 7- 7pm. VAOS Joint Monthly Meeting hosting Engle-wood Area Orchid SocietyVenice Community Center 326 S. Nokomis Ave., Venice, FL. Speaker: Roy Tokunaga, H&R Orchids.August 15, Growers Clinic 7pm. (2nd Thursday)Venice Community Center. Topic: Orchid Growing Made Easy. Open Q & A. Bring your problem plants for expert help.Ongoing: Mentor Program: help for beginning
• Honey Bee Nursery (941-474-6866)• Jeff Higel
2383 Englewood Road (Rt. 776)Englewood
• Plantio La Orquidea (941-504-7737)• Tina & Rafael Romero
Newsletter SupplementsFor those members who receive their monthly newsletter by email, look for extra content which be-gan in 2012. Included are culture articles and handouts from our monthly Growers Clinic. This supplemental information will only be available in our full color email edition of the newsletter.
growers, contact Peg Fahrenback, [email protected] Judging takes place at the Christ the King Catholic Church – McLoughlin Center, Room C, 821 S. Dale Mabry Hwy., Tampa, FL 33609 at 6:30pm on the fourth Wednesday of every month. Info: http://www.fncjc.shutterfly.com/
Culture Supplement Permissions
Pesticide spreadsheets are courtesy of Sue Bottom, St. Augustine Orchid Society.
Both the Neem article and the Home Remedies article are reprinted from the June 2004 issue of Orchids – The Bulletin of the American Orchid Society. Copyright American Orchid Society—www.aos.org., and with the permission of the author.
