Jim & Melana Davison: “Dendrobiums – Soft Cane, Hard Cane, Australian, Pendulous – Which is which?”
Jim & Melana Davison
Jim and Melana Davison are AOS Accredited Judges. They have an extensive and diverse orchid collection that seems to be continuously growing. Not only involved in caring for their orchids, they are actively involved in several South Florida orchid societies. Melana is the current President of both the Orchid Society of Coral Gables and the South Dade Amateur Orchid Club. Jim is the past President of the Orchid Society of Coral Gables and the East Everglades Orchid Society.
Jim’s appreciation for orchids stems from his scientific background. He works as a Chemistry Supervisor at the Turkey Point Nuclear Power Plant. Melana is more interested in the aesthetic qualities of orchids, especially the ones that look strange and otherworldly. She owns her own Orchid Maintenance business and is known as “The Orchidiva.” They have plans to open their own retail nursery later this year.
They specialize in L. anceps, C. walkeriana, and C. aclandiae, and the Catasetinae group, but grow almost everything that can be grown in South Florida. Together, Jim and Melana have 7 grown children and four grandchildren. They live in Homestead with their 4 dogs and 5,000 plus orchids.
The program Jim and Melana Davison are going to present is a great topic that should be of interest as there are so many different kinds of dendrobiums available Many people only know Dendrobiums as the type they now can pick up at Publix or Home Depot. In reality, Dendrobiums are one of the largest orchid groups with very diverse culture needs. For this month’s presentation, Dendrobiums – Soft Cane, Hard Cane, Australian, Pendulous – Which is which?, Jim and Melana will break down some of the more common dendrobiums into their sections and teach about these differing orchids.
We are looking forward having Jim & Melana as speakers this month. In addition, they will also be providing plants for our raffle table.
Enjoy!
Guillermo Salazar
1st Vice President & Program Chairman