February 2 Barkeria Surprises: New Species and Hybrids

Two unexpected, very attractive new species of Barkeria have recently been described. For our February meeting, Dr. Robert Marsh will review their characteristics, relationship to other species within the genus, and native environments. Then he’ll turn to surprising observations and unexpected – but hoped for – breakthroughs in his own Barkeria breeding program. Dr. Marsh has nearly 70 years of experience with growing orchids and has been a member of GNTOS since 1982. He and Dennis Szeszko founded MAS Orchids (MASOrchids.com), which provides information, culture tips, and photos of Barkeria species and hybrids. As usual, our program will be followed by an orchid table judging for members and an orchid raffle for everyone!

Orchids 101 will be a Q&A led by Charlie in the greenhouse at 2pm.

Remember that the Dallas Arboretum Valentine Show and Sale is coming up February 14-16 (Friday thru Sunday) at the arboretum. GNTOS will be there, so we are looking for people to man the tables we’ll be using. We still have 2-hour time slots open on all 3 days. You can sign up at this SignUpGenius link.

January 5 Automating Your Orchid Growing Area

For our first meeting of the new year, Manny Aybar will talk to us about automating your growing area. Manny works in the Technology Industry. He is originally from the Dominican Republic (a grower’s paradise, as he describes it!), and has been growing orchids for about 26 years. He is currently serving as the Chair for the Dallas Judging Center and is also a long-time member of GNTOS. Whether you grow in a greenhouse or in your home, Manny will share information about the latest automated ways to grow orchids, to help you achieve better growing and flowering of your orchids. After his program, we will have our usual table judging for members, and the raffle.

Lorna will be leading Orchids 101 in the greenhouse at 2pm, talking about ways to keep records of your orchid collection.