Tidewater Orchid Society Newsletter

April 2006

Meeting: April 2, 2:00PM, Mills Godwin Auditorium at ODU. William Mathis of the Wild Orchid Company will speak to us. Subject unknown at press time.

President’s Message

            We had a good turnout and, as usual, there were some lovely orchids on display. Every month we get a consistent lot of great orchids.

            At the March meeting we agreed to put in a display at the Richmond Orchid Show.  Now we need to pull together and get a good showing. We will have a 5 by 10 ft. exhibit up against a wall, so we will be looking for around 60 plants. You can bring your plants to the April meeting so either Mitzi Lipford, Nancy & Dave Breininger or Dave Wheatley can take them home with them. Or you can take them to one of their homes no later than Wed, April 5.  Some people volunteered to put the display in and others to dismantle it and bring every thing home. If any one wants to help they are more than welcome. Please contact Mitzi Lipford at 464-6678.

            The nominating committee put forward the following people for nomination for the coming year:  David Wheatley, President; Ruta Mah, Vice President; Charles Rhodes, Secretary; Sharon Peterson, Treasurer; Gary Mah and Kathryn Strozak, Trustees. Joann Bryan will continue as Past President.  At the April meeting members may nominate someone from the floor- with their permission- for any position and we’ll vote then. I believe we will also be voting on next year’s budget at the April meeting.

It looks like we will have a busy time so please attend, and give your support.

            Now is the time when we start thinking about repotting. Whilst doing it we may trim the roots or a dead leaf. Always use sterilized scissors or a fresh razor blade on each plant. This will minimize the risk of spreading a virus or other disease among your plants. You do not want to lose one because you didn’t spend a few minutes sterilizing your tools.

            Last month the presentation was on Semi Hydroponics. For years I have grown a couple of my Phrags in water although the medium is bark. They are doing just great. It seems I've been practicing Semi- Hydroponics and didn’t know it. Also last month Cindy Adair decided to try something different for the door prize. She had bought a lovely Paph and charged a dollar a ticket, or six for five dollars. It went very well and the plant was won by Arthur Kaplan. Congratulations Arthur, you won a very nice plant.

 See you at the next meeting.

                      Dave Wheatley

Future Meetings

May 7 – Annual purchased plant auction

June 4 – Annual picnic and donated plant auction. The Kaplan will be our gracious hosts.

Aug/Sept 27 – To be announced

October 1 – Annual donated plant auction.

November 5 – Rob Griesbach will join us. Topic to be announced.

Eleanor is requesting that we have a good showing at the May meeting on the refreshments table. So talk to her at the meeting about what you might bring.

Conservation News

            The first annual report of the TOS home gardening program is now available online.  Hard copy is planned to be made available later this year (ed. There should be one available for reading at the next meeting.)  Thanks to all who participated.  

            Pictures of our native orchids in electronic format would be most welcome.  The only one I have at this time is Cypripedium calceolus.

Allan Zuckerwar
Conservation Chair

Web Page

The site is http://www.mycommunityis.com/tos. Jon is always looking for members to profile. Talk to him at the next meeting about you.

Newsletter

All entries are due the 15^th of each month, except June and July, and due by the 10^th in August. All are subject to editing.

Purchased Plant Auction

            May 7 is our annual purchased plant auction. Your committee has been working hard looking for those special plants you want, and they always find exceptional plants for us. We always have a great time, and Arthur and his assistants will keep us entertained and help us make the right decisions. As always, if you’re a beginner or unsure of what might grow with your conditions we’ll have experienced growers sit with you to help pick the plants best for you.

            Also remember, the proceeds from the auction are what we’re using for our donations to the Arthur and Phyllis Kaplan Endowment for the conservatory, so plan to be there and get the plants you want while helping the conservatory.

Informal Judging Results March 2006