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| Space is limited. Reserve your Webinar seat now at: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/622420962 |
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COS Annual Picnic August 16
COS Annual Picnic, Sat., Aug. 16th 1:00 p.m.
(rain date Sun., 17th)
COS Annual Picnic, Sat., Aug. 16th 1:00 p.m. (rain date Sun., 17th)
This year members are in for a special treat. Members George Jones and Dean Delgiudice have kindly offered to hold our picnic at their home. George and Dean are award winning gardeners in addition to orchid growers. Their home is located at 124 Norton St., Plantsville
Pot Luck: Please bring your favorite picnic dish with a little extra to share with others. Contact Dottie Kern who is coordinating the food to let her know what you are bringing. 860-283-8956.
COS will provide utensils, paper goods and refreshments. Electric will be available for crock pots. Grill will be be available for anyone who wants to barbeque and is ready from 2:00 on. Extra lawn chairs would also be a big help. Access to George & Dean’s home will be limited. Guests are expected to use a sparkling, clean and fresh, portable bathroom available on the premises.
Directions: George Jones’ and Dean Delgiudice’s Home, 124 Norton Street , Plantsville, CT
From Waterbury: Take 84 to 691 (Meriden) Take exit 3 (Cheshire) Left over bridge . At second light bear left. 124 Norton Street is 1/4 mile down on left just past Janazzo Plumbing and Heating. House is behind 118 Norton, go down long driveway, all the way to the back through set of gates.
From Hartford: Take 84 to exit 29 (Plantsville) Take right onto route 10. Bear left at next light. 124 Norton Street is behind 118 Norton, go down long driveway, all the way to the back through set of gates.
From New Haven: Take 91 to 691 (Meriden) Take exit 3 (Cheshire) Take right onto route 10. Bear left at next light. 124 Norton Street is behind 118 Norton, go down long driveway, all the way to the back through set of gates.
Hope to see you there!
COS RePotting Clinic 6/29 @ J&L Orchids event
COS will hold a repotting clinic from 10:00 – 1:00 at J & L Orchids, located at 20 Sherwood Road in Easton, CT.
Bring your own plant and fresh container, we supply the potting medium and elbow grease! $5.00 per plant up to 4″ pot size.
June 11 Monthly Meeting
June COS monthly meeting:
Wednesday June 11th, 2014 – doors open 6:30 pm
Farmington Senior Center
321 New Britain Avenue, Unionville, CT
Speaker: Ron Parsons – Orchids of Sichuan, China
Ron Parsons is considered by many to be one of the finest flower photographers in the United States. His photography and encyclopedic knowledge of orchids is known both nationally and internationally. He has been photographing orchids, wildflowers, and almost every other kind of plant for over 25 years, and has a slide collection that numbers well over 80,000 slides! He went “digital” just over a year ago, and in this short time has taken thousands of photos orchids, wildflowers and other rare plants. See the orchid photogallery for some of his new digital photographs.
Ron is a popular speaker, and gives talks frequently on variety of orchid-related topics, as well as on California wildflowers, cacti and succulents, carnivorous plants, gesneriads and bromeliads. His talks feature his beautiful color slides of the subject matter, in-depth information, and first-hand knowledge about the species discussed.
Ron Parsons is a member of the San Francisco Orchid Society, The Peninsula Orchid Society, The Orchid Society of California, and the Bay Area Pleurothallid Alliance. Ron is also a member of the San Francisco Succulent and Cactus Society, and the American Gesneriad Society of San Francisco.
Ron will be bringing plants for sale but there will be no pre-order list, as he will be dividing plants from his own collection and bringing them bare root.
Woodbury Earth Day, April 26
Saturday, April 26, 2014 11:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Woodbury Middle School, Woodbury, Connecticut
Celebrate wholesome and sustainable living by joining us for the 20th annual Woodbury Earth Day. There will be demonstrations, local craftsmen, unique vendors, activities, live music and more! Free admission.
A & P Orchids Demo/Lecture April 26th
Azhar Mustafa invites you to attend a one hour demonstration and lecture on orchid culture with his revolutionary Forever Mix on Saturday, April 26th, 2014 at 10:00 AM; admission is free.
Successfully growing a dozen of genera in the potting media (including, but not limited to: Paphiopedilums, Phalaenopsis, Phragmipedium, Cymbidium, Sarcochilus, Catasetum, Miltoniopsis, Zygopetalum and more), Azhar Mustafa will educate aspiring hobbyists on its many benefits, demonstrate proper planting and offer long-term management advice to make orchid growing a breeze. Those of our patrons experiencing difficulties with their orchids may bring them for a free diagnosis.
To make this event possible, we ask at least twenty of our subscribers to RSVP via email. We look forward to seeing you again this Saturday, April 26th, 2014 at 10:00 AM.
COS May 14 Meeting – Restrepias
May COS monthly meeting:
Wednesday May 14, 2014 – doors open 6:30 pm
Cheshire Senior Center
240 Maple Ave, Cheshire, CT 06410
Duane Erdmann
Restrepias
Duane and his wife Judy began growing orchids in 1974. First, the collection was under lights in their basement, and then it moved to a small greenhouse. Over the years, they moved five times and built greenhouses – each a little bigger. The current one is 18X24 off their garage. But they still grow under lights in their basement – the little things and those that like moderated temperatures. Paphiopedilum, tropical slipper orchids, were their main genus, but in more recent years Duane has moved over to the small side – Restrepia. He has taken trips to Ecuador to see them in their natural settings and do more detailed studies of specific species. Over 40 species are among his 400 plant collection.
The last area added to his orchid interest is native orchids of North America. He is currently editor of The Native Orchid Conference Journal.
Through all this his favorite part about orchids, and anything in nature for that matter, is photographing them. Duane does the orchid photography for Longwood Gardens’ photo database. He has traveled through much of the world crawling around in the wild to get that perfect picture. His photos have been included in various publications. Today he is sharing a photographic sampling of this much overlooked genus and cultural tips.
April 9 – COS Monthly Meeting –
April COS monthly meeting:
Wednesday April 9th, 2014 – doors open 6:30 pm
Farmington Senior Center
321 New Britain Avenue, Unionville, CT
Orchidarium Set-up and Culture
Growing orchids indoors? You can boost your humidity levels and decrease maintenance time by setting up an orchidarium. Talk covers tank selection, set-up, lighting, air movement and watering systems. Learn how easy it is to create an orchid spa right in your home.
Bio
Sasha Crotty is the President of the Massachusetts Orchid Society. She has been growing orchids in small Boston condos for 8 years. With only 1000 square feet of living space, orchid real-estate was hard to come by. Fortunately this did not dampen Sasha’s orchid addiction and fostered her fascination with miniature orchids. The small orchids did not fare as well in the dry Boston winters and as the number of orchids increased, it became clear that it was time for a change. Sasha bought an aquarium and converted it into an orchidarium. The high humidity and ease of watering made both owner and orchids happier. So much so that Sasha’s home now houses 2 cats (orchid helpers), 250+ orchids, 2 orchidariums and has recently seen the introduction of automated watering systems.
Escape to Spring – Van Wilgens – March 14-16
AOS Webinar 3/17 – Pests and Diseases
March 2014
From the Desk of Sandra Tillisch Svoboda
Join us for an AOS members-only Webinar on March 17
From 8-9pm EDT, Ron McHatton will present a talk on the various kinds of pests that can affect our orchid collections and how to manage them.
No orchid grower is completely immune from the introduction of pests and diseases to their collection. This means that sooner or later we are all going to be faced with having to go to battle on some level with the forces of nature that have decided to feast on our plants. Effective pest management isn’t easy and it isn’t fast and most of us try our hardest to get it over quickly. The result is often expressed by that phrase “scale (or mealybug or ?) are impossible to control.” The keys to effective pest management is to understand the pest you are fighting and to even better understand the pest management scheme you have decided to use. This presentation to look into the life cycle of our common pests, how pesticides work and how they should be used for effective management.
Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/864561042
After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.
System Requirements
For PC-based attendees use Windows® 8, 7, Vista, XP or 2003 Server. Mac®-based attendees can use Mac OS® X 10.6 or newer and mobile attendees can use their iPhone®, iPad®, Android™ phone or Android tablet
Mark your calendars for Monday April 21. Ron will be presenting another webinar on growing dendrobiums.
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Are you a member of the Fairchild Tropical Gardens or want to Join?
This weekend only – Friday, Saturday and Sunday – during the Fairchild’s annual Orchid Event, they will offer AOS members not already Fairchild members a special 50% off the cost of annual Fairchild membership. Already a Fairchild member? For this limited time, you can renew your membership for 20% off the regular price. You must either be present at the event or call the Fairchild, 305-667-1651 extention 3301 or 3373, during the event to take advantage of this limited-time offer. Current Fairchild membership is $90/year single so 50% off is real savings and it provides you the opportunity to take advantage of all Fairchild’s events throughout the year.
Not interested in a membership to the Fairchild but want to attend the orchid event? Fairchild is offering AOS members a special admission price of $18 during the event (regular admission is $25). You MUST have your AOS membership card for this special admission price.
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There’s still time to register for our Members Meeting
Our spring members meeting and election will be held in conjunction with the Minnesota Orchid Society’s Show at the end of April. There’s still time to register but time is rapidly running out. The meeting hotel is filling up rapidly and the room block hold ends on April 8. For more information see http://mnorchid.wix.com/osm2014sam