Gainesville Orchid Society Newsletter E D I T O R : M A L L O R I E A N D M A T T G A U G H R A N O C T O B E R 2 0 1 1 Elected Officers: President - Georgia Shemitz 386-454-2147(hm) 352-283-2022(cell) Vice-President - N/A Secretary Linda White 352-284-3849 Treasurer Susannah Link 352-514-1911 Permanent Committees: Beginners Classes - Johanna Willink 352-372- 6624 Greenhouse Tours - Roy Cline 352-336-8523 Library - Trey Yon 352-373-2102 Membership - Candace Hollinger 352-335-0715 Newsletter - Mallorie and Matt Gaughran 321-298-0942 Refreshments Coordinator Carol Kenudson 352-495-6985 GOS Show - Joan Mac- Leod 352-375-6744 Candace Hollinger 352-335-0715 Georgia Shemitz 386-454-2147 Publicity Julie Graddy 352-562-9830 Other Committies: Webmasters Georgia Shemitz, Candace Hollinger Bloom Table Carolyn Robinson 352-495-2428 Cattleya Award Pictures-Matthew Gaughran 321-652-5754 Away Shows- Patti Hollien 352-378-9771 President s Message October As I write this message, we are looking forward to our annual Orchid Show, and by the time you receive it, the show will be past. We ll share some highlights and photos in the November newsletter. October is the month to get serious about preparing our orchids for changing conditions cooler weather and shorter days. It s time to give some thought to what conditions our orchids need this winter, particularly those plants that we acquired during the warmer weather. We are relatively fortunate here in Gainesville. We don t usually have long stretches of cold weather, but it only takes one hard freeze to do irreparable damage. Time for those of us who grow without greenhouses to get creative! This month Patti Hollien will present the beginner s program on how to prepare our orchids for the months ahead. Our speaker in October will be Weyman Bussey who will talk on Mexican species. It has been nine years since Weyman spoke here, but his presentation was so unique and entertaining (dare I say, sometimes wacky?) that some of us are still talking about it. He also brings plants to sell. Last time there were many bare root species at great prices. You don t want to miss him. November Auction At our November meeting we will hold an auction with all proceeds going to GOS. We will offer some orchids from growers and I encourage those who can to donate a beautiful blooming orchid. Items other than orchids donated by members will also be auctioned (do not have to be orchid related). The week before the auction I will send out an email asking what items are being donated, each item s value or a minimum bid. I will compile a list and send it to all prior to the auction. Holiday Party. Our holiday party will be on Monday, December 5 at 7:00 pm Kanapaha. GOS provides the meat and everyone else brings a side dish or a dessert. We need to know how many people and what you intend to bring. The signup sheet will be at the meeting. I hope everyone will plan to attend. See you at the meeting, Georgia
We are an American Orchid Society Affiliated Organization Meeting: Monday October 24th at Kanapaha Botanical Gardens The Gainesville Orchid Society meetings are held on the fourth Monday of every month at 7:30 PM in the Summer House at Kanapaha Botanical Gardens, 4700 SW 58th Drive. For additional information contact any of the GOS officers. Beginner s Class: 7:00 P.M.- How to Prepare Your Greenhouse and Orchids for Winter Patti Hollien General Body Meeting: 7:30 P.M.- Mexican Species Weyman Bussey A Bit About the Speaker Weyman Bussey: Born in Germany and raised in Belle Glade, Florida, Weyman was a normal child who liked everything about nature, from tropical fish to birds. After collecting his first orchid in the Big Cypress Swamp at the age of 12 on a Boy Scout camping trip, he knew his life was predestined to forever work with orchids. He grew up in the same town as Milton Carpenter and went to work part time for Milton Carpenter in his orchid business. Milton invited Weyman to Colombia, South America for the 7th W.O.C. when he was 17 and there he fell in love with the tropics. He graduated from the University of Florida in 1976, where he studied Botany and Ornamental Horticulture with his major professor Dr. Tom Sheehan. After college, he spent four years in Colombia setting up a tropical foliage nursery and looking for orchids. He has been working with orchids ever since. H spends most of his time in Mexico. When not there he gives talks around the country, specializing in Mexican species. An adventurer at heart, an orchidist to the core, professor of innovation and a great lecturer on Mexican orchids and tropical orchid growing, Weyman says anybody can grow an orchid. They can be obtained with a minimum investment and require only the right environment and lots of love. Weyman will have orchids to sell.
Let s Talk Orchids! Expert Grower s Advice Whew! That s what my orchids are telling me. They re happily enjoying the cooler October temperatures and thankful they survived a super hot summer. As an aside, the Ruby-throated hummingbirds left for southern climes the day before we had a 3 day temperature drop. To my surprise, 10 days later two migrant hummers appeared - one a rufus, a species I ve not seen in the yard before. How long they ll stay is anyone s guess. Now that watering isn t as demanding, I ve had a chance to clean the greenhouse and prepare the outside orchids for their move back inside. For a few days early this month temperatures were hovering around 50 degrees at night - a sure sign of the colder temperatures ahead. Although there was no rush to protect my orchids, I did begin to step up plans for the great migration into the greenhouse. I ve now begun a spray program using Year Round Oil Spray (2 1/2 tbsp./ gal.) along with smaller amounts of fertilizer. Applying this 3 times 7 to 10 days apart will prevent scale and other critters from being reintroduced to the greenhouse. It s a lot easier to spray plants outside than to wait until they are inside. Before bringing orchids into the greenhouse, examine each plant; cut off and treat dead stems and spot treat for fungus. It s important not to crowd orchids when they re inside. During the summer they have grown and spread. I tell mine to think small. Ideally, each plant should have enough room for a cat to walk between the rows. This allows for better air movement and reduces the spread of fungal problems. With shorter, cooler days wait a day or two longer before watering. It s best now to water early in the morning so that plants can dry before evening. Growth has slowed and will continue to do so the rest of the year. My October blooming orchids include Pot. Burana Beauty Burana HCC/AOS (a yellow and red splash petal), Pot. Haw Yuan Glory (a minature deep purple), Paph. Jean Brice (yellow), Doritis pulcherrima, Lc. Bowrie Albida Pink Lady, C. Laurie Lynn Westonbert, and Onc. Gower Ramsey Volcano Queen. Hope you had a great time at the GOS Orchid Show. See you at the meeting. Nancy Mason Membership Information Web Site - www.gainesvilleorchidsociety.org GOS annual membership is $20 per individual or $25 per household, and may be mailed to: Gainesville Orchid Society PO Box 5927 Gainesville, FL 32627-5927 This newsletter is published monthly. Submit material to the editor at mgaughrangator@yahoo.com no later than the 10th of the month.
Meeting Minutes Gainesville Orchid Society Kanapaha Botanical Gardens Summer House Meeting Minutes from Monday, September 26, 2011 This month s meeting began with the 7:00 pm with a Beginner s class on GOS Show: From a Plant s Eye View presented by Joan MacLeod. An interesting perspective on what happens before/during and after a show. Joan gave an interesting presentation, and supplied the group with what really happens to a plant at an Orchid show. Our GOS meeting began at 7:35 with our greetings to four visitors and one new member. The following areas were discussed at our meeting: Guidelines for entering your orchids have been posted on our GOS website. A big thank you to James and Carol for tonight s refreshments. About the show: Friday night of the setup there is a pot luck dinner at Candy s house. This year we will again have a table with individual displays on a first come first serve basis. Contact Georgia if you have questions. They will be 2 ½ feet wide and table deep. Please remember to help with the show take down at 5pm on Sunday. If you have an extra cart/wagon that can be used during the show for the Tote and Carry service that the ROTC group will provide, please let Georgia know. During the show, Julie will be doing a survey with the visitors to the show to find out where they heard about the show. This will help with advertising for next year. Remember that this is a great opportunity to enter your plants and get involved with the show. As a reminder, there will be an individual table for plants that may not fit into our club display. If your plant is placed on this table it will still be judged with others in the show. If you can help with lodging a guest speaker at your house for a night, let Georgia know. This is not always needed, but sometimes a speaker travels a far distance and will need an overnight stay. Our society s bylaws were amended. Georgia discussed the changes that were made during the meeting. These bylaws will be put on our website when they are approved. After the changes were read, there was a motion to accept them and was seconded. They were voted on and approved. At our November meeting we are having an auction with all the proceeds going to GOS. These will be plants donated by our members and bought from vendors. These donations do not have to be only orchids. We welcome gift certificates, pots, jewelry, etc. Find out what everyone is bringing on the Friday before our November meeting. Also listed will be the suggested price, description, etc. All these donations will help GOS boost up our coffers to meet yearly expenses such as speaker s fees, refreshments, etc). Any items not auctioned off in November will be presented as raffle items at our December Christmas party. Mark your calendars! December 5 th is our annual pot luck Christmas Party here at Kanapaha. Our meeting presentation this month was Everything You ve Wanted to Ask About Your Orchids by Orchid Experts (John Ingram, Dr. Tom Sheehan, Candy Hollinger, Nancy Mason, and Carolyn Robinson). Questions were asked, and sick orchids were displayed. Valuable information was presented to the group. The meeting adjourned about 9:00 pm. Linda M. White, Secretary Bloom Table Winners September Meeting Cattleya Alliance Blc. Ronald Hauserma Carl Jack Vernam Dendrobium Den. Blue Twinkle Linda White Oncidium Onc. Sharry Baby Nyi Nyi Henne Phalaenopsis Phal. Samera John Sullivan Species Zygopetalum mackayi John Ingram Vanda Aerides odorata (species) Patti Hollien
Treasurer s Report Treasurer s Report SEPTEMBER 2011 INCOME Membership 40 Silent auction 183 Raffle 49 Donations 7 2011 Show Trophy sponsors 130 Individual donations 155 Ads 200 Total Income $764 RESERVES Hollien Award $850.00 Donation $1,000.00 EXPENSES Silent auction reimbursements 111.33 Refreshments 33 Raffle plants 35 Show banner changes 21.25 Show ribbons and rosettes 147.12 Total Expenses $347.70 Balance as of 10-8-11 $9,301.44 Petty cash on hand 75.00 Less reserves 1,850.00 AVAILABLE FUNDS $7,526.44 Respectfully submitted by Susannah Link, Treasurer