March 12th meeting will be a trip to the New York Botanical Gardens Orchid Show

Photos from the 2022 NYBG Orchid Show

Hi Everyone!

A shout out to all the volunteers who manned our booth at the CT Flower and Garden Show this past weekend. We saw a ton of foot traffic and generated some orchid fever! Welcome to all the new members who joined at the show.

Looking ahead to March, in place of our regular meeting we are planning a trip to the New York Botanical Garden for the 20^thannual Orchid Show! You won’t want to miss this field trip so mark your calendars for Sunday March 12^th. The displays in the conservatory are always spectacular and I am excited to see what this year’s designer Lily Kwong has created.

We are organizing car-pooling arrangements for transportation to the show with an 8am meet-up for a roughly 10am arrival depending on departure locations. Tentatively lets plan a 10am-2pm visit, depending on how everyone is feeling some of us may want to stay a bit later, check with your group. For lunch there is a restaurant and café right on site.

Drivers are needed; at the moment we have only 2 confirmed drivers who can take an additional 6 passengers. If you are on the fence because you are worried about driving in city traffic this is a Sunday trip and the Botanical Garden is located just outside of the city in the Bronx, it’s an easy drive right off the Hutchinson River Parkway South. Below is the address and general directions from CT. Parking is $22 at the Main Gate and can be split between the passengers in the car.

The New York Botanical Garden is located at 2900 Southern Blvd., Bronx, NY 10458.

New England Thruway South (I-95) to Pelham Parkway West (Exit 8C). Pelham Pkwy turns into Fordham Rd after 2 miles. Turn right onto Southern Blvd, and continue to the Garden entrance on the right.
Or:
Merritt Pkwy South to Hutchinson River Pkwy South to Cross County Pkwy West to Bronx River Pkwy (Exit 6) South to Fordham Road (Exit 7W) Merge onto Fordham Rd and stay in right lane. Turn right onto Southern Blvd, and continue to the Garden entrance on the right.

A signup sheet was circulated at the February meeting and I will be reaching out to everyone who signed up to connect you with a carpooling group. I realize that I should have included a column for the towns everyone lives in and how many additional passengers you can fit not including yourself. Even if you already signed up, please either add this in on the attached Google doc or reach out to me directly.

Please add your info to the Google Doc here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Yh0SA35SirCn-A0xdaKs6eXqCBUmONIN/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=104167156145722613413&rtpof=true&sd=true

Tickets for the garden including Conservatory entry are normally $35 on Sundays if you sign up on the Google doc or reach out to me by next Monday March 6^th we can pre-buy tickets at the discounted group rate of $33 for adults and $29 for seniors. Even if you miss the group signup you are welcome to join us and buy your ticket directly.

Hope to see you there!

February 8th Meeting will be at the Farmington Senior Center

Jan30

February 8th Meeting in Farmington!

We will be holding our monthly meeting on Wednesday: doors open at 6:30pm for socializing and the meeting starts at 7pm

@ the Farmington Senior Center @ 321 New Britain Ave, Unionville, CT 06085

Let’s Talk About Cattleya’s: with Dave Tognalli and Glenn McGeough

Cattleya’s are one of the most widely grown genera of orchids with a long history of cultivation and hybridization dating back to the discovery of Cattleya labiata in 1817 by William Swainson. The genera is named in honor of William Cattley who was the first to successfully bloom the plant in cultivation. If you are new to orchids these are some of the easiest and most forgiving plants to grow, William Cattley successfully bloomed the first plant one year after receiving it in 1818 and that is no small feat considering it had never been cultivated before.

Get the inside scoop from two of our expert member growers Dave Tognalli and Glenn McGeough on what it takes to make them thrive and learn a bit about the growth habits, cultivation, and history behind some of these incredible plants. Whatever your setup; outdoor growing, greenhouse growing, or windowsill growing Dave and Glenn will share some tips and advice for successfully blooming your plants. Now is the time of year when many plants are pushing out spikes so there should be some nice specimens for show and tell, as well as photos of some of their prize plants. If you are in need of some tropical plant glamour the cattleya certainly delivers. This is a great opportunity to hear from some veteran growers so come prepared with all your orchid questions.

Feast your eyes on those petals! Rhyncolaelocattleya Goldenzelle ‘Lemon Chiffon’ AM/AOS grown by Dave Tognalli on our December show table.

Don’t forget to bring along your blooming plants for this month’s show table. It’s always exciting to see what’s coming into bloom, looking forward to an awesome show table! See you there!

December 14th Meeting in Farmington COS Holiday Party!

Dec11

We will be holding our monthly meeting on Wednesday starting at 7pm

@ the Farmington Senior Center: 321 New Britain Ave, Farmington, CT 06085

Join us for our annual COS Holiday Party!

We will be providing the main entree for a $25 per person cover fee.

MENU: CHICKEN MARSALA, STUFFED SHELLS, SALAD, APPETIZERS AND DESSERTS!!! (SALAD, APPETIZERS AND DESSERTS PROVIDED BY MEMBERS)

You must RSVP with KAREN KUZIEL VIA PHONE, TEXT OR EMAIL 203-710-6114; KARENKUZIEL@PCHIGGINS.COM BY FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2022

IF LEAVING MESSAGE OR TEXT, PLEASE LET US KNOW IF YOU WILL BE BRINGING AN APPETIZER OR DESSERT.

November 9th Meeting will be at the Cheshire Senior Center

Nov4

This month’s meeting will be held at the

Cheshire Senior Center,

240 Maple Ave, Cheshire, CT 06410

Our Speaker will be Cordelia Head , and the topic will be different genreas of miniature and micro-miniature orchids, and how to adapt to growing them in a house.

Meeting format:

The beginner’s corner, manned by TBA

6:30- 6:45 set up

6:45 – 7:15 Socialize & Beginner Corner

7:15- 7:30 Business discussion

7:30-8:30 Repotting Workshop (A small fee of $5.00 for materials will be charged.)

8:30 -9:00 show table & raffle

9:00-9:15 clean up & chit chat

Thank you for helping!!!

June 8th Meeting will be at Farmington Senior Center

May30

Our June 8 th meeting will be in FARMINGTON at the Farmington Senior Center located at 321 New Britain Ave in Unionville, CT 06085

Doors open at 6:30 pm and the meeting starts at 7:00 pm

Come early and help us set up.

Our speaker will be Tim Culbertson. (A short bio is below) Also, he will be bringing plants for sale!!!!

Bio for Tim Culbertson

Although I teach middle school kids for a living, one of my passions has always been plants. I began growing orchids as an offshoot from working at Longwood Gardens in Philadelphia just after college. From the very beginning it was all about Paphs, particularly awarded and select clones of historic importance, of which my collection numbers nearly 3000. While I love finding old, rare stepping stones in Paph. breeding, I also do a little hybridizing of my own, and growing up my own babies is a blast. I am an accredited judge with the American Orchid Society, and have served in various capacities with various orchid societies in California and on the East Coast. I love meeting other people who like orchids too, and doing so often finds me traveling to shows, vendors, and peoples’ greenhouses to see the latest and greatest in new hybrids and to get the best orchid gossip. I like to be involved in plants as much as possible: in addition to Longwood, I’ve worked at the Smithsonian Institution tending to their orchids, and for years for the United States National Arboretum, collecting rare plants and documenting cultivated species and hybrids for their herbarium. In short, I really like plants.

Hope to see everyone there!

April 13th Meeting will be in Farmington!

Mar30

Our April 13th meeting will be in FARMINGTON at the Farmington Senior Center located at 321 New Britain Ave in Unionville, CT 06085

Doors open at pm and the meeting starts at pm

Come early and help us set up.

Our speaker will be Francisco Miranda. A short bio is below. Also, he will be bringing plants!!!!

Hope to see everyone there!

Bio: Francisco Miranda was born in Rio de Janeiro on February 6, 1956. He got his degree
in Biology and began his taxonomic studies in the orchid family in 1981. During the
next 4 years, he lived most of the time in Manaus where he studied Amazon orchids
and began his Master’s degree. Shortly after returning to Rio de Janeiro, the Master’s
was completed on “section Cattleyodes of the genus Laelia”. Since then, the main
interest has been on the Brazilian laelias and cattleyas. He is the author of several
papers ranging from species descriptions to subjects of growers’ interest in Brazilian,
German and U.S. publications. He is also the author of two books. Since 2000, he lives in
Haines City, Florida, where he operates Miranda Orchids, an orchid nursery
specializing in Brazilian species and the Cattleya alliance. He also guides trips to
Brazil and frequently visits Brazilian habitats to find new and/or interesting orchid
species.