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March 2009
March Meeting March 9, 2008 Dennis D'Alessandro on 'Orchid Collecting in Ecuador, a Thirty Year Journey' Dennis D'Alessandro has been growing orchids for over 25 years.
He moved to Ecuador in 1977 where he was the curator of the orchid collection at Orquideario Predesur, a botanical garden dedicated
to maintaining over 400 orchid species native to Ecuador. Since 1977, he has collected and cataloged over 1000 specimens, of which
over 80 were new to science. Mr. D'Alessandro worked in conjunction with the Marie Selby Gardens and the Missouri Botanical Gardens,
in collecting and cataloging orchid species of southern Ecuador, one of the richest and least known orchid habitats in the world.
Since the beginning of this project, he has participated in the discovery of 100 new orchid species in Ecuador, some of which carry
his name: Masd. dalessandroi, Dracula dalessandroi, Masd. mendozae, Phragmipedium dalessandroi, and others. Along with maintaining
an Orchid nursery in the town of Vilcabamba in Ecuador; Dennis, his wife Maria and their family established Gypsy Glen Orchids in
Beaver, Pennsylvania and have kept it going since 1991. Display Table: Sales Table: Raffle: NEXT MONTH: Gene Crocker of Carter and Holmes Orchids on "Cattleya Species and
Their Influence on Modern Hybrids" SCHEDULE OF UPCOMING MEETINGS April 13, 2009 May 11, 2009 June 8, 2009 NW Flower & Garden Show The NWFGS is once again finished for this year and our "Jungle Orchids, Jungle Masks" garden was a knock-out hit! Our 400 sq ft display even won a bronze medal! As always there are some amazing volunteers who made this grand display a success: Please give yourselves a round of applause! ~ joff morgan President's Notes Kathy Murray, president Daylight savings time arrives the day before our March meeting, which hopefully will make getting to the meeting a lot more pleasant. My apologies for dispensing with the formal display table at the February meeting. The snow I encountered on my drive in spooked me. Please bring your blooming orchids to share with everyone at the March meeting. My thanks to Ellen Covey for handling the monthly Display Table. As the days grow longer, our orchids are putting out new shoots and roots. This is the time to begin repotting. Take advantage of the society’s annual potting clinic on Monday, March 23 beginning at 7 pm, to report up to three orchids. This event is free to NWOS members ($10 for others). The society supplies media and expert advice. Location: Douglas Classroom (greenhouse area) at the Center for Urban Horticulture. Please mark your calendars for the society’s annual show and sale, April 18 and 19, and for the annual NWOS Mother’s Day Weekend sale, May 9 and 10. Sign up sheets will be at the March, April, and May meetings—or contact Dennis or Jamie Notman if you can’t make a meeting but can work a shift. Also, John Burke's estate donated two Wardian Cases to the Society and we're going to have a silent auction to benefit the NWOS at the annual show. There are pictures below. I extend a huge thank you to everyone who helped with the NWOS display at the Northwest Flower & Garden Show by working shifts or supplying blooming orchids and foliage plants. We had a beautiful “orchid garden” thanks to the extraordinary efforts of Joff Morgan, George and Cylvia Grantham, and Dennis and Jamie Notman. The garden was awarded a Bronze Medal—but I think it should have been gold. If you’re in the market for specialty orchids, take a look at the offerings available by presale from the speakers for both the March and April meetings (see elsewhere in this newsletter). Farewell winter, welcome spring. Hope to see you at the March meeting. Orchids for Sale and Free Supplies In December, on a bitterly cold day-just before our first snow-the NWOS helped with a sale of Dr. Michael Hrankowski’s orchid collection. In return, Dr. Hrankowski gave the society 20 percent of the proceeds-nearly $200. He still has a number of orchids he would like to sell. Please phone or email him for an appointment and mention that you’re an NWOS member. He will again donate a portion of sale proceeds to the society. Here is a partial list of available plants: Masdevallias; two specimen plants of Dracula vampira, HCC/AOS; Odontoglossom intergenerics; Dendrobium nobile and Negro Hirsute; Cymbidium hybrids; Paph species and hybrids; Miltoniopsis; one really big blue vanda; Brassia intergenerics; Cattleya species and intergenerics; Laelia species and intergenerics; other hybrids and species. Contact information: Michael Hrankowski, DDS, 1230 NW Blakely Court, Seattle, WA 98177; 206.306.2006 HOME; 206.778.7456 CELL; hrankowski@comcast.net Bruce Gelman has notified the society that he has about 80 orchids for sale. He said, "I am willing to make a great deal with a serious buyer who will take good care of them. Rhynchostylis, Phalaenopsis, many 1year old seedlings and Darwin’s orchid are in the sale." Contact Bruce at 206-697-0526 anytime or at gelmanb@hotmail.com Free supplies to hobbyist in Bremerton/Silverdale area - Michael Mills bought a house that came with orchid supplies. He’d like to give these to someone in his area. Contact him at 360-908-3535 or at mhsmills@msn.com A few pictures from the NWF&GS...
John Patrick Burke
John was a Philosophy faculty member at the University of Washington and at the University of Puget Sound. Later he was the Director of Student Services in the Department of Economics at UW until his retirement in 2000. The oldest of five children of Jerry and Mary Burke of Paso Robles, California, John was bitten early by the fishing bug, loved social events, kids, sports, dogs, cats, music, books and long discussions on every topic imaginable. He was a mentor, tutor and adviser to his disabled younger brother, Robert, who died in 2006. He played soccer as an adult, and traveled to England, Ireland, Greece, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Mexico and to the Southern and Eastern U.S., enjoying various cultural experiences everywhere he went. He wrote prose and fiction, collected and grew orchids, kept detailed notes on the interests of his five grandchildren, Hudson, McLean, Crew (David and Kelsey’s kids) and Jack and Timmy (Tom and Lisa’s sons) and kept the children supplied with books. He was a favorite Uncle John for a whole tribe of nieces and nephews, as well as Onkel John to the family’s Bavarian relatives and friends. His former wife, Vivienne Burke, and his wife Deborah Prince, and siblings Mary Riggs, Teresa Burke and Michael Burke remember with affection and humor the booming voice and laugh, the wide-ranging interests, and the sheer delight in life's unexpected adventures which characterized John. John's Estate donated two Wardian Cases to the Society. We're going to have a silent auction to benefit the NWOS at our Annual Show and Sale in April. There are two models - a "Bimini" and a "Maui". Both of these are still sold by the Orchidarium company and seem to be complete and in great shape. John was using both. All of the lights, wires and plugs are included. Here are photos of each:
You can also see pictures and current pricing at the Orchidarium
website: http://orchidarium.com/ |
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Born in Idaho, John grew up in Riverside, California, where he earned his B.A. with honors at the University of California at Riverside and his Ph.D. in Philosophy at UC San Diego. While a student, he was very active in the anti-war movement.
