November 13th Meeting will be at the Cheshire Senior Center: Dave Sorokowsky ‘Don’t Fear the Slippers’

Oct30

Join us for a talk by Dave Sorokowsky from Paph Paradise

‘Don’t Fear the Slippers’

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meeting Date: Wednesday, November 13th 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

October 9th Meeting will be at the Farmington Senior Center: Kim Fedderson ‘A Look at Cymbidium’

Oct7

Join us for a talk by Kim Fedderson from Fair Orchids

‘A Look at Cymbidium’



Meeting Date: Wednesday, October 9th 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

September 11th Meeting will be our Annual Re-potting Clinic at the Cheshire Senior Center

Sep10

Join us for our Annual Re-potting Clinic

Meeting Date: Wednesday, September 11th 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

 

August 11th Meeting will be at Black Rock State Park

Aug10

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

 

June 12th Meeting will be at the Farmington Senior Center

Jun10

Join us for a Talk on the ABC’s of Orchid Nutrition with Alan Koch of Gold Country Orchids

Meeting Date: Wednesday, June 12th at the Farmington Senior Center.  Doors open at 6:30pm for socializing and the meeting starts at 7pm.

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

Presentation: The ABC’s of Orchid Nutrition

Alan Koch owns and operates Gold Country Orchids where he specializes in miniature and compact Cattleya’s along with miniature species. Alan started growing orchids in 1969 with three Cymbidiums given to him by an aunt. While in college he became interested in other orchids and discovered many would grow outdoors in Southern California. He has moved five times as his orchid obsession has led to the need for more growing space. With the last move, he purchased 10 acres of land in Lincoln, California for his 250,000 orchids. He is recognized as an expert in the Brazilian Cattleya alliance and a trend setter in miniature compact and Cattleya breeding.

Alan has been published in the Orchid Digest, the American Orchid Society magazine, Orchids, as well as many International Publications. He has also been published in several proceedings of the World Orchid Conference. He is an internationally known speaker. He is a past member of the AOS Judging Committee, and the Research Committee, as well as an Emeritus Judge and is Training Coordinator for the California-Sierra Nevada Judging Center. Alan also served two terms on the Orchid Digest Executive Committee and 3 terms on the Board of Directors, as well as two terms as a Trustee for the AOS. He is currently the First Vice President for the International Phalaenopsis Alliance. Alan is also well known for the many AOS auctions he has done.

His talk will feature how to get the most out of your hobby and your plants. Learn some very simple tricks to get the most out of growing orchids. Interested in improving your orchid culture, come on out and join us at the June meeting, 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 cards for the show table 

May 8th Meeting will be at the Cheshire Senior Center

May7

Join us for a Talk on Jumping Worms in Connecticut with Gale Ridge, PhD

For a visual comparison of worms here is a useful guide found on the Brunswick-Topsham Landtrust website here

Meeting Date: Wednesday, May 8th 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: Jumping Worms in Connecticut

For the May meeting we are venturing slightly off the orchid theme with a talk by Gale Ridge, PhD from the CT Agricultural Experiment Station on the topic of Jumping Worms in Connecticut. This is relevant for those of us that move plants outdoors in the summer or are interested in cultivating native terrestrial orchids.

The gardener in me certainly fears seeing these critters appear in my garden or local woodland. When you observe firsthand the work of a population of Jumping Worms it’s devastating to the soil ecology and plants growing there. Thankfully the name is a bit of misnomer, since they can’t actually jump, but they are fast moving and voracious consumers of organic matter which can quickly turn the soil into a crumbly mass of castings.

Potted plants can be equally at risk and a pot filled with moisture retentive potting mix high in organic matter can quickly become infested with worms that disturb plant roots and reduce plant vigor. Thankfully most of our orchids should be growing in fresh mixes that drain quickly and don’t provide a home for these critters, but pots with older mix that is breaking down or more ‘soil like’ mixes could become a buffet if left in ground contact where these guys are present.

Interested in learning something new, come on out and join us at the May meeting, we will be recapping from the Show last month and discussing how it went, 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 orchid id papers

March 13th Meeting will be at the Cheshire Senior Center

Feb25

Join us for a Talk on Terrestrial Orchids with Gregory Griffis

The radiant, peachy orange flowers of Habenaria rhodocheila

Meeting Date: Wednesday, March 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: The Terrific Terrestrials

For some people, an interest in plants comes from being exposed at a young age, but for people like Greg Griffis, plants became a passion a little later in life

“I grew up in a family that did a lot of gardening, but I had no specific interest in plants per se until college when a friend introduced me to orchids.”

Greg, the orchid grower at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, has developed not only a deeper understanding of the plants in his care but also just a passion for the way they grow.

One of Greg’s favorite things about being in the orchid house is hearing the reactions of visitors as they walk around. He knows he’s done his job well when he hears the exclamations from guests.

Greg continues to work on improving and expanding the collection, as well as networking with great growers and hybridizers across the country. He also has authored a number of written works, and has participated in a number of video interviews as well.

Most people find terrestrial orchids, especially those that go dormant, terrifying! But they are rather terrific! This talk will take a walk around the world to overview terrestrials from around the world, and we will talk about the most common and accessible terrestrials and how to grow them. We will demystify terrestrials and unlock their beautiful and fascinating possibilities. This talk is excellent for orchid growers of all levels, as it talks basic culture of these wonderful plants and offers new options for more advanced growers.

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

February 14th Meeting will be at the Farmington Senior Center

Jan25

Join us for a hands on workshop: Tissue Culture and Un-flasking

A flask can take many forms, the basic requirement is a sealed container that can be filled with media and sanitized, where the orchid explants can be cultured. Flask in hand, Paph. Magic Paradise ‘Merlot’ x Paph. victoria-regina

Meeting Date: Wednesday, February 14th at the Farmington Senior Center;  Doorsopen at 6:30pm for socializing and the meeting starts at 7pm.

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

Presentation: Orchid Tissue Culture Basics and Unflasking Workshop

Our upcoming meeting in February will feature a hands on un-flasking workshop. We are putting together a short presentation on orchid tissue culture, after which where we will de-flask and pot up Paphiopedilum seedlings for everyone to take home. After talking with Dave Sorokowskyover at Paph Paradise, I decided on a nice hybrid sequential blooming Paph, amazingly enough he is claiming it can be bloomed in as little as 18 months out of flask! For those of you interesting in looking up the lineage, the cross is Paph. Magic Paradise ‘Merlot’ x Paph. victoria-regina. The fee to participate in the workshop is $10 per person. This will include: 1 seedling, potting mix, and container for transitioning the plant out of tissue culture.

Ever wonder how new orchid crosses are produced commercially? The process is a bit more complicated than popping a few seeds into a pot and watching them develop into a seedling. Early orchid growers sowed the dust like seeds of orchids onto moss trays in the greenhouse, success was very low and few plants were produced with this method. After a selected was bloomed successfully and found to be worth keeping the only way to propagate the plant was the slow process of division from growing leads. Early orchids were expensive and of limited availability to the general public unless in the form of jungle collected plants. With the advent of tissue culture the germination rate increased, making it feasible for production of seedling crops. At the same time a choice selection of a plant could be clonally propagated from meristematic tissue and multiplied exponentially faster in vitro than through division.  While you can order blooming sized seed grown or meristem culture plants, many growers also offer the option of purchasing flasks of young plants. Successfully transitioning plants out of the flask takes a bit of care to ensure that the tender orchids are properly acclimated to the new growing environment. The workshop part of the talk should demystify the process a bit for the hobbyist, with a controlled environment grow chamber of light rack this could be your next orchid adventure.

The pod parents Paph. Magic Paradise ‘Merlot’ AM/AOS x Paph. victoria-regina are both very attractive plants and should produce some nice offspring, seedlings all bring something unique to the table, maybe even an award winning cross in the batch!

Keep in mind February weather can be inclement, if the weather looks bad we will send out a memo to let people know if the meeting is still on. With any luck the weather will stay as mild as it’s right now!

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.

January Meeting will be at the Cheshire Senior Center

Jan1

Join us for a Talk on Orchid Viruses with Christian Lesage

ORSV Color Break Lc. Sierra Skies ‘Leone’ x C. Portia ’Mrs. Carl Holmes’

Meeting Date: Wednesday, January 10th 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: Let’s Talk About Orchid Viruses: Prevention and Detection, a Collector’s Approach to Virus Management

Our upcoming January meeting will be held at the Cheshire Senior Center on January 10th and will feature a talk that I am putting together on Orchid Viruses. This is a topic I wish I had known about when I first started working with orchids. It only came onto my radar once there were severe symptoms of plant decline manifesting throughout the collection I was working with, truly a situation that would strike fear in the heart of any orchid professional. When we think of disease causing organisms in plants and animals we often overlook the commonalities between the maladies we experience and those that affect plants. While we can’t necessarily come down with a fungal case of botrytis or a viral case of CymMV there are similarities in howdiseases are spread in plants and as in animals. It’s important to be aware of common orchid pathogens so that disease prevention in your plants becomes as second nature as washing your hands before eating.

There are over 30 virus that have been found to affect orchids, with the two most common viruses found in orchid collections being Cymbidium Mosaic Virus CymMV and Odontoglossum Ringspot Virus ORS. Both viruses have a high level of persistence outside of living host tissue and are usually spread mechanically between plants while we are working with them or on contaminated surfaces, tools, debris, or potting materials. The talk will focus on identifying the signs and symptoms with an emphasis on how to take preventative measures to keep your collection clean. If you have ever had chlorotic or necrotic leaf streaking, flower color break, blossom necrotic streak, sudden plant decline, or just a plant that seems to underperform you may have been dealing with an orchid virus. I will go over the testing protocol in place for confirming a viral infection as well as best practices for handling plants to prevent the spread of a virus in your collection. Rather than being intimidated by an unseen threat to your plants you should feel empowered to make the right choices for keeping your plants healthy.

Keep in mind January weather can be inclement, if the weather looks bad we will send out a memo to let people know if the meeting is still on. With any luck the weather will stay as mild as it’s right now!

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

COS Annual Holiday Party will be in Farmington

Dec3

Our annual Holiday Party is coming up this month on Wed. December 13th 6:30pm at the Farmington Senior Center. If you haven’t signed up already or reached out to Mary please take a moment to look at the Holiday Flyer that went out. Once again, the club will be buying in entrees from a local restaurant and we ask that everyone bring either a side, salad, or desert. There will be a small fee of $15 per person to cover the cost of the food, and we ask that you please RSVP if you will be attending so we order enough food for everyone. Last year a very merry time was had by all so we hope to see you there!

The December meeting is also the time for annual elections. We will be voting on the following proposed officer slate; President: Christian Lesage & Mary Rampone, Vice President: Jason Chang, Treasurer: Suzanne Spinelli, Recording Secretary: Valerie DApice & Carla Koch, and Directors at Large: Rebecca Schwartz, Mike Wicki, and Karen Kuziel. There are also a number of appointed positions we would like to see filled if anyone is interested, most importantly we are still looking for someone to work with Suzy to learn the ropes as an Editor for the newsletter. If anyone is interested in designing and setting up our newsletter we are looking for someone creative and motivated to take the newsletter and run with it.