Orchid Society of the Palm Beaches P.O. Box 211463, Royal Palm Beach, FL Like us on Facebook January 30, 2014 Happy New Year OSPB! I hope you all are enjoying this weather the last couple weeks. There s been some trouble for me I think I ve handled my plants more this month than I did all last year. I started out believing the weather forecasters and figured my orchids would be fine with temperature above 50 some degrees. But as I began to check them as well as my gift from OSPB (high-low thermometer) I saw some effects I didn t like. Low temps of 44 degrees and burned buds on a lot of newly formed flower spikes. This happened to many of my - not so established plants. The worst was my Angraecum that I bought at my first OSPB meeting in January 2012. It was in bloom then and I re-bloomed it last year and now it had been spiking for several weeks as the buds were growing larger, but all it took was one night and I ll have to wait until next year to try again..bummer. So I learned a lot from this first month of the new year and am so very excited for the next 11 to come. My good friend Tony Romani did his program this month, and I m a little saddened nobody video tapped it. He was spot on; his knowledge of his plants is incredible. He answered question after question about every single detail with almost a definition out of an encyclopedia! He s a great speaker and we were fortunate to have him. Tony grows the best, biggest, showiest, strongest, healthiest looking Vanda s around and I ve been doing quite a bit of traveling. We are definitely planning a Ramble to go visit his nursery sometime this year and I encourage everyone to go. Also make sure to visit him at the green markets on the weekend. The West Palm Beach Green Market on Saturday and Palm Beach Gardens Green Market on Sunday. He has been very good to us and we look forward to his support again this year. I hope to see all of you at our Auction, February 13 th at 6:30. Be sure to bring all your best friend too! Your President, Jacob Galesky Jacob and his dad, Theodore Galesky 1
Hello OSPB, We are off and running with another New Year at OSPB that I am sure, will prove to be very busy and exciting for everyone. We started off with a great program from Tony Romani, of R&R Orchids. He is located in Loxahatchee Groves where he lives with his wife and three sons; Tony has been growing orchids for 15 years. He has two huge greenhouses packed with the most magnificent array of blooming Vanda s. He was a furniture refinisher when he was bitten by the orchid bug at the Mounts Botanical Garden plant sale. He has been selling orchids at the W. Palm Beach Green Market for 12 years now. His knowledge is all self-taught; he reads a lot of books about orchids and does his research online. His best advice, Read to be a good grower. He told us, Everybody can grow Vanda s. Water is the most overlooked reason for poor growing. Hose them down every day or better yet, get a timer and build an irrigation system. Automation is your friend. Bright, defused, dappled light is best for Vanda s. 65% shade cloth is the perfect number to use for Vanda s. Secondary is fertilizer. Tony says, Miracle Grow liquid fertilizer in the bottle that attaches to the hose end is The Bomb ; use it twice a week. Enjoying your plants is what it is all about. Remember, Bright, Wet & Fed, that s the key to growing beautiful Vanda s. He wants to turn everyone on to good, growing, hardy Vanda s. His best advice is to buy from people who know what they are doing. Just one look at Tony s incredible plants and you know he certainly does know what he is talking about. Tony welcomes visitors to his nursery but not on Tuesday or Thursday, they are the days he goes fishing. Give him a call before you drive out there 561-541-2992. The weather was terrible the night of our meeting, no one in their right mind should have ventured out that night. There were flood warnings in effect for most of the area. Even with the lousy weather, we had a packed house for Tony s presentation. We also had two new members join us that night. Please Welcome Cyndie Sable and Dorothy Moore to our orchid family. Ladies, we are very happy to have you join us in our wonderful orchid addiction; just think of us as your Support Group and don t be afraid to ask questions if this is all new to you. We have some really great growers in this organization and someone will have the information you need; just ask. That s why we are here. We also have a number of how-to-do books in our library. One of the best ones for new growers and seasoned growers is Florida Orchid Growing, Month by Month by Martin Motes, PhD. Check it out. Here comes February.. The Boca Raton Orchid Society will have their annual show February 8-9, 10 am-5 pm, at the Safe Schools Institute, 1790 Spanish River Blvd. (corner of Military Trail and Spanish River Blvd.) Admission is $5.00 Advance tickets are available at the Green Barn Orchid Supplies, 5185 Conklin Dr., Delray Beach for $3.00 Visit their website @ www.brosonline.org for more information. Charline s Saturday morning workshop will be held in the Board Room at the Mounts Auditorium February 8 th. The board room is directly behind the kitchen of the auditorium. She asked me to remind you it is not required for everyone in attendance to bring a problem plant. Birthdays for February are Marie Krull, Martha Lawson, Bill Madden, Cyndie Sable and me, Patt Lindsey. Happy Birthday Everyone! We will be responsible for bringing refreshments for the February meeting. 2
ORCHID SOCIETY OF THE PALM BEACHES ANNUAL AUCTION OF ORCHIDS THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2014 6:30 p.m. OPEN TO THE PUBLIC! At Mounts Botanical Auditorium 513 North Military Trail West Palm Beach, FL (Cash or Checks only, no credit cards) 3
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Of other interest, Begonia s are great companion plants for your orchids!.. Huge Begonia Auction Magnificent rare and unusual tropical begonias, perfect for your South Florida home and garden. Auctioned by Charles Jaros, past president of the American Begonia Society and an internationally recognized begonia judge and grower. 7 pm Monday February 10 th, 2014 Mounts Botanical Garden Auditorium 531 North Military Trail, West Palm Beach Begonia Society of the Palm Beaches begoniasocietypbfl.org.. There is so much happening this time of year with the shows, auctions and garden events; no one should ever be bored. As soon as the weather warms up, we will be re-potting orchids like there is no tomorrow. Our auction is our biggest fund raiser of the year. Please invite everyone you talk with. Print out some copies of the flyer and pass it out where ever you go. Let s make this a very successful event. The Ft. Lauderdale and Tamiami shows were spectacular events. I added several new additions to my collection. The bus trip to Tamiami, organized by Cheryl Akey, TOS president and OSPB member, was really a fun event. I appreciate all her efforts to make this a great event and for opening it up to our society as well. Thank you Cheryl! This will be your last newsletter if your dues have not been paid. I ll see you at the auction.. Bring a friend.!!! Happy Growing, Patt Lindsey 5
2014 OFFICERS AND TRUSTEES JACOB GALESKI, PRESIDENT 561-472-4372 jakegeezie@yahoo.com CHARLINE NAKAMURA, VICE PRESIDENT 561-968-0440 MARY SCHEITLER, SECRETARY 561-491-8033 scheitlerm@bellsouth.net CHRISTINA COUTO, TREASURER 561-281-8819 Christina.couto@yahoo.com KATIE MCGIVERON, TRUSTEE 561-351-8104 kkss21@bellsouth.net JOHN WALLACE, TRUSTEE 561-719-6111 jwwallace38@aol.com GLORIA KENNEDY, TRUSTEE 561-301-9381 gta711@comcast.net PATT LINDSEY, CORRESPONDING SECRETARY NEWSLETTER EDITOR, 561-358-0348 pottedorchid@aol.com 6