Northwest Orchid Society Newsletter

February 13, 2006
7:00 p.m.
University of Washington
Center for Urban Horticulture
3501 NE 41st Street
Seattle, WA 98105

This talk will cover both native orchids and hardy orchids from other countries with similar climates. There will be photographs and descriptions of native orchids in the wild and cultivated species and hybrids. The main topic will be cultivation tips and the transition between the wild and the cultivated garden.Broaden your knowledge of different hardy orchids and the tools needed for making your own orchid garden. There is an orchid for every garden.

Arlen Hill is the owner of Keeping It Green Nursery which specializes in hardy orchids, woodland perennials, hardy ferns, and hard-to-find native plants. The nursery carries many rare collector’s plants including species and hybrids of Bletilla, Calanthe, Cypripedium, Dactylorhiza, Epipactis, Orchis and many more.

Beginner’s program: (starts at 6:30 p.m.)
No scheduled program. Jamie Notman will answer your orchid questions.

Display Table:
Bring your whatever you have in bloom so everyone can enjoy them!

Sales Table:
Members may bring up to 10 plants to sell. Include a tag with your name and the price in the plant.

COMING UP:

March 13, 2006
"Survival! How orchids have adapted to survive in nature" Dr. Joseph Arditti

April 10, 2006
"Dendrobium cruentum and other Section Formosae Dendrobiums" Michael Corn

Speakers and topics are subject to change. Got a suggestion? E-mail Jamie Notman, VP for Programming

JANUARY GENERAL MEETING
(Held January 9, 2006) Orchid photographer Ron Parsons showed off a treasure trove of unusual and beautiful flowers, including the Phal. minus shown above. The Society also purchased a copy of his new book, Masdevallias: Gems of the Orchid World, for our library. We also had a fabulous plant table and raffle table. February promises to be another good month for the raffle table as we raffle off the last of the holiday plants.

JANUARY BOARD MEETING
(Held January 3, 2006) After a report on the Fall Show, the board agreed that the 2006 Fall Show will be at Seattle Center again and set the dates for November 4-5. A slightly smaller room will likely be booked and the number of vendors will probably be reduced slightly. Plans for other upcoming shows and sales were discussed. A nominating committee is being formed to recruit new board members for next year. If you are interested, please contact George Krasle.

TIMBER PRESS SALE — NWOS MEMBERS SAVE 40%

The Northwest Orchid Society will be selling Timber Press books at a 40% discount to members. Timber Press catalogs will be available at the February and March meetings. Start making your wish list and watch for more details and an order form in the March newsletter.

Orders will be due at the March meeting and the books can be picked up at the April 10th meeting. For more information, contact Chris Peterson at (206) 525-2217.

The NWOS Spring Sale will take place March 18-19 at Sky Nursery (18528 Aurora Ave. N, Shoreline). The sale will feature Mark Bamber, Sorella Orchids, Arlen Hill, Baby Dragon Orchids and at least one other vendor. There will be a repotting service, plant doctor and basic culture talks. A small display will also be put together.

Olympia Orchid Society Show:
The fledgling Olympia Orchid Society has recently become more active and they are starting to put on their own shows. They are having a show on Feb. 4-5 at the Bark and Garden Center, 3334 Mud Bay Rd. NW, Olympia, hrs 9-5 Sat. and 9-4 Sun. This show will not be AOS judged. We will be taking a small display to the show on Friday, Feb. 3. We will be gathering plants for that show and also for the Flower and Garden Show (see below) on Thursday, Feb. 2.

Northwest Flower and Garden Show:
Please note the following change in plans: We will not be taking plants to the Convention Center for setup on Sunday, Feb. 5 as previously announced. Instead we will be setting up on Monday, Feb. 6.

I will be receiving plants at my house on Thursday Feb. 2 for both the Tacoma show and the Flower and Garden Show. If you have plants that you don’t mind loaning for the full 10 days, you can bring them to my house at that time. I will take some of your plant to Olympia and also to the Flower and Garden Show. If you wish to send your plants to the flower and garden show only, you can either bring them to me on Thursday or bring them to the Convention Center on Monday evening. Please call me for instructions. If you would like to help with the setup and/or teardown, please let me know.

I hope we get a good turnout of quality plants for the Flower and Garden Show. This is our opportunity to show “our stuff” to a huge audience. It is especially important to have a variety of plants including things they will not see in the usual plant outlets. I will bring plants from the Flower and Garden Show display to the meeting on Monday Feb. 12 to return to owners.

Mount Baker Orchid Society Show:
The next show will be the Mt. Baker Orchid Society Show in Mt. Vernon at the Skagit Valley Gardens Nursery Feb. 28-29. Show hours are noon to 5 PM on Saturday and 9AM to 5PM on Sunday. Setup for the display will be Friday noon to 5PM and tear-down is Sunday at 5PM. This is an AOS judged show. I will be on vacation at that time and others will be doing the display. If you would like to help with either setup or teardown, please let me know ASAP. This show is held in a very nice facility and there is a small café on the premises with very reasonable prices.

Tacoma Orchid Society Show:
This show was held Jan. 21 & 22 at Windmill Gardens Nursery in Sumner. Though small, it was a very nice show, well worth the drive down to Sumner for anyone in the Seattle area. For the NWOS display we had a great turnout: 13 people who provided a total of 63 plants for the display (see photo at top)! This must be some kind of a record. The quality of plants was high and there was a good range of species and hybrids in the display. We were awarded 51 ribbons for our plants, including 24 blue, 22 red and 5 white. We did not receive any AOS awards (there was only one granted in the show), but did get several special awards. Our display received the AOS Show Trophy for best display. In addition, Shannon Boling received Best Plant in Show and Best Masdevallia for her Masd. Princeps (pictured above), the Best Vandaceous Orchid was Ingrid Bridge’s Rhyn gigantea ‘Red,’ Mike and Donna received Best Paph for their Paph gratrixianum and Cylvia and I received Best Dendrobium for our Stephen Batchelor.

A number of people helped set up and take down the display including Craig Williams, Ewa Chmura, Ingrid and Barry Bridge, Joff Morgan and Jerry Hoffmeister. All the help was more than welcome as Cylvia and I were able to get home at a decent hour. Besides those who helped at the show, the following members sent plants: Mike Pearson and Abby Chang, Mike Foster and Donna Pearce, Harry Mar, Shannon Boling, Carolyn Mann, Jamie Notman, Sioeling Young and Kathy Murray. Thank you everyone for making our display a great success!

The Northwest Flower & Garden Show is coming up February 8-12 at the Washington State Convention & Trade Center in downtown Seattle. This year, the NWOS will host the Orchid Hotel and put in a display of member plants. The hotel is in the same location as last year—across the skybridge and straight back to the far north wall.

If you have signed up for a volunteer shift, you should have your wristband for entry. (If you don’t have a wristband, contact Chris Peterson immediately at 206-525-2217.) Please arrive on time for your shift and check in with the other volunteers.

If you would like to have your blooming orchids included in the display, please see the article on the next page and contact George Grantham.

The NWOS would like to thank the following members for bringing in plants for the display table last month:

Michael Corn & Cathy Tuttle
Mike Foster & Donna Pierce
George Grantham
George Krasle
Betty Lyons
Au Minh
Kathy Murray
Jamie Notman
Mike Pearson & Abby Chang
Loretta Sutherland
Andy Wright

The NWOS desperately needs a new newsletter editor—the old one is all worn out!

No real experience is necessary. Basic writing/editing skills, desktop publishing or web experience will be helpful but are not required. This position requires a commitment of 8-10 hours per month.

Volunteers will need to have their own computer and an e-mail account that they check regularly. The editor is also responsible for printing and distributing the newsletter. If you are interested or have questions, please contact Brian Anderson at nwos_news@nwos.org.

For additional volunteer opportunities, click "Volunteer Opportunities" in the side menu on this page.