Author: Lorna Kissling

Mary Gerritsen, Ph.D., is an independent biotechnology consultant who has been growing orchids (mostly species) on and off for more than 30 years. She loves to see orchids growing in situ and spent nearly a month in Borneo. Mary plans and leads one or two Orchids in the Wild tours a year for the Orchid Conservation Alliance. She also is a member of the American Orchid Society, and several other orchid groups. After Mary’s talk (via Zoom), we will have our usual orchid raffle and table judging.

If you are not present at the garden center, you can still see her talk via Zoom.
Use: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81335990640?pwd=UlJHU3Z1azhQVE43a3dUbmRHNFJvZz09
Meeting ID: 813 3599 0640
Passcode: 310983

Orchids 101 will take place in the greenhouse at 2pm. Charlie will lead a Q&A on any orchid topic. Bring your questions!

REMEMBER: Our December meeting will be the 2nd auction we do each year to help raise funds for our annual Orchid Show and Sale in the Spring. Start looking over your orchids and see if there’s any you would like to donate to the auction. We depend on our members to provide items for this event. Also, we enjoy a meal together before the auction so bring some food to share and orchids to auction and we’ll see you in December!

Do you ever wonder why everyone keeps calling violet-colored orchids blue? Rob Shepherd will present a modern perspective on the coerulea color form in Phalaenopsis based on two decades of experience. Rob, who is the owner and hybridizer of Sapphire Dragon Orchids in California, started growing orchids in 1984 in Tyler, Texas when he was 11. For years, he had a large mixed gen­era orchid collection but over time zeroed in on Phalae­nopsis. Rob is working to make coerulea hybrid­izing more predictable, successful and to push the boundary of quality coerulea hybrids. We will have our usual orchid raffle and table judging. Join us!

Orchids 101 will meet in the greenhouse at 2pm. Lorna will be talking about naming orchids and their general care.

Our December meeting will be our 2nd auction of the year. Proceeds from our auctions help raise funds for our annual Orchid Show and Sale in March. Look over your orchids – are some ready to be divided? Do you have some you’d like to switch out for something new? Clean them up and bring them to donate to the auction – then be prepared to have fun as you collect some new orchids!