March 2014 Volume 4 San Diego County Cymbidium Society Cymbidiums, Paphiopedilums, and Other Outdoor Growing Orchids Executive Board President: Walt Meier First Vice-President: Dennis Wharton Second Vice- President: Devon McFerran Treasurer: Marjorie Kuhlmann Membership Secretary: Bill Wong Recording Secretary: Patti Barna Directors: 1 st Year Lena Shiroma Alex Nadzan Sandi Sandquist 2 nd Year James McCord Harry Clyde Allie Tran Bill Wong, Past President Committee Chairs Librarian: Open Refreshments: Open Publicity: Open Newsletter Editor: Lena Shiroma Wednesday, March 19, 7:00 p.m. Speaker: Barbara Rudvalis Topic: Why I Make New Cymbidium Orchid Cut Flower Hybrids Rudvalis Orchids has been a major supplier of premium quality commercial cut cymbidium flowers for over 40 years. They also made hybrids for potted plants in the early nineties. Barbara s husband Joe, began the business in the early 60's when he began selecting and hybridizing his own cymbidiums. He noticed a lack of early blooming varieties, especially white, so he focused mainly in this area, creating the most stable, high quality and productive standard cut flower cymbidiums on the market today. In the late seventies Barbara began helping Joe breed miniatures and intermediate Cymbidiums. Joe was a good tutor so her first miniature cut flower hybrids were very successful. They are still growing many of them today for their commercial markets. After her success in making miniature Cymbidium hybrids, Joe turned over the job of breeding standard cymbidiums to Barbara. Her aim has been to make Cymbidium plants which bloom in the summer. This was achieved early on with miniatures mostly in white and pink colors. Barbara has most recently been successful in breeding standard white, cream and blush for the summer wedding market. Some of these plants have been bred from plants Joe and Barbara created years ago. Culture Class 6:30 p.m. Dividing Cymbidiums Membership Please renew your membership if you haven t already done so. Thanks!
San Diego County Cymbidium Society Page 2 of 8 Executive Board Meeting Dates 2014: April 12, 9am Walt Meier Residence Orchid Auction Saturday, April 5, 2014 It s right around the corner! Our biggest fundraiser of the year!! Preview of plants begins at 11:00 a.m. The auction begins at 12:00 noon. There will be refreshments supplied by the members. Bring some goodies. Bring a friend. Bring on the best auction we ve ever had!! If you signed up for a committee (at least one!) be prompt so things move along well. There are still some open slots in the plant hotel that must be filled with available bodies that day. No hotel, auctioning stops! Refreshments: Members with last names that start with K through the letter P, please bring a snack to share. Thanks! BTW, when you bring a snack, whether it s your turn or not (you re welcome to bring one anytime), your name is entered into a drawing to pick the first plant off the opportunity table! Don t forget about the plants! Everyone can and should pot up a keiki or divide a plant for the auction. Bring your plants in to the Pavilion at Lake San Marcos on Friday, April 4 th from 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., or call me and I ll have someone pick them up. We will also need boxes for plant purchasers to carry home their new plants. Bring them Friday or Saturday when you come to the club. If everyone brings one or two boxes, we ll have enough. So don t forget Bring plants, bring boxes, bring goodies, bring a friend, and bring your support to the auction! And thanks for all your efforts!! See you there!!! Phyllis Prestia Auction Chairperson psp112@mac.com 760-732-0055 Do you have photos of your blooming orchids? Please share them with us. Email them to the newsletter editor at OrchidDiva@globalinfo.com. There s no guarantee that all photos will be used, but every effort will be made to include some. Plant tables from last year s auction
San Diego County Cymbidium Society Page 3 of 8 Letter from the Editor: Hi Folks! I am madly getting this newsletter done before I head out to Santa Barbara on Friday. I hope to see you there because it is such a great show. Plus, there are the local nurseries to visit who will be having specials. Santa Barbara Orchid Estates has their famous $7.50 deals and Cal-Orchid is just across the street. I will be bringing donated plants back from Ecuagenera and Gallup & Stribling for our auction. The Cymbidium Congress is Saturday and I am looking forward to hobnobbing with some of the world s finest orchidologists and growers that will be in attendance. This month s speaker is a local orchidologist and grower, Barbara Rudvalis. I m sure many of you have visited her greenhouses and seen the gorgeous blooms that she sells in her cut flower business. She has graciously donated plants to us for our auctions and she also gives a free plant to new members of our society. Thank you, Barbara! Please come and see what should be a fascinating talk on hybridizing for the cut flower industry. I m going to say this short and sweet BRING YOUR BLOOMING PLANTS IN FOR THE DISPLAY IN THE SDCOS ANNUAL SHOW!!! Have a good weekend and see you at the meeting. Lena Shiroma Your Humble Newsletter Editor San Diego County Orchid Society Annual Orchid Show Scottish Rite Center 1895 Camino Del Rio South San Diego, CA 92108 March 21st through 23rd Fri. 3pm-7pm, Saturday 9am-6pm, Sunday 10am-4pm The society will once again participate in this show with a floor display. Your Display Committee has worked hard to design the display. Now it s the membership s turn to contribute. The display needs your blooming orchids. Cymbidiums of course!! But other types of blooming orchids are also needed to round out the types of orchids category for some of the awards. At this point in March you should be able to look through your collection and target any blooms that might be open in time. Since I grow mine outside, I will be taking any I might want to bring in soon so the blooms don t get spotted with nighttime moisture. It s a perfect time to clean them up of old, dead sheaths. Cleaning the leaves also helps to make the plants really shine. cont page 4
San Diego County Cymbidium Society Page 4 of 8 SDCOS Orchid Show cont The display will be built at the Scottish Rite Center on Thursday, March 20 st beginning at 12:00 noon. Orchids can be brought in from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m., the earlier the better. It will be broken down on Sunday, March 23 th at 5:00 p.m. Orchids can be picked up at 5:00 sharp. Come early and enjoy the show! If you can t bring your orchids down yourself on Thursday or pick them up on Sunday, bring them to the meeting, email or call me and I will make arrangements to have them transported. We have been given a great opportunity to put the society in the limelight. Let s make this display the best one yet! Phyllis Prestia, Ed.D. Display Chair orchldy2@mac.com 760-732-0055 Newport Harbor Orchid Expo Westminster Mall, Orange County February 7, 8, and 9 Photos by Lena Shiroma Here are some photos of the displays done by our local San Diego Orchid Society and Vendors. Also included is a picture of the host society s display. Casa de las Orquideas display at the Expo Sunset Valley Orchids/ Diamond Orchids display San Diego County Orchid Society Display at Newport Harbor Orchid Expo Lico Orchids display Newport Harbor Orchid Society display Another part of Lico Orchids display
San Diego County Cymbidium Society Page 5 of 8 ATTENTION: We need a volunteer! We need someone to help spread the word about our Society by sending in notices to newspapers, magazines and websites about our meetings and events. The addresses and emails have already been assembled by Jerry, our previous publicity chair. Thanks for considering this!! Calendar of Events March 14-16 Santa Barbara International Orchid Show Earl Warren Showgrounds (See ad this page) March 15 CSA Cymbidium Congress Santa Barbara, CA Lucia Brandt at 310.826.0994 or luciamariebrandt@gmail.com March 21-23 San Diego County Orchid Society A Symphony of Orchids 2014 Show Scottish Rite Center San Diego (See ad below) April 5 San Diego County Cymbidium Society Annual Orchid Auction Lake San Marcos, Lake Pavilion Preview @ 11am, Auction @ Noon Phyllis Prestia 760-732-0055 orchldy2@mac.com (See ad w/directions on page 6) April 5 SDCOS Species Group Meeting First Saturday of the month Paul or Ann Tuskes (858) 274-5829 March 21 San Diego Zoo's Orchid Odyssey Third Friday of the month 10 AM-2 PM (orchid greenhouse is open) www.events.sandiegozoo.org April 1 San Diego County Orchid Society Novice Class, Rm. 101, 6:30pm General Meeting, Rm. 101, 7:30pm Casa del Prado, Balboa Park Genie Hammond 619-426-6831 April 1 AOS Judging First Tuesday of the month @ 6pm Balboa Park, Casa del Prado, Room 104, San Diego, CA 92101 Paul Tuskes tuskes@aol.com April 2 Palomar Orchid Society General Meeting, 6:30pm Lake San Marcos, Lake Pavilion Helge Wessig newsletter@palomarorchid.org The deadline for entries in the newsletter is the 7 th of every month. For more info, contact lena at: OrchidDiva@globalinfo.com
San Diego County Cymbidium Society If you missed last month s meeting, here are some highlights Photos by Debra Funakoshi Page 6 of 8
San Diego County Cymbidium Society Page 7 of 8 MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION/RENEWAL FORM January through December 2014 SAN DIEGO COUNTY CYMBIDIUM SOCIETY A Branch of the Cymbidium Society of America, Inc. New Member: Renewal : Date: Renew your membership now and Name (s): Address: City: Zip: Phone: Email: Yes, please send my newsletters in color by email Branch Dues: National Dues : $10.00 (per person) $35.00 (per household) National Dues includes a subscription to the Cymbidium Society of America Journal. Please pay both Branch dues and National dues to the address below and we will send your National dues on for you. Name Badge(s): $8.00 each. Pin back or magnet back? Clearly print name(s): Special Notice Rudvalis Orchids will generously provide a free plant to new members and the member that brought that new member to the society. Thank you, Barbara Rudvalis! If you didn t get your voucher for a free plant, please ask! Donation: Purpose of Donation: Total Amount Enclosed: $ Note: Dues paid represent membership for the calendar year. Bring dues to the next meeting or mail to: BILL WONG 7098 HERON CIRCLE CARLSBAD, CA 92011 Make checks payable to SDCCS.
SAN DIEGO COUNTY CYMBIDIUM SOCIETY c/o Lena Shiroma P.O. Box 462215 Escondido, CA 92046 San Diego County Cymbidium Society Page 8 of 8 About Our Organization The purpose of the Society is to share information and educate one another in the culture of Cymbidiums, Paphiopedilums and other outdoor growing orchid genera through display, lectures and discussions by knowledgeable orchidologists. The San Diego County Cymbidium Society meets on the third (3 rd ) Wednesday of the month, except in July, August and December We meet at the Lake San Marcos Pavilion, 1105 La Bonita Dr., San Marcos, CA 92078. You are invited to join the San Diego County Cymbidium Society. Benefits include a monthly newsletter, monthly presentations by knowledgeable orchid specialists, trips to area orchid nurseries, and many opportunities for adding beautiful and uncommon orchids to your collection. To join, send your check for $10.00 per person for a branch membership and $35.00 per household for a national CSA membership (which includes the CSA Journal) to Bill Wong.