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Oct 082013
 

We’re Moving! 

Beginning with the October 16th meeting we will be at a new location in Pinecrest.

The address is Christ The King Lutheran Church, 11295 S.W. 57th AVE, Pinecrest, FL 33156.

This is just across from Pinecrest Gardens at the corner of S.W. 57th AVE (Red Road) and S.W. 111th ST.

Monetary constraints as well as space considerations once again made this necessary. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and hope that all of our members will bear with us during this move. We deeply appreciate your patience.

Jun 212013
 

SFOS July 2013 Membership Meeting

Wednesday, July 17, 2013
The Hampton Inn Miami Airport West
3620 N.W. 79th Ave.
Doral, FL  33166
8:00 PM Program beings

The July meeting will be presented by long time supporter of SFOS, Mirta Russis Heineman.  Mirta will present a program titled “A Peak into the World of Epidendrums”.  The program will focus on the most common Epidendrums we can grow here in South Florida.

Mirta was born in Cuba and came with her family to the States in 1961.  She did not speak English and therefore could not go back to college until she had tackled that rich and tricky language.  After her children had finished High School she went back, graduated, and became a teacher.

Mirta bought her first orchid from the tailgate of a truck that was selling tempting specimens after one of the Miami Shows closed.  This was some 20 years ago.  Ask her about The First Time?  She’ll tell you with a smile, “Phalaenosis”.  After that she bought many orchids – but with very little luck in keeping them healthy until she started taking classes to learn how to take care of the little darlings.

After she retired she devoted more time to her new challenge.  She joined six different orchid societies and attended just about every class that she heard about – all to learn more about orchids.  She has traveled many times to many cities and countries to attend shows, conferences, and classes – and to rescue orchids.

She has been president, a vice president, and has occupied almost every board position in many orchid societies where she is a member.  For the last two years she was the President of COS.  This enthusiasm for orchids has taken her to many of our local societies to make presentations and attend shows.  She has also taught at AOS.  We hope you will join us for this wonderful program.  Guests are always welcome!!

May 172013
 

SFOS June 2013 Membership Meeting

Wednesday, June 19, 2013
The Hampton Inn Miami Airport West
3620 N.W. 79th Ave.
Doral, FL  33166
8:00 PM Program beings

Our June meeting is always a very special evening.  Tonight we will install the 2013-2014 Officers and Board of Directors and present awards for the outstanding orchid plants entered for SFOS judging throughout the year.  Then when those activities are complete we will have a wonderful program presented by long time members and supporters of SFOS, Segundo and Yolanda Cuesta of Quest Orchids.

Segundo and Yolanda started hybridizing orchids in 1984 and in 1992 opened their retail orchid business.  The started with two greenhouses and today have 50,000 sq, ft. of growing space.  Quest Orchids specializes in Art Shaped Cattleyas and cloning old standards.  They also have a new breeding line of standards flowers with compact plants, which has been very successful for them. Quest Orchids also participates in about fifteen Shows across the country each year, including the SFOS Annual Orchid Show.

Segundo will present a program titled “Growing Cattleyas in South Florida”.  Their program will cover culture, disease and pest control.  They will have several handouts for you to take home.  Quest Orchids will be providing the raffle table this evening.  Quest Orchids is located in Miami (Horse country) at 12110 SW 43 Street, Miami FL 33175, 305-219-2883 hours are Tuesday 9:30 to Saturday.  They are closed on Sunday and Monday.

We look forward to seeing you at the meeting and remember guests are always welcome!!

May 092013
 

SFOS May 2013 Membership Meeting

Wednesday, May 15, 2013
The Hampton Inn Miami Airport West
3620 N.W. 79th Ave.
Doral, FL  33166
8:00 PM Program beings

Our May program will be presented by Dr. Brian Monk. The title of Brian’s program is “Tolumnias: We Were All Weeds Once“.

Brian Monk was born in Milton, Florida in 1969. Shortly after his birth, Brian’s family moved to Charleston, West Virginia where he spent the next 18 years. As a young man, Brian’s intense passion for nature led to his profession and his many hobbies including bird watching, orchid growing, and natural history.

In 1992, Brian received his B.S., cum laude, from Hampden Sydney College in Virginia followed by a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from Virginia Tech in 1997. In 2005, while working as a Veterinarian in Orlando, Florida, Brian met the love of his life Mary-Margaret, in Ft. Lauderdale. Because of Brian’s passion of all things orchids, he and Mary-Margaret form Blu Llama Orchids, Inc. Brian and Mary-Margaret were married on April Fool’s Day in 2006 and reside in Ft. Lauderdale with their five cats and their ever expanding orchid collection.

Brian started growing and hybridizing orchids in his backyard, but this has recently expanded to 4000 square feet of greenhouse space. He will grow anything green, but focuses on his hybridizing projects, which include the development of multi-floral white and pink paphiopedilums, warmth tolerant red Oncidiinae, and standard pink Cattleya with an all-white lip.

Brian’s photography has won awards online, in the 2007 Miami International Orchid Show and at the 2008 World Orchid Conference. He has had a solo exhibit of his fine art photography at the Leu Gardens in Orlando and has been a featured artist at the AOS Gardens.

We hope to see you at the meeting!!!

Mar 182013
 

SFOS March Membership Meeting

Wednesday, March 20, 2013
The Hampton Inn Miami Airport West
3620 N.W. 79th Ave.
Doral, FL  33166
8:00 PM Program beings

Paul and Mary Storm are hobbyists who have a passion for anything “SCHOMBO” and their nursery in Sarasota, Florida holds what is believed to be the largest collection of Schombo/Laelia and Myrmecophila species and hybrids anywhere. Paul was a featured presenter at the Mid-America Winter Orchid Conference in Ohio a few years ago, as well as at the Symposium on Orchid Species sponsored by the Coalition on Species at Fairchild Gardens in Miami.

Paul and Mary look forward to returning to the South Florida Orchid Society with  ‘SCHOMBO-SEX 102’ They will also be providing the raffle table for the evening as well as selling Schom species, hybrids, and seedlings. Pre-orders may be arranged by viewing their web-site at: mekealohaorchids.com. In addition Meke Aloha exclusively uses ORCHIATA as their potting media of choice and if anyone wishes to purchase gallon or 40 liter bags of ORCHIATA please order in advance stating the amount desired as well as the size of the bark (Medium/Coarse). Paul and Mary are not equipped to process credit card purchases; you can pay by cash or checks only.

Guests are always welcome at our meetings and we know you will enjoy this program.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Jan 172013
 

January 16, 2013

Den. Joyce Kelly ‘Gabi’ SM/SFOS (83 points)

Exhibitors: Christa Collins

Erna Maxwell, Judging Chair Person
All award photos by and ©2013 Ron Hunt

Jan 162013
 

Please join us at our new location for a wonderful program presented by Dr. Ruben Sauleda, a long time member and Past President of South Florida Orchid Society. Ruben’s program is titled “Flasking and Propagation of Orchids” which covers from pollination to flowering. Ruben will also provide the plant raffle table and have plants for sale.

Dr. Ruben P. Sauleda began growing orchids at the age of 12. At the age of 16 he established Ruben In Orchids. Almost half a century later Ruben In Orchids is recognized internationally and is the oldest orchid business in Florida. After graduating from Miami Senior High School, he attended Miami-Dade Junior College where he received an Associate of Arts. He was the first biology student in the first graduating class to receive a Bachelor of Science at Florida International University. He was then accepted to Florida Atlantic University where he received a Master of Science in biology working on the orchids of the Bahama Islands. During this time he was asked by Dr. Donovan S. Correll to collaborate on the Flora of the Bahamas by contributing the treatment of the orchids. After graduating from FAU, he was accepted to the University of South Florida, where he received his Ph.D. in Orchid Taxonomy. He has held positions as a Research Associate at Fairchild Tropical Gardens, Florida Atlantic University, the University of South Florida and several other research institutions. He has taught classes at Florida International University and Miami-Dade College.

Dr. Sauleda has also written several books on orchid culture and has written over a hundred articles in scientific journals. He was Chairman of Education for the 2008 World Orchid Conference in Miami and was responsible for arranging all the lectures, overseeing all the photography and was the editor of the proceedings. His specialty is flasking and he is presently the leader in reproducing Encyclia, Cattleya, Schomburgia and Tolumnia species and hybrids.

Please join us at our new location, Hampton Inn Miami Airport West, 3620 NW 79th Ave., Doral, Florida 33166. The meeting will begin at 8:00 PM and refreshments will be provided. We know you will enjoy the wonderful program Ruben will present.

Oct 092012
 

Our October meeting will be a real treat. We have Greg Allikas presenting a new program titled “The 25 Best Orchids I Have Seen in the Past Three Years”. Greg photographs about 200 award winning plants per year which represents about 10% of the total given by AOS, so this will be a good overview of the best orchids judged by the AOS.

Greg has been a commercial photographer in the Palm Beaches and an orchid grower since 1970. He is the awards photographer for the AOS West Palm Beach Judging Center and the Florida-Caribbean Judging Center in Miami and many annual Orchid Shows in south Florida. His photos are regularly seen in the AOS publications including the annual calendar and Awards Quarterly and the Orchids magazine. He has written articles for both the Orchids magazine and Orchid Digest and has been published in the Russian magazine, World of Orchids. Together with Ned Nash, Greg has published three orchid books: Four Seasons of Orchids, The World’s Most Beautiful Orchids, and Pocket Guide to Orchids. In 2005, Greg was honored to consult on and supply photography for a United Nations postal administration endangered species stamp release featuring 12 endangered orchid species.

Greg has traveled internationally to photograph orchids in their native habitats as well as to do award photography at International Shows. He is a popular speaker in demand at orchid societies across the U.S. We are thrilled to have him here to present a program for us.

This will be a wonderful program and we hope you will all attend and be sure to invite your friends.

Carol

Sep 152012
 

SFOS will host its annual Speakers Day Event on Sunday, October 7, 2012 at University of Miami BankUnited Center, 1245 Dauer Drive, Coral Gables, FL.  We have a wonderful panel of highly respected speakers and Speakers’ Day has AOS approval for judging seminar credits.  Several of our speakers will be participating in the SFOS Show as well.

This year’s speakers are:

Cordelia Head – Cordelia has been growing orchids for more than thirty years and specializes in miniature orchids.  She is an AOS accredited judge and has lectured both nationally and internationally including the World Orchid Conferences in Miami, France, Malaysia, Vancouver, Glasgow and many others.  The title of Cordelia’s talk will be Warm Growing Miniature Orchids.  This will be informative and entertaining and suitable for both the beginner and expert grower.

Howard Liebman – Dr Howard Liebman has been growing orchids since the age of 12. He has registered over 120 orchid hybrids and 41 of his hybrids have won awards from the American Orchid Society, Royal Horticultural Society and the Australian Orchid Congress. Dr Liebman is a certified AOS Judge and has served on the Research Committee of the American Orchid Society.  The title of his talk is: The Spectacular Cyrtochilums: An under- appreciated member of the Oncidium Alliance.

Nina Rach – Nina is an Accredited AOS Judge affiliated with the Houston Judging Center and a past-president of the Houston Orchid Society.  She maintains a varied collection of orchids, predominately species in a twin-walled polycarbonate greenhouse and a shade house on the Gulf Coast of Texas.  She maintains the Sobralias pages website and the Stanhopeas pages website.  The title of Nina’s talk is “What you need to know about Sobralias and Stanhopeas”.

David Horak – Since 2000, David Horak has been the Curator of the Orchid Collection and the Robert W. Wilson Aquatic House at Brooklyn Botanic Garden and currently serves as the chair of the AOS Conservation Committee. An accredited AOS judge, he has been growing orchids for more than 34 years.  The title of David’s talk is:  Catasetinae and other Deciduous Orchids.

Manolito Caluff – was born in Santiago de Cuba in 1945.  In 1976 he began his studies in Botany, and the plant collection that originated the Fern Garden of Santiago de Cuba, institution adscript to the Cuban Sciences Academy, being its Director until today. Caluff is President of the Amateur Botanist Association of Santiago de Cuba from 1992 and of the Popular Gardening National Group from 2006.  The title of Manolito’s talk is “Cuban Orchids.”

Tickets for Speakers Day are $45.00 per person.  The price includes a continental breakfast and lunch.  This is one of the major orchid events held annually in South Florida and tickets are limited and sold on a first-come, first-served basis.   Tickets are not available at the door.  To register, please send your check to the SFOS office: 10801 S.W. 124 St., Miami, FL  33176.   For more information call (305) 255-3656.

Speakers Day Schedule:

8:00 – 9:00          Breakfast
9:00 – 10:00       Cordelia Head
10:00 – 11:00     Howard Liebman
11:00 – 1:00        Lunch
1:00 – 2:00          Manolito Caluff
2:00 – 3:00          Nina Rach
3:00 – 4:00          David Horak
4:00 – 5:00         Show and Plant Sales

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Name:___________________________________________________________________________

AOS Judging Center & Status:_______________________________________________________

Please reserve ________ seats @ $45.00

Total amount enclosed: ____________

Visa & MasterCard accepted:  #____________________________________________

Expiration date: _________________

Address to mail tickets: __________________________________________________________­­­­­­­­­­­

Please return this form to: SFOS, 10801 S.W. 124 St., Miami, FL  33176 or call (305-255-3656) to process your charge.