Wednesday June 8, 2016

CHANGED to Cheshire Senior Center

240 Maple Ave, Cheshire, CT 06410

doors open at 6:30pm, meeting starts at 7:30pm

The June meetings speaker will be Dr Matt Opel from UConn.   

Topic is “Flowers of the Fairest Cape.” He will present a sample of the diversity of flowering plants from the Cape region of South Africa, including proteas, pelargoniums, crassulas, lithops and other succulents, bulbs and of course orchids.

Matthew R. Opel PhD

Matthew Opel grew up in Westchester County, NY, where he developed an early love of plants, gardening and the natural world; one of his first words was “pachysandra.”  He became interested in Lithops—the “living stones”—and other desert plants after visits to the New York Botanical Garden, and eventually went on to study biology and botany at Cornell University. Matt received a doctorate from the University of Connecticut after completing studies of the anatomy, morphology and evolution of the genus Conophytum. In the course of his research he spent three winters in western South Africa. Tylecodon opelii, a dwarf succulent plant that he found on the quartz fields of the northern Knersvlakte was named in his honor in 2011.

Matt is currently employed as a horticulturist at the University of Connecticut, at the Biodiversity Education and Research Greenhouses. He has written about South African desert plants for the Cactus and Succulent Journal, Haseltonia, Bradleya, Veld & Flora and the Mesemb Study Group Bulletin, and given lectures on botanical topics to plant societies throughout the Northeast and in California.

Matt enjoys gardening, exploring the local woods and bogs, and beekeeping. Lately, he has taken an interest in the history of early glass works in Connecticut’s Quiet Corner. He occasionally posts musings about plants and horticulture on his blog, Burger’s Onion.

Wednesday May 11, 2016

THE WAVERLY INN – Right next to Cheshire Senior Center

286 Maple Ave, Cheshire, CT 06410

doors open at 6:30pm, meeting starts at 7:30pm

Doug & Terry Kennedy of Orchids In Our Tropics will be discussing Lycaste

Orchids in Our Tropics – a hobby gone wild!

In Vandorf, Ontario, the greenhouse full of thousands of orchids offers Doug Kennedy and his wife Terry a little bit of tropics in the midst of frigid Canadian winters.

More than forty years ago Doug fell in love with Paph Winston Churchill ‘Indomitable’ FCC/AOS.  For a while his collection did stay pure (as far as Paph growers are concerned).  However, over the years Terry kept introducing new genera and Doug just couldn’t resist them.  So the collection kept growing.  .Most of these genera are still well represented in their greenhouse, and Doug’s present obsession is much more omnivorous. Paphs, Oncidium intergenerics, Brassias, Miltonias, Lycastes as well as Mini Cats and Pleurothalids continue to delight him.

Terry and Doug have exhibited their plants in numerous shows from coast to coast including the 11th. World Orchid Conference in Miami in 1984 and the 16^th World Orchid Conference in Vancouver.  Numerous AOS show trophies, AOS quality and cultural awards and the countless other trophies document the success of their participation in these shows.  Travel to exotic places like Hawaii, Thailand, Ecuador, Guatemala, Columbia, Brazil , Japan, Singapore and South Africa has further expanded their acquaintance with many species and hybrids as well as their intricate requirements.

Take a look at their website <orchidsinourtropics.com> to get a flavor of what is in their greenhouse.

Terry is an accredited judge with the American Orchid Society. Currently she is Chair of the Toronto Judging Center.  Both Terry and Doug are past presidents of the Southern Ontario Orchid Society, and have been on the organizing committee for the society’s annual show since its inception over 35 years ago..

Having taken early retirement, Doug now devotes full time to family and his avocation – orchids.

Both Terry and Doug lecture on a variety of orchid topics including several genera, culture, and travel logs.  The travelogues not only are exciting adventures to exotic places but also offer insights into native orchid habitats and thus help explain why particular species and their hybrids require specific conditions.. With their enthusiastic presentations both have shared their passion with orchid growers all across North America.

Wednesday April 13, 2016

Farmington Senior Center, Room C

321 New Britain Ave., Unionville, CT

doors open at 6:30pm, meeting starts at 7:30pm

Marni Turkel (pronounced tur KELL) is a native of the San Francisco Bay Area and has been growing orchids since 1980. She grows in three greenhouses in Santa Rosa with approximately 1000 sq ft of growing space. Her main interest is in cool-growing miniature species but plenty of larger plants have crept into the collection as well. Marni has been a contributor to Orchids magazine with her series called ‘Well Worth the Space’ and ‘Give It a Rest’. Her articles have been translated into Dutch, German, Portuguese and Swedish for international publication. Photographs of her plants have been feature in articles noted orchid publications including Orchids Magazine, Orchid Digest, Richardiana, The Orchid Review, and The Australian Orchid Review. For the last few years she has been sharing her photographs and knowledge on OrchidsForum.com.

Starting in 2009, Marni has expanded her work with orchids to include propagation of orchids from seed and has set up a flasking lab of her own to take the process from start to finish and sell flasks of many of the orchids species in her collection. After working for over 43 years as a potter, she has retired from ceramics to pursue orchids full-time

Pre orders are for flasks only.  Check Marni’s web site for the list.

marni@marniturkel.com

Wednesday March 8, 2017

Cheshire Senior Center

240 Maple Ave, Cheshire, CT 06410

Doors open at 6:30pm, meeting starts at 7:30pm.

This month Richard Ho will present on “Chinese Cymbidium – The King of Fragrance” and is bringing plants for sale.