Have you ever wondered how to properly grow and care for orchids indoors? Do you have a few orchids that you want to grow but need specific conditions and may do best in a glass enclosure. Our speaker this August 2025, Chris Satch, will show you how to not only grow orchids indoors, but also how to create fantastic aesthetically pleasing terrariums for some of those orchids that may need a moister environment like Miltoniopsis, Pleurothallids, Masdevallia, and Dracula orchids. During this program, you will learn about proper lighting, watering, and care for orchids indoors and how to build passive and automated terrariums.
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An Opportunity to Survey Orchids in the Dallas Area
The first Cedar Ridge Preserve (7171 Mountain Creek Pkwy, Dallas, TX 75249) will host a series of surveys starting Monday June 2, and then every following Monday through mid-July. Contact Charles_M_Hess@ymail.com if you are interested in being on a survey. The preserve is closed on Mondays, so your name must be on his list to have access. The preserve staff lets listees in the front gate between 7:30 and 8:00AM. Plenty of parking is available since the park is closed. Signees will get calls if survey days are rescheduled due to weather.
The survey lasts 3 to 4 hours. Usually, about 15-20 people show up who are then divided into two or three teams for the day. Teams are organized at 8 AM at the park benches in front of the building. Restrooms and a drinking fountain are at the preserve center. Good hiking shoes and long pants are recommended and a light t-shirt as it gets warm. Sunglasses are not needed as the trails are shady. Some parts of the trail are uneven with several patches of limestone to step over. Walking sticks are handy, as well as fanny packs for snacks and water bottles.
You will meet members of the North Texas Master Naturalists who provide most surveyors, as well as BRIT (Botanical Research Institute of Texas) staff members. One will be a Summer Intern sponsored by GNTOS through SWROGA fundraising.
If people just want to go on their own on days other than Mondays, the orchids can be seen by looking for yellow flags, usually seen within 20 yards of the trails. Maps for the trail locations of orchid areas will be available at our GNTOS meetings. Later in the season, the plants will start blooming as the spikes get taller. Parking during open hours is at a premium and expands along the roadside inside the park.
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.
GERRY DARVER ADDRESS FOR GREENHOUSE TOUR!!!!
ALL
PLEASE note Gerry Darver’s CORRECT address for the greenhouse tour!
4230 Woodfin Dr
Dallas TX 75220
July 3 meeting: Describing the Dendrobium Family & What has been awarded in the Southwest Region
What are dendrobiums and where are they commonly found? What kinds have been awarded in the Southwest region of the United States? These are the questions Karl Varian will be answering for us in the July meeting. Karl is the current president of GNTOS and has been growing many different kinds of orchids for over 60 years. Upon retiring, he has been able to focus his time on increasing his orchid knowledge – he is currently an Associate Judge with the AOS Dallas Judging Center.
We’ll be having our usual table judging for members and our raffle for everyone. Come join us!
At 2pm, Orchids 101 will take place in the front of the greenhouse. Charlie will be leading the discussion on “Surviving Dallas Summers” with tips to help your orchids handle the heat.
NO January meeting!
We will not be having our normal GNTOS meeting on January 2nd.
You probably already know the reason. On New Year’s Eve there are always a few orchids that take it tooooo far and nobody wants to deal with them so soon after. Most orchids are fine but some, usually the ones with AOS awards, just don’t know when to stop. They are all acting superior, and all “look at me, I got an award and you didn’t, and then it just gets crazy. Next thing you know one of them unlocks the fertilizer cabinet and they break out the high nitrogen stuff and they all overindulge. But when you check on them the next day they are just sitting there. Quiet. Too quiet. But you know what they did. And they know you know. You can almost hear the snickering. And don’t even try to ask which one is responsible because they won’t ever point a leaf at each other. But I don’t need to tell you. You’ve got orchids and I’m sure this happens to you as well. Anyway, no meeting on an 2nd. Some orchids just have to spoil it for the rest of us.
(Thanks to David who put this in our monthly newsletter! 🙂 )
February 2 Meeting
Karl Varian, a Society member and student judge with the Dallas Judging Center, will be speaking on yellow cattleyas. Karl became a student judge in 2016. He has been growing orchids since 1960 and his collection is a collage of warm and intermediate growing orchids. We will be having our usual table judging and raffle after the presentation. Remember, we are meeting at the Harrington Library, 1501 18th St., Plano, TX 75074.
Orchids 101 will be at 1:30pm with Lorna leading the discussion.
December 1 Monthly Meeting
We will be meeting at the Classic Wine Storage, 14372 Proton, Dallas, TX 75244 for December. For now, this location is for December only. This month is our 2nd auction of the year. Review your collection and bring orchids you can donate to the auction, then bring money to buy some new ones! Also, we start out with a meal together so bring some food to share. The auction follows the meal. There is no Orchids 101 or raffle so we have more time to enjoy the auction!
Keep watch here for locations for the monthly meetings. We would like to find a place where we can go each month for the time being. It may some time before we know when or if Northaven Gardens will be rebuilding facilities for societies like ours to meet there again each month. You can follow Northaven Gardens’ rebuilding progress at nhg.com.
April 7 Monthly Meeting
Tim Carr, Society member and AOS Associate Judge will be presenting this month’s program “Travelogue-Orchids of the Dominican Republic”. Some of our members travel around the world to visit orchid habitats in interesting locations. Tim, who also is this year’s GNTOS vice president, will be sharing pictures of his trip. Tim has been growing orchids for 7 years and spread his collection into a greenhouse in 2017! Come join us as we “travel” to the Dominican Republic.
Orchids 101 will take place in the greenhouse at 2pm with Lorna sharing tips on putting your orchids outside for the summer.