Join us for a talk by Dave Sorokowsky from Paph Paradise

‘Don’t Fear the Slippers’

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

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

Event: Dave Sorokowsky a culture talk on Paphiopedilums ‘Don’t Fear the Slippers’

Our upcoming November meeting will be a lecture by Dave Sorokowsky from Paph Paradise in California with a talk on Paphiopedilums. He will be accepting pre-orders for pickup at the meeting.

Here is the preorder information: For pre-orders you can just select from the website online inventory https://paphparadise.com/. The deadline is November 3rd. Do not purchase through the online store. Email orders directly to Dave: dave@paphparadise.com Orders over $100 will receive a 10% discount. There will be no shipping charge since he will be bringing the plants with him.

Daves Bio:

“After receiving his degree in biochemistry from the University of Toronto, Dave opted to step
outside his chosen field and operated a tropical fish import business for eight years.  Upon
returning to school, Dave received a degree in enology and viticulture from Brock University in
St. Catharines, Ontario.  While attending Brock, Dave began acquiring orchids one 2” pot at a
time and before he graduated, Dave had over 100 orchids.  Winemaking and a passion for
orchids prompted Dave to seek a warmer climate in California about one year later.  Dave has
been growing paphiopedilums for about 20 years and seriously hybridizing for over 10 years.
He is an accredited AOS judge and his paphiopedilums have received over 100 awards to date
from the AOS and CSA. Many of those awarded plants playing important roles in his breeding
program. In 2018 Dave left winemaking in order to focus all of his time running Paph Paradise
Orchids.”

If you are a beginner or a seasoned grower, Dave is sure to have some useful advise for successfully growing and blooming slipper orchids. With a generally compact habit and lower light requirements than other orchids Paphs tend to be a good choice for the home windowsill grower or perhaps for a grow rack setup. In a greenhouse I tend to tuck them on the North shady side of benches behind and under other high light orchids where they grow luxuriously and flower constantly. When the greenhouse cat is doing his job and the mice aren’t eating the flower buds, they are long lasting attractive flowers and there are generally slippers in bloom at all times of the year. Looking forward to seeing everyone at the meeting this month!

There will be a show table, so don’t forget to bring along your blooming plants for the 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 here

Join us for a talk by Kim Fedderson from Fair Orchids

‘A Look at Cymbidium’

Meeting Date: Wednesday, October 9^th at the Farmington Senior Center.  Doors open at 6:30pm for socializing and the meeting starts at 7pm.

Where: The Farmington Senior Center is located at: 321 New Britain Ave, Unionville, CT 06085

Event: Kim Fedderson: A Look at Cymbidium

Our upcoming October meeting will be a lecture by Kim Fedderson from Fair Orchids in Hillsborough, NJ with a talk on Cymbidiums.

From Kim “I was genetically imprinted on all things botanical in my father’s retail orchid & tropicals nursery.  I elected not to go into the family business full time, but have always maintained my interest and a large collection of ‘this and that’. I have grown orchids since 1968, specializing in ‘slippers’ (primarily Paphiopedilum), with Paph fairrieanum my favorite species, smaller Vandaceous plants (see Neofinetia falcata ‘Maplewood’ at left) and a sprinkling of Cattleyas, Aussie Dendrobiums & Cymbidiums. I do a little breeding in several genera, so I often have a variety of extra plants, seedlings and occasionally flasks for sale”

His talk will be A Look at Cymbidium: An overview of the more important species, hybrid types, and cultural requirements. There will be plants for sale at the meeting and as we mentioned at the last meeting his speaker fee to the society will be reduced based on the amount of plant sales at the meeting, so if you have some extra space and are looking for something new consider not only supporting Kim, but the COS! I am certainly looking forward to this talk since cymbidiums are some of the easiest orchids to grow as a houseplant and are in my opinion under appreciated by the hobby as a whole. Some of the standard plants can take up a significant amount of real estate, but newer hybrids are on the smaller side. Looking forward to seeing everyone there at the meeting!

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 here

Join us for our Annual Re-potting Clinic

Meeting Date: Wednesday, September 11^th at the Cheshire Senior Center.  Doors open at 6:30pm for socializing and the meeting starts at 7pm.

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

Event: Orchid Re-potting Clinic

Our September meeting will be a Repotting Clinic with orchid supplies for sale. At the last meeting we announced the new 25% members discount on all books and supplies, I would encourage everyone to take advantage of the discount, the prices for pots, mixes, and stakes are very reasonable and you are supporting your society with your purchase! The supplies list is posted under the ‘Supplies’ tab on our website, NOT on the sidebar under the calendar, that is an outdated supplies list that we can’t seem to delete! Please reach out ahead of time to, ctorchidsociety@gmail.com if there is anything you would like us to bring to the meeting for you. We will be bringing a selection of supplies but will not have everything on the list unless it’s specifically requested. As we head into the cooler months of fall many orchids are putting on new root and shoot growth, so take advantage of this and get some repotting done! We have everything you need from pots to stakes and everything in between.

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. Bring in your overgrown plants or plants in old potting media, 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.

Even if you don’t have any orchids to repot, come on out and join us at the September meeting, there is always something new to learn, and as always, we encourage you to bring your blooming plants for the 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

COS Picnic Reminder

Join us for our annual Summer Picnic and Plant Swap at Black Rock State Park!

When: Sunday August 11th 10am-3pm – We are asking everyone to arrive around 10am for setup before a brief business meeting around 10:30am, 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 Karen KuzielKarenKuziel@pchiggins.com directly if you are planning on attending and have not already signed up with a dish or reached out to her! We need a rough headcount or burgers and dogs 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 something a bit more comfortable. Feel free to bring yard games for a bit of competitive sport!

Since we are not holding a regular meeting with a speaker this month we are planning on holding a plant swap! Bring along your extra divisions or plants to swap. Orchids are prolific growers and we always have a few extra divisions sitting around taking up space. This is a chance to open up some space for something new in your collection. So join the summer fun and swap a plant!

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