Next Regular Meeting:
- Sales Start at 12:00 Noon (no earlier)
- Programme Starts at 1:00 pm
- This month we are in GARDEN HALL
- NOTE. Due to on going construction, there is limited parking. Details...
Speaker:
Jason Fischer
You are in for a real treat when you attend the June 3 meeting of SOOS. As you can see from the (rest of the) website, Jason Fischer has allowed us to place advance orders for some of his very special orchids. Do not be dismayed if you failed to take advantage of this offer, as Jason will have orchids in hand for sale at the meeting.
Jason's business is called Orchids Limited; it began in 1978 as a very small orchid nursery specializing in mail order and retail. Since then the business has expanded to five orchid greenhouses , each with its own special climate.
Jason has had a life-long education in orchids simply by growing up in the business, and having the opportunity to work with many educated botanists over the past 30 years. (Jason started in the business as child labour at age 5). His college education was in the study of the Japanese language. Having been raised in America with English but by a Japanese mother, Jason's fascination with Japan started when he was a sophomore in high school. He is fluent in Japanese and gives lectures on orchids in Japan as well. Orchids Limited grows almost any genera of orchid which can be obtained, and has a wide variety on hand at any given time. Phragmipediums have always been a specialty item at the nursery; Jason and team are excited to soon be able to offer their own hybrids using Phragmipedium kovachii and its hybrids. Jason has lectured at over 30 societies in the US, Canada and Japan. He has also lectured at the past two World Orchid Conferences in Miami and Singapore.
Do join us for a very exciting day on June 3!
Plant of the Month
January 2012 - The plant of the month, or rather basket of the month, went to Sherry and Peter Decyk for the beautiful arrangement of dendrobiums with a bit of aerangis and paphinia “on the side”. The Latouria Dendrobiums that they showed to us this time are a very rewarding group of dendrobiums that do not require a shock to start blooming and that stay in bloom for months. Sherry and Peter grow their dendrobiums in a bark-based medium, hanging in their greenhouse, so they get plenty of light and can dry somewhat between watering. Congratulations, Sherry and Peter! Sorry about the lack of a picture but it turned out that Peter Poot's camera was on the fritz
Conservation:
Conservation in the form of education has been the focus of the SOOS conservation committee recently. On April 26 at the TBG, Tom Shields presented his first of two courses on orchids. Both courses were aimed at the less-than-experienced orchidist. Course #1 was on tropical and sub-tropical orchids, and covered topics such as what is an orchid, what are its constituent parts, pollination tricks which our friends the orchids employ in order to regenerate, where orchids are found in the world, epiphytes versus lithophytes versus terrestrials, conditions for successful nurturing of one's orchids, roots, leaves, sympodial versus monopodial orchids, major cultivated orchid groups, pests, media used to hold orchids in place, societies and shows, and a web reference list. 10 people attended, and many had experience with at least Phalaenopsis orchids. Some had had success, and wanted to improve. Others were looking for ways to avoid some of the problems that they had encountered. On the feedback forms, and all attendees completed the form, the evaluation was an overall “excellent”.
On May 10, Tom presented the class with an introduction to native orchids, focusing on the major groups and species which grow in Ontario, along with their ranges, habitats, flowering times, abundance, and pertinent information. Photos were abundant, several of which came from Henry Glowka, who has been to the Bruce Peninsula many times, and is an avid and experienced photographer. At the end of the lecture, Henry provided a few tips for those who had the photography bug. One of the points which was emphasized to the class was the need to practise care and caution around orchid sites; a rule-of-thumb is to reveal orchid sites to only those who have shown great respect for these wonders of nature. There have been too many times when orchids have been destroyed by visitors, sometimes willfully, sometimes innocently. Tom also mentioned the challenges and risks of trying to garden with native orchids; he told the class of the financial support which SOOS has provided via the Nature Conservancy of Canada to the purchase and preservation of sites on which native orchids are found. As with course #1, the feedback from the class was extremely gratifying.
SOOS donated 2 pots of Yellow lady's-slipper orchids ( Cypripedium parviflorum var. makasin ) to the Toronto Botanical Garden in May. This arrangement had been on the books for over a year-and-a-half. The orchids have been located in an out-of-the-way spot in the garden in the hopes that they can establish themselves well, and securely.
Future Meetings:
- Other meeting dates for 2012 are as follows. The topic of each meeting will be added closer to the date of each one:
- August 5
- September 2
- October 7
- November 4
- December 2
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