October 2022 Speaker Bio
Sarah Hurdel of Needmore Orchids
"Habenaria - Best in Show!"
Learn about this often misunderstood, yet surprisingly easy to grow genus. Provides an introduction to the species, hybrids and closely related genera, with a detailed look at cultural needs and what makes this the ultimate showy orchid for growers without a greenhouse!
Sarah is the owner of Needmore Orchids, an artist, orchid blogger, exhibitor and accredited AOS judge. She maintains a collection of well over 600 orchids under lights in her basement, including a large number of Habenaria species and hybrids. Even without a greenhouse, her plants and exhibits have received AOS award recognition for culture, flower quality, and design. She enjoys sharing her orchid obsession with others through in-person and virtual presentations to societies across the US and Canada. Her talk combines her love of orchids, photography, and illustration with experienced advice and a sense of humor. Sarah currently has two blog pages featuring her orchid photography and cultural information - Something About Orchids on Facebook and Blogspot.
August 2018 Speaker Bio
Fred Clarke of Sunset Valley Orchids
"The Species of Catasetum, Cycnoches, and Mormodes and their Culture"
The species Catasetums, Mormodes and Cycnoches are reviewed, male and female flowers and a complete plant culture section. Catasetum, Cycnoches and Mormodes are three related genera from the Tribe Cymbidieae. Individually, each has been considered an orchid oddity, or “botanical”, of interest mainly to the seriously addicted enthusiast. These plants have a brief deciduous period in winter, when the plants need a definite dry rest period bordering on neglect. These robust orchids are native to lowland tropical forests in Central and South America and are usually grown in warm or intermediate conditions.
Fred Clarke has been growing orchids since 1977 and has been hybridizing for 35 of those years. With over 38 years as a professional grower and manager in the horticultural industry, Fred applies these skills at his orchid nursery; Sunset Valley Orchids, located in San Diego, California. He is a passionate orchid grower whose curiosity in orchids is broad and varied. Although developing Cattleya hybrids has been his sustaining interest, he is also actively creating new Catasetinae, Paphiopedilum and Australian Dendrobium hybrids.
His pioneering work in Catasetum intergeneric breeding has led to the development of several notable hybrids, most recently the grex, Fredclarkeara After Dark, which produced “the blackest flower ever witnessed”. This grex has received eight FCC’s, six AM’s and the coveted ‘Award of Distinction’ on the first flowers shown for judging!
Fred is an internationally acclaimed speaker and travels extensively within USA, Canada, South America, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. He is an accredited American Orchid Society Judge in the Pacific South region. His plants have received hundreds of quality awards from the American Orchid Society.
You can visit his website at: http://www.sunsetvalleyorchids.com/index.html
April 2018 Speaker Bio
Dr. Courtney T. Hackney, of Jacksonville, Florida
Growing and Flowering Better Cattleyas
Join us for this month's program as Courtney will be presenting a talk on his favorite genus, Growing and Flowering Better Cattleyas. Dr. Hackney is Emeritus Professor of Biology and the former Director of Coastal Biology at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Florida. Previously he was Professor of Biology and Marine Biology at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington. Courtney began growing orchids in the Florida Keys in 1962, while working for a small orchid nursery and has continued his interest in both orchid hybridizing and orchid culture since then. He grows many different genera, but his favorite is the Cattleya Alliance. He has about 500 mature cattleyas and even more seedlings, but his favorites are classic clones, some of which appeared in orchid collections over 100 years ago. He makes 8-10 hybrids and species sib crosses per year in various genera.
He wrote a Growing Tips column for 20 years, which ended in December 2013. Growing Tips appeared in newsletters around the country. He has also published in the Orchid Digest. In 2004, he published “American Cattleyas”, the culmination of a decade of study and interviews, which summarizes in old photographs and print how all of the modern cattleyas came to be. The book also describes what we know about cattleyas and cattleya hybrids, how to grow them, and what to expect from modern hybrids. During the past decade he has been researching the coerulea (blue) color form of cattleya species and hybrids. His article on how to predict success of coerulea Cattleya hybrids is nearing completion.
He and his wife Rose live in Jacksonville, Florida adjacent to a tidal swamp. Rose retired as a professional artist in 2017, but continues painting for fun. Epi magnoliae (conopseum) grows in trees of the swamp in his backyard. His orchids reside in a brand new 24’x25’ Florida shade house adjacent to the swamp.
October 2016 Speaker Bio
Harry McElroy, of Jacksonville, Florida
Warm Growing Cymbidiums
Join us for this month's program as Harry McElroy will be presenting a talk on his favorite genus, Warm Growing Cymbidiums. Harry is renown for the incredible specimen Cymbidiums he brings to the Show Tables. Now you’ll get a chance to learn how he does it. He will explain how he selects Cymbidiums that will thrive in this hot climate and his secrets on how to grow them and bring them into bloom.
Harry is a member of the Jacksonville Orchid Society with about 4,000 exotic orchids in a greenhouse, 2,000 of them Cymbidiums native to Australia and Asia. "I have grown orchids since about 1979. I started in California, and they grow a lot of them in California because the weather is good for them," said Harry McElroy, who likes Cymbidiums so much its name is part of his e-mail address. My experiment with warm growers began in 1991 when I arrived in Jacksonville with about 200 Cymbidiums and was informed
by an expert that they wouldn’t grow here. I offer proof that you can grow Cymbidiums in warm climates want to convince everyone else that they can too.
A Native of Arkansas but transplanted to Idaho a very early age, I grew up working on farms.No orchids but learned a lot about growing things from Potatoes and Pinto Beans. Always looking the sky I chose a career in aviation and joined the Air force after college. Assigned to the SAC for 8 years as a member of an ICBM Launch crew then on to civilian life. A field engineer (Technical Representative) for 32 years until retirement in 1999. The Aviation finally behind me after specializing Electronics. (Missile, guidance, control and checkout USAF and aircraft autopilots and flight controls for Sikorsky Aircraft company.)
The past 16 years have been full time between my orchids and a small farm near Conway Arkansas.
It would take a page to list all the places I have traveled to but Viet Nam, Philippines, Israel, Norway, Demark, Germany, France, Holland, Greece, Italy, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic are examples.
To download Harry's article on Seasonal Tips for Cymbidiums, Click Here.
September 2016 Speaker Bio
Peter T. Lin, of Diamond Orchids in Southern California
Mini-Catts: Delightful Cattleyas in Miniature
Peter T. Lin will be presenting a talk on one of his favorite topics: Mini-Catts, also known as miniature Cattleyas. Peter will be sharing a fast-paced Powerpoint presentation on these charming orchids. The journey will begin with a review of the miniature species, early hybrids, and then to some of the relevant hybrids of today. He will also review how to grow these wonderful plants.
Peter started growing orchids over 25 years ago, but then stopped due to school and starting a career. It wasn't until about 7 years ago that the orchid "bug" came back and he is now heavily involved once again. He is an accredited judge with the American Orchid Society and a hybridizer of mini-catts. He enjoys meeting with other orchid enthusiasts, and can often be found at various orchid shows and societies around the country. He also has hundreds of photos of his orchids that he maintains on Flickr. You can view them by typing this address into the internet: http://www.flickr.com/photos/minicatt/collections/
Due to limited growing space, Peter likes to specialize in miniature orchids, both species and hybrids, and has received numerous AOS awards. His other interests in orchids include Dendrobiums, Angraecoids, and Neofinetias. He maintains a collection of a thousand or more orchids at his home in Southern California in 3 small greenhouses, as well as in the house under fluorescent lights.
Peter T. Lin, of Diamond Orchids in Southern California
Mini-Catts: Delightful Cattleyas in Miniature
Peter T. Lin will be presenting a talk on one of his favorite topics: Mini-Catts, also known as miniature Cattleyas. Peter will be sharing a fast-paced Powerpoint presentation on these charming orchids. The journey will begin with a review of the miniature species, early hybrids, and then to some of the relevant hybrids of today. He will also review how to grow these wonderful plants.
Peter started growing orchids over 25 years ago, but then stopped due to school and starting a career. It wasn't until about 7 years ago that the orchid "bug" came back and he is now heavily involved once again. He is an accredited judge with the American Orchid Society and a hybridizer of mini-catts. He enjoys meeting with other orchid enthusiasts, and can often be found at various orchid shows and societies around the country. He also has hundreds of photos of his orchids that he maintains on Flickr. You can view them by typing this address into the internet: http://www.flickr.com/photos/minicatt/collections/
Due to limited growing space, Peter likes to specialize in miniature orchids, both species and hybrids, and has received numerous AOS awards. His other interests in orchids include Dendrobiums, Angraecoids, and Neofinetias. He maintains a collection of a thousand or more orchids at his home in Southern California in 3 small greenhouses, as well as in the house under fluorescent lights.
April 2016 Speaker Bio
Tom Kuligowski, of the Angraecum Blog: http://angraecums.blogspot.com/
Angraecums
Tom Kuligowski has long been known as the Angraecum man. Specializing in numerous Angraecoids; documenting growth habits, blooming traits and most recently has started some minor hybridizing. He has created the Angraecums blog (www.angraecums.blogspot.com) and an Angraecums Facebook Page to pass on growing trends and various culture techniques to help both the hobbyist and professional growers to grow and bloom these magnificent plants.
He has written numerous programs that are presented to the orchid societies throughout the country. Programs dealing with “Unusual and Natural Mounts”, “What’s Light Got To Do With It”, “Creating Better Images of Your Personal Collection” and of course, “Angraecums”.
Angraecums tend to be known for their beautiful, showy flowers, many that are fragrant at night. Some can even become fantastic specimen plants in just a couple of years. With both species and several sought after crosses, the Angraecums offer some very unique shapes along with the most pristine white in any of the orchids. The amazing fact people aren't aware of, is that they can thrive in South Florida’s sub-tropical weather or on a windowsill in the not so warm north, if given the chance. This presentation will provide both hobbyists and serious growers with fundamental guidelines to grow these beauties successfully and in turn, grace you with years of enjoyment.
The program is beneficial to both the beginner as well as the experienced grower. It’s all about the flowers!
October 2015 Speaker Bio
Bill Thoms of A-Doribil
Bulbophyllums - Big, Beautiful and More Betterer!
Renowned orchid grower, world traveler and internationally recognized speaker Bill Thoms will be presenting a talk on Bulbophyllums (the largest genus in the orchid world!) Be prepared to learn more about this fascinating group of plants than you ever dreamed! Bill Thoms and his wife, Doris Dukes, have been growing orchids around Central Florida for more than 40 years and have received almost every award granted by the AOS as well as more Awards for Culture than anyone else in the world, (95 in over 30 genera, including 45 in the bulbophyllum alliance
(capped off with a 97 pt. Certificate of Cultural Excellence for Bulb. Sue Blackmore.)
Bill is the only person to receive Awards of Quality for Bulbophyllum hybrids as well as receiving the hybridizer’s dream; an Award of Distinction for a new avenue of breeding (a Trias hybrid). Many of his crosses are winning awards around the country. The AOS has just added a yearly award named for him for the best Bulbophyllum exhibited.
The talks are spiced with funny stories and funny associations so whether you grow thousands of orchids, only a few, or none at all, you will have a wonderfully entertaining time and be able to grow anything better. Many of the most important requirements for growing world class plants are made easy to understand and remember.
Don’t miss this great opportunity to learn how to grow these fascinating plants and to hear one of the most knowledgeable, interesting and funny speakers in the orchid world!
August 2015 Speaker Bio
Fred Clarke of Sunset Valley Orchids
"Flared and Splashed Petaled Cattleyas"
Fred Clarke has been growing orchids since 1977 and has been hybridizing for 35 of those years. With over 38 years as a professional grower and manager in the horticultural industry, Fred applies these skills at his orchid nursery; Sunset Valley Orchids, located in San Diego, California.
He is a passionate orchid grower whose curiosity in orchids is broad and varied. Although developing Cattleya hybrids has been his sustaining interest, he is also actively creating new Catasetinae, Paphiopedilum and Australian Dendrobium hybrids.
His pioneering work in Catasetum intergeneric breeding has led to the development of several notable hybrids, most recently the grex, Fredclarkeara After Dark, which produced “the blackest flower ever witnessed”. This grex has received eight FCC’s, six AM’s and the coveted ‘Award of Distinction’ on the first flowers shown for judging!
Fred is an internationally acclaimed speaker and travels extensively within USA, Canada, South America, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. He is an accredited American Orchid Society Judge in the Pacific South region. His plants have received hundreds of quality awards from the American Orchid Society.
You can visit his website at: http://www.sunsetvalleyorchids.com/index.html
February 2015 Speaker Bio
Laurie Skov
"Stanhopeas - Our Favorite Wild Child"
Originally, from Chicago, Illinois, Laurie Skov has been growing orchids for more than 25 years. He retired from Amoco/BP in 1999 and turned his orchid obsession into a business in 2001. He is the owner of Orchids & Tropicals, Santa Fe, Texas where he and his wife Sheila maintain 5,000 sq. ft. of greenhouse, a tropical jungle, and four acres of pecan trees. Laurie is a past-president of the Houston Orchid Society, and is currently VP of the Galveston Bay Orchid Society. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Indiana University & Master’s degree in Physical Chemistry from the University of Illinois. He served with the Peace Corps, teaching in Western Samoa’s, Samoa College. Sheila is currently serving as Webmaster for the Galveston Bay Orchid Society. Their orchid business affords them the opportunity to participate as vendors, Society representatives, and speakers in orchid shows and garden clubs throughout the South. Their business specializes in growing heat tolerant orchids suitable for growing in Houston’s hot/humid environment. Their collection includes many unique species, with Stanhopea his favorite ‘wild child’. Visit the website to see their plants, displays, and offerings: www.orchidsandtropicals.com
November 2014 Speaker Bio
Mac Rivenbark
"Dendrobiums of the Philippines"
Mac Rivenbark is the owner of Macs Orchids in Fort Lauderdale, Fl. He joined the Fort Lauderdale Orchid Society in 1999 after his neighbors suggested it. Mac and his wife Helen opened their business in 2002. Mac is a chemical and Hygiene specialist as a profession and served a tour in the US Marines. His passion for orchids grew after many fascinating trips to the Phil's and he was inspired to grow and collect different varieties of Asian Species. As of today Mac has over 300 varieties of different Asian species that thrive for them in Florida. Mac's goal is to propagate these species and to help educate and inform others on the passion and ease of orchid growing. Mac and his wife have belonged to many organizations and orchid society's including Mac serving as a past president of the Fort Lauderdale Orchid Society. Mac's program will consist of a power point program and will also include many of Mac's culture tips.
August 2014 Speaker Bio
Tom Mirenda
"The Fabulous Orchids of South West Australia"
Tom Mirenda has been the Orchid Collection Specialist at the Smithsonian Institution for the last 10 years. There he cares for and curates an extremely diverse collection of orchid species and hybrids from all over the world. His position includes developing and producing huge educational exhibits using the collection plants that last up to 4 months and are visited by hundreds of thousands of visitors. Trained originally as a Marine Biologist, Tom made the switch to plants and orchids in his late 20s while living in Hawaii. Since then he has worked with orchids at NY Botanical Garden, Brooklyn Botanic Garden and an extensive private collection at Greentree Estate in Long Island. Tom was also the floor manager at the New York International orchid Show for many years during this period. For the last 6 years, Tom has contributed two columns each month for Orchids magazine and is developing a new book based on those writings. Tom travels frequently around the U.S. and internationally, making presentations to diverse audiences, from scientists to the general public, about orchid ecology, pollination biology, strategies for orchid conservation. He is passionate about seeking collaboration between the worlds of Botanic Gardens, the hobbyist community, commercial growers and scientists to work together toward the goal of protecting orchids and their habitats.
April 2014 Speaker Bio
Weyman Bussey
“Showy Mexican Orchid Species, Where They come from and How They Grow.”
Raised in the swamps of South florida, Belle Glade (60-72) and educated in Ornamental Horticulture and Botany at the University of Florida (76), Weyman’s love for orchids began at age 12 when he collected his first orchid in the Big Cypress swamps during a Boy Scout camping trip. A trip to the 7th World Orchid Conference in Colombia with Milton Carpenter, at the age of 17, inspired him to live and work in the tropics where he could be nearest his real passion, wild orchids in their habitat. He not only grew them commercially, but built many companies and laboratories throughout his career, not just for orchids, but also other flower crops in Colombia and Mexico. His favorite past time for 30 years was rescuing plants from fallen trees and finding them a home.In his sought after presentation about Mexican orchids, given to over 120 societies during the past the past 25 years, he shows you how the geography of Mexico has influenced the evolution of more than a thousand species. He’ll keep you captivated and motivated throughout the presentation with door prizes (Vanilla Beans) for your participation. How about a cocktail for your orchids? Do you know the W.A.N.T.S orchids have? This presentation is much more than a bunch of pretty flower pictures, it takes you into real Old Mexico in depth, teaches you how to choose the Mexican native orchid species best suited for your climate in Louisiana and how to grow them.You get a 4 page handout on culture, hailed by the best Hawaiian growers as, “the nail on the head” about growing orchids! The power point presentation will be given to your society for all members to share. There will be lots of inexpensive and neat plants (some species, (especially Encyclia hybrids and the greatest book on the Orchids of Mexico ever written) for sale at the meeting.Weyman invites members to check out his website and email him to: [email protected], any specific questions about any of the species in the table at http://www.abundaflora.com/species_categories.htm. He is glad to include more information on any particular interests you might have. An adventurer at heart, an orchidist to the core, professor of innovation, great lecturer on Mexican orchids and practical tropical and subtropical orchid growing. You’ll have to come and see his presentation to judge for yourself and at the very least, be entertained. For more information on Weyman you can type Weyman Bussey orchid into the google search bar. Weyman is working with Alexis Smith at Tropical Isles, Orchids and Bromeliads in Stuart, 772-260-6490.
