NEWSLETTER - November 13, 2005

UPCOMING MEETINGS

December 11, 2005, 3:00 pm

Holiday Party, at the home of Scott and Ellen Samuels. Directions will be provided in the next newsletter.

ORCHID SHOW

On Friday, October 21, Howard Wilson and I loaded up plants and headed to the Missouri Botanical Gardens to set up the club display for the Orchid Society of Greater St. Louis Fall Show.

Howard, Martha Routier, Barbara Giles, Steve Pagan, Kris Leech, John Beilharz and I all provided plants for the display.

After satisfying my Jack-in-the-Box craving in Warrenton and making a brief stop at a garden center off Hwy. 40 near Lake St. Louis to beg for pots (which we forgot and needed to use as plant stands), which they kindly donated, we arrived at MOBot.

We hauled in plants, black cloth, air plants, moss, donated pots, and giant driftwood. We found our table then began to arrange plants. We’d place a plant, step back and look, then rearrange. After repeating the procedure many times we finally had an arrangement that we both liked. While we were arranging, several people stopped by to admire the plants.

Once we had the arrangement we went to the check-in table to see about filling out paperwork (continued on page 2)

Twenty one members attended the last meeting on Sunday, October 9, 2005, at 4:00 P.M., at Rock Quarry House.

Nancy Brakhage, Mona Laird, Steve Pagan, Howard Wilson and Barbara Giles all brought plants for Show-and-Tell. Nancy asked for advice on the kiki growing on her dendrobium. The consensus was that as the roots got bigger the kiki would be easy to pop off. Steve’s dendrobium was actually a one year old kiki that was currently blooming. Barbara brought a bulbophylum with ten flower spikes (which went on the win a second place ribbon at the orchid show). Howard brought an oncidium psychopsis, also called papilio (which won a blue ribbon at the orchid show) that he got a Lowe’s in the discount bin because it had no flower. He was soon rewarded since the spike keeps blooming for as long as 2-3 years. Howard also brought his latest book purchase, Flora’s Orchids (http://www.timberpress.com/
books/isbn.cfm/0-88192-721-X).

Howard demonstrated how to use the new light meter and showed that the light is strongest at the center of a fluorescent bulb and dimmest at the ends. The meter cost $116 from the Human Solution (http://store.thehumansolution.com/ea31.html). Members may check out the light meter to check their lighting conditions at home.

Howard and Mona Laird led a discussion on phragmipedium culture. Phragmipedium need less light than cats: some need at least 2,000 foot candles while the red ones (Besseae sedinii, for example) need around 1,500 foot candles and will bloom under the middle of a fluorescent fixture. For watering it is important to recognize where the plants originally grow. Plants that grow in trees like less water than those that grow in soil. Mona grows phragmipedium in a south-facing sun room with temperatures of 60 F or less at night in the winter and between 80-85 F in summer. Growing condition information can be found in books, by looking at the plant’s parents or by trial and error. There was discussion on what causes brown leaf tips. The latest article claims brown tips are due to salts building up in the potting mix. Phragmipedium can be prone to fungi. Mona treats her plants with a commercial fungicide made from natural ingredients while Gertrude Lindener-Stawski and Tom Bogard prefer to use cinnamon.

Following the phragmipedium discussion, members purchased phragmipedium divisions donated by Tom Dundon, some vandas donated by Jan Huggans, and some nun orchids (phaeus) donated by Paula Peters.

Many thanks to Jan Huggans, Laura Eggeman, Melba Shaffer, Tom & Bobbie Bogard and Marge Quinn for bringing snacks!

CENTRAL MISSOURI ORCHID SOCIETY Newsletter - November 13, 2005 Page 2

NEXT MEETING

The next meeting will be held on Sunday, November 13, 2005 at 3:00 P.M. at Rock Quarry House. Darla Manly, a floral designer from Allen’s Flowers will talk about and demonstrate the art of incorporating orchid flowers in arrangements including the minimalistic, Japanese style of flower arrangement; Ikebana. She’ll also demonstrate how to “dress up” flowering and non-flowering plants to make a more attractive display. Feel free to bring a plant of your own whose image you’d like improved!

As usual, please bring plants for Show-and-Tell. Yummy snacks are always appreciated!

Directions: Rock Quarry House is at Rock Quarry Park, 2002 Grindstone. To get there from Stadium, either 1) take Old 63 south to the round-about, turn right onto Bearfield, turn right at the first stoplight onto Grindstone. Rock Quarry Park/House will be on your LEFT before you get to Rock Quarry Rd. or 2) from Stadium, take Rock Quarry Rd. south, turn LEFT onto Grindstone. Rock Quarry Park/House will be on your RIGHT before you get to Bearfield. or 3) from Stadium take Providence south to Nifong. Turn LEFT on Nifong, go past Rock Quarry Rd and Rock Quarry Park/House will be on your RIGHT before you get to Bearfield.

Rock Quarry Park is on the south side of Grindstone at the top of a hill between the Rock Quarry and Bearfield stop lights. There is a not-very-obvious skinny driveway and a brown sign on the hill that says Rock Quarry Park, 2002 Grindstone Ave. Follow the driveway to Rock Quarry House.

ORCHID SHOW (CONTINUED)

to enter all the plants and the display in the show. Several HOURS later, we completed all the paperwork. Then we checked out the competition, looked at all the plants for sale, bought some plants (of course), then drove back to Columbia

Kris Leech dismantled the display and brought everything back Sunday evening. (Thanks, Kris!!!) I was so excited to see all the ribbons! My really cute little dendrobium unicum didn’t win a ribbon, but Howard, Barbara, Martha, and Kris all had plants with ribbons! And our display won second place! Great job everyone! We had a really nice selection of sizes and colors to work with.