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November 8th Meeting will be at the Farmington Senior Center

Join us for our annual Re-potting Clinic

Meeting Date: Wednesday, November 8th at the Farmington Senior Center

Doors open at 6:30pm for socializing and the meeting starts at 7pm.

The Farmington Senior Center: 321 New Britain Ave, Unionville, CT 06085

Featured Event: Orchid Re-potting Clinic

The November ‘Re-potting Clinic’ is coming up early this month, we apologize for any confusion that that last minute meeting change caused last month, it was caused by circumstances out of our control. As a result, we are meeting in Farmington in both November and December!

If you are uncertain or intimidated about repotting your plants or just want to join in the fun this month’s meeting should be a popular event. We have a large amount of potting media that we mixed up for this event, with different formulations to suit a wide variety of plants. Media mixes, pots, and supplies will be available for sale to members at a reasonable price. Feel free to bring your own media and supplies, our orchid experts will be on hand to coach you in how to repot or divide your plant. If you would like someone to re-pot your plant for you we can also do that for a small fee of $5 per plant. This is a hands-on event so be prepared to dig in and get dirty! We will have extra pruners and repotting tools, but strongly encourage you to bring your own if you have them so we have enough to go around.

On the agenda this month is a vote for a proposed increase in membership dues. As we approach the new year this is a reminder that it’s time to renew your membership. This year we are proposing a dues increase to be voted on by the membership attendant at the upcoming November meeting. The annual membership dues were set back in the early 2000’s and as we all know the price of just about everything has gone up over the past 20 years. We are proposing an increase from $20 to $30 for the individual membership, $25 to $35 for the family membership, $200 to $300 for the lifetime individual, and $250 to $350 for the lifetime family. The increase in membership dues will allow us to continue booking amazing speakers for the upcoming year without breaking the budget. If you have anything to say on the matter please come out and vote at the November meeting.

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!

Please print and fill out the ID card for the show table below

 

September 13th Meeting will be at the Cheshire Senior Center

Join us for a presentation by guest Speaker Edgar Stehli from Windswept in Time Orchids

Meeting Date: Wednesday, September 13th at the Cheshire Senior Center.  Doors open at 6:30pm for socializing and the meeting starts at 7pm.

The Cheshire Senior Center is located at 240 Maple Ave, Cheshire, CT 06410

Presentation: Angraecoids!

Speaker Bio:

My interest in orchids began when I was just six or seven years old.  I found a plant growing in the roadside ditch near our house in North East Ohio.  When my father got home from work, I dragged him over to see my discovery.  He said “Oh! That’s an orchid.”  My first orchid find was a Spiranthes(probably cernua).  A few years later my family drove to Alaska and back.  On that trip, I found a Calypso bulbosa in Wyoming and several other orchids in Alaska and Canada.

While in high school, I began growing some tropical orchids, and soon had a small collection.  While in my final year at Case Western Reserve University my orchid collection moved to Florida with my parents.   Sadly, I never saw them again (the orchids that is!).  Also in my last year, I met Kim Sante who was working at the Cleveland Garden Center, now known as the Cleveland Botanical Garden.  Eventually Kim and I were married in Kenya Africa.  Shortly after we were married we built a sun room on the corner of our house.  This of course allowed my orchid collection to get a little out of hand.  Finally in 1999 we began selling our plants to area florists, then through the orchid shows. We called our new business – Windswept in Time Orchids. We now attend close to fifteen shows a year, where our plants and exhibits have won many awards

 

Meeting Topic: Angraecoids

In the orchid world, we often combine related genera of orchids into a larger grouping, called an alliance.  In the Case of Angraecum, Aerangis, Eurychone, and several other genera that group is often referred to as Angraecoid Orchids.  Angraecoidsare predominantly found in Africa and Madagascar.  The flowers tend to be white and fragrant at night.  The presentation on Angraecoid Orchids goes over some of the distinctions between Angraecum and Aerangis.  There are photos of many of the more commonly grown species.  Since we all want to become better growers, there is some cultural information in the presentation.

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!

 

Please print and fill out the ID card for the show table here

 

Aerangis fastuosa, a lovely compact plant that is well suited to a grower with limited space.

(photo courtesy of Christian Lesage)

July 9th Meeting will be at Black Rock State Park in Watertown

COS Summer Picnic

Join us for our annual Summer Picnic at Black Rock State Park this weekend!

When: Sunday July 9th 10am-3pm We are asking everyone to arrive around 10am for setup before a brief business meeting around 10:30am with a presentation from our guest speaker at 11am, followed by a barbecue lunch and socializing. The picnic is under a covered pavilion and will take place Rain or Shine

Where: Black Rock State Park Picnic Pavilion: 2065 Thomaston Rd, Watertown, CT 06795

Directions: From Route 8 north: take Exit 38. Turn left at the end of the exit ramp to first traffic light. Turn left at traffic light onto US Route 6 west. Park entrance is a 1/2 mile on the right on US Route 6.

From Route 8 south: take Exit 38. Go straight ahead at the end of the exit ramp to US Route 6 west. Park entrance is on the right.

You can use 2065 Thomaston Rd for your gps.

The pavilion is visible across the field from the Main Entrance and is adjacent to the parking & bathrooms. Very easy to locate, there should be staff at the entrance who can direct you if you have any difficulty finding the pavilion.

Picnic Info:

The COS will be providing Hot Dogs and Hamburgers and we are asking that everyone bring a side dish, appetizer, dessert, or drinks to share. Please respond to ctorchidsociety@gmail.com directly if you are planning on attending and have not already signed up with a dish or reached out to Karen! We need a rough headcount to plan food. If you are a member and want to bring a guest, please let us know so we can accommodate, there is a $5 guest fee.

There are picnic tables at the facility, but we encourage you to bring your own folding chairs if you would like somewhere comfortable to enjoy the presentation.

There will be a show table, so 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!

Please print and fill out the ID card for the show table below 🙂

Orchid ID Cards for Show Table

 

Presentation: Fred Clarke from Sunset Valley Orchids is our guest speaker this month, and his talk will be on ‘Becoming an 80 Percentile Grower’. See below info from Fred about his talk.

“Becoming an 80 Percentile Grower”
Ever wonder what the most important requirements are for growing the best orchids?

Learn about the underlying reasons of how and why orchids grow as they do. Then explore the fundamentals and advanced growing techniques to best grow them. Orchid plant culture is explained as you have never heard it before. Learn how to become an 80 percentile grower, expect to be wowed by this talk!

The presenter will be Fred Clarke of Sunset Valley Orchids in Vista. Fred has been growing orchids for 42 years and has been hybridizing for 38 of those years. With over 34 years as a professional grower and manager in the horticultural industry, Fred applies these skills at his orchid nursery; Sunset Valley Orchids, located in San Diego, California.

He is a passionate orchid grower whose curiosity in orchids is broad and varied. Although developing Cattleya hybrids has been his sustaining interest, he is also actively creating new Paphiopedilum and Aussie Dendrobium hybrids plus some others to be named if they work out!

His pioneering work in Catasetum intergeneric hybrids led to the development of several notable hybrids, most recently the grex, Fredclarkeara After Dark, which produced “the blackest flower ever witnessed”. This grex has received over 100 awards worldwide with nine FCC’s and thirty AM’s from the AOS judges!

May 13th Mother’s Day Orchid Sale at the First Congregational Church in Southington

Mother’s Day Orchid Sale

 

Date: Saturday, May 13

Location: First Congregational Church, 37 Main St., Southington

Time – 10 AM to 4 PM

 

Pick out a blooming orchid for that special someone in your life. We are hosting several local vendors specializing in orchids and pottery:

J&L Orchids – wide selection of species and hybrids of small to medium sized orchids suitable for home growing

The Orchidphile – cutting-edge Phalaenopsis species and hybrids plus other types of orchids that grow happily under similar conditions as Phalaenopsis.

Inflorescence House – hand-made ceramic orchid planters

Plus, the Connecticut Orchid Society will have a variety of member donated and blooming orchids brought in from Hawaii, orchid books, and potting supplies for sale.

This is the Society’s major planned fund raiser for this year and is our first organized fund raiser since our show in 2019. Please come and support the Society.    

May 12th Meeting at the First Congregational Church in Southington: Setup for the Mother’s Day Orchid Sale

Hi Everyone!

In place of our usual membership meeting on the second Wednesday of the month we are moving the general body meeting to Friday May 12th, 6pm @ the First Congregational Church in Southington 37 Main St., Southington, CT 06489. Initial setup of the Mother’s Day Orchid Sale will take the place of our regular May meeting.

Depending on the weather forecast for Saturday we may be able to use the outdoor parking area in front of the church to capture the attention of foot and vehicle traffic from the Town Green across the street. We have tents and a banner we can setup by the doors to the indoor event space.

We will needs your help setting up the floorplan; placing signage; collecting member donated plants, books, and supplies to be priced; setting up our greeter table; and setting up our club display table. Please join us and lend a hand. With enough help it should be a fun time to socialize and preview the plants!

Instead of a show table we need blooming plants to set up an eye-catching display to highlight the floristic diversity and captivating allure of the orchid. While we will have blooming plants we brought in from Hawaii for the sale, many of the member donated plants will not be blooming so we need to show people what they can achieve with a little care and knowledge. If you have anything in bloom and you are comfortable contributing to the display plants will need to be dropped off on Friday and picked up on Saturday at end of the sale, unless you would like to coordinate an early drop-off and pickup.  Also if you have any plants or supplies that you would like to donate to our sales table please reach out to us directly at ctorchidsociety@gmail.com so we know who is bringing what.

At the April meeting we sent around a signup sheet for Volunteers for our Mother’s Day Orchid Sale, Saturday May 13th, I know 10am-4pm is a long day so we broke it up into two timeslots the morning slot includes early setup 9:30am-1pm and a later timeslot 1pm-4:30pm to breakdown. If you did not signup up please reach out directly to me at the above email so we know who we are counting on the day of the event!

Here’s to a successful event!

Christian

April 12 Meeting will be at the Farmington Senior Center

The April 12th meeting will be at the Farmington Senior Center

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

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

Artificial Lighting: with our guest lecturer Kelly McCracken, owner of High Desert Orchids. 

Kelly started as an avid hobbyist, and like many of you, couldn’t stop buying plants. Quickly one greenhouse became two, and now she grows plants in a unique 3,000 sq ft high-bay industrial warehouse space all under artificial lights. Kelly specializes in miniature plants, with a particular affection for miniature Cattleyas, Angraecoids, Jewel Orchids, and Dendrobiums.

Many growers have discovered the opportunities that the recent drop in price and increase in availability of LED lights has provided. But there is relatively little information about how much artificial light orchids need and what kinds of lights are best. This talk will go over the unique HDO grow space, which is entirely under LED lights, how we set it up, the lights we use, and some tips we have discovered while growing a commercial sized grow space all under artificial light. The talk will answer questions such as 

      How much light?

      What kind of light?

      What spectrum of light? 

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!

Please print and fill out the ID card for the show table below

 

 

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 20thannual Orchid Show! You won’t want to miss this field trip so mark your calendars for Sunday March 12th. 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 6th 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

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!

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

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!!!