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December 2003
DECEMBER MEETING December
8, 2003 Holiday Potluck Our December meeting is a special potluck. Bring your favorite finger food or dessert to share. We will also be awarding the Schoenfeld trophy for the best plant on the display table. Everyone will have a chance to vote for their favorite and the winner will take home this year’s trophy. Please bring ONLY ONE plant (your best, of course) for the display table. Beginner's program (starts at 6:30 p.m.): No beginner's program this month Plant Table: Bring your BEST blooming orchid to show (only one per member). Sales Table: Members may bring up to 10 plants to sell. Raffle: No raffle this month. COMING UP January: David Morris of Clackamas Orchid will talk about Maxillarieae tribe with an emphasis on Lycastes February: Justin Schroeder will discuss the orchid program at the Woodland Park Zoo March: Open April: Bill Bergstrom of Bergstrom Orchids May: Harry
from Andy’s Orchids will talk on mounting and growing mounted orchids. Got a suggestion for a speaker or program? Contact Jerry Hoffmeister at at jerry@hoffmeisters.com or 206-932-9912. A HAPPY HOLIDAY FOR NWOS MEMBERS Happy holidays! This year at our annual holiday party there are presents for everyone—every member receives a free plant (plants have been donated to the Society). We’re asking everyone to bring a finger food or dessert to share for our holiday potluck. Beverages and utensils will be provided by the society. We will also award the Schoenfeld Trophy for the best blooming plant. All you need to get the trophy is to bring in one blooming plant that you think will blow all the others away. Plants will be accepted for entry till 8 p.m. so clean up your best plant and bring it in. Also, if you have some, bring in photos of your growing area to share with everyone. We will post a “gallery of growing areas” at the meeting. 2003 FALL SHOW WRAP-UP OWOW! What a great show! I want to make sure all of you know that the work you put into this show was awesome. I really appreciate all of it. Thanks to the Show Committee for all the behind-the-scenes time they each gave. Thanks to the crew who helped build the display and set up the room. Thanks to the volunteers who worked the show selling memberships, taking entry money and cashiering. Thanks to the wanderers who spread the enthusiasm of orchids to the people who came to see the show. Thanks to the judges who awarded our plants. And special thanks to the vendors who endured a slow Saturday of sales. It was a nice event. I got a lot of great suggestions and feedback on this show that will be considered for next year. As many of you know, it takes a long time and a lot of effort to put on an event of this size. The room is secured about a year in advance, according to the open spaces on the AOS judging calendar and the availability of the building. The Seattle Center is a good location for foot traffic, as we saw on Sunday. Parking is a challenge for those who will be there all day, many were able to find street parking for free if they were willing to walk a couple of blocks. The room was well lighted and warm enough for orchids. This space, or a nearby room in the Center will be considered for next year. Better planning and even more organization will make our Fall Show a great success. We do not have a final tally of the profits from the show at this time. Our Treasurer has been on vacation, and will make out the checks to all the vendors (including NWOS members) as soon as she can. Please do not call her before the general meeting. She is a little swamped with it all. We added
15 new members to the society during the show. Welcome! We sold books,
calendars, pins, t-shirts and culture sheets. Our vendors put on beautiful
displays. The educational display that Barb Inman made won a nomination
from the AOS. The display for the NWOS was a real show-stopper, winning
the AOS trophy. Lots of ribbons were placed on plants, and the “fun
awards” were a hit. Did you all get the chance to see David Morris’
tiniest plant, or Bert Logsdon’s plant with the most fragrance? The
art was beautiful and every one of the artists captured the orchids realistically.
I hope everyone had a good time and enjoyed the beauty of the displays. Our own next event will be the Spring Sale at Sky Nursery. This year we are inviting local vendors for the weekend, with a community display from our members and the vendors similar to last year. We are hoping this sale will be even better than last year... better advertising, better set-up, and better sales. Sign-up sheets for volunteers will begin at the January meeting. Thanks a lot everyone!!!!! Robin Kemph FALL SHOW SEASON A SUCCESS This fall our society displayed in the Sunset Empire Orchid Society show at Seaside Oregon and the Oregon Orchid Society (Portland) show at Hillsboro and, of course, in our own show at the Seattle Center. It is the responsibility of the Second Vice President to plan and coordinate these exhibits. As such, I am happy to report that we have mounted very successful displays in all three shows. At the Seaside Show (Oct 4-5) our display included about 60 plants provided by 11 different members. We received the Orchid Digest Trophy for our display and in addition were judged to have the best display by a visiting society. Our plants received a total of 34 show ribbons! Ingrid Bridge’s lovely red Vanda (V. Kasem’s Delight X Ascda. Yip Sum Wah) was judged best Vandaceous hybrid and was nominated for an AOS award. We took some 50 plants to the Oregon Orchid Society show (Nov. 8-9) and again received an award for best display by a visiting society. The theme of the show was “falling in love with orchids.” In this show we received few ribbons as we were up against very stiff competition. As usual the show included many displays jam-packed with outstanding plants. The success of our displays in the two shows is largely due to the generosity of the following members who lent plants for one or both shows: Jamie Notman, Brian Hench, Shannon Boling, Michael Boyd, Ingrid Bridge, Mike Foster and Donna Pierce, Harry Mar, Caroling Mann, Andy Wright, Abigail Chang and Michael Pearson and George and Cylvia Grantham.
All who
attended our own show at the Seattle Center can attest to the success
of our display. As the host society, it was fitting that our display was
a centerpiece for the show. Many thanks to members of the Display Committee
who assisted with planning and preparation for our dislay. They were myself,
Mike Boyd, Jamie Notman and Livia Jackson. In addition, there were numerous
others who volunteered to help with the set up and tear down and, last
but not least, the many members who came forth with wonderful plants to
fill our display. Michael Corn and Rob Lucas come to mind as members who
each provided a number of outstanding plants for our display, but equally
important were a number of people like Bill Carley and Sioeling Young
who came from Renton and Mercer Island, each with one plant. The single
AOS quality award in the entire show was granted to a gorgeous Phrag in
our display belonging to Mike Foster and Donna Pierce. George Grantham WHAT COLOR IS YOUR STYROFOAM? Most of us have used Styrofoam packing “peanuts” as a potting base when repotting our orchids. But did you know that not all peanuts are the same and some are bad for plants? Here’s how to tell the difference: White: New production peanuts; safe to use Green: Recycled peanuts; safe to use Pink: Given an antistatic treatment for packaging with electronics; harmful to roots, never use Blue: Also antistatic for easier handling, but not as heavily treated as the pink; best to avoid for potting Figure 8: Uncommon these days, softer with holes that can entangle roots; best to avoid for potting Starch: Made from potato starch, look like pale Cheetos, will dissolve in water; not suitable for potting for obvious reasons Thanks to the Tacoma Orchid Society for this tip. BOOK ORDER OPPORTUNITY At the December meeting, Kathy Murray will have Timber Press catalogs. If we have sufficient interest, the society will have a sale of Timber Press books (probably at the February meeting). We will have to have at least 25 books ordered to enable a discount for our members. You can also check out Timber Press online at www.timberpress.com. 2004 AOS CALENDAR Discover
the “Wow!” factor in the world of orchids with this glorious
calendar that makes a great gift for friends – and for yourself.
The calendar takes a look at 12 orchids whose special qualities seduce
their admirers. Cultural hints for growing each plant picutured are provided.
12 color photographs. 11” x 22” when open. Price: $10 for NWOS
members who purchase at the monthly meeting. IMPORTANT DATES JANUARY
17-18, 2004 FEBRUARY
4-8, 2004 FEBRUARY
19-22, 2004 |
