eyes on orchids - baton rouge orchid society - home · sandy bergeron, and jean scott. bob...
TRANSCRIPT
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May, 2016
E Y E S O N O R C H I D S
This year’s Potting Workshop was cancelled due to weather and low attendance. Unfortunately, the weather forecast was not good for the Saturday event, and for once the weatherman was absolutely correct. Terry Rehn told me that he probably had the most intense rain he has had all year on Saturday, and had we tried to have the workshop it would have been miserable. The Program Committee is going to look into rescheduling at a future date. The other issue was there apparently were a lot of conflicts with the date of April 30th, as we did not have a lot of people indicating that they were plan-ning on coming. A lot of work and planning goes into any event, and to have less than 20 people indicate that they were coming creates a problem. Hopefully we can reschedule when a large number of our members can attend. The Program Committee has been doing a tremendous job of getting us great programs all year, and if you have not made the last few, you have definitely missed some very informative talks and a lot of knowledge. Tom’s talk on Angraecums was very enjoya-ble, and I had some long time members tell me that they went away with new found knowledge. So whether you’re a long time member or just beginning, the opportunity is there; all you need to do is come to the meetings! This month will be no different, as we are fortunate to get Al Taylor, to come talk to us about Paphiopedilums, also known as the lady slipper orchid. Many of us tend to not try to grow some of the different orchids because we are not familiar with them or we have heard stories about how difficult they are to grow, so now is your chance to hear that they are easier to grow that we think. We will be taking Al to dinner before the meeting, and I encourage you to join us to get to know Al is a relaxed setting. We will send out an email giving the time and place later. See President Page 3
B A T O N R O U G E
O R C H I D S O C I E T Y Eyes On Orchids
President’s Message
V O L U M E 5 8 , I S S U E 5 – M A Y , 2 0 1 6
Meeting May 18, 7 p.m. - Burden Center, 4560 Essen Lane, Baton Rouge, LA
Inside this Issue
President’s Message 1 Program 1 Minutes 2 Oncidiums 2 News/Events 3
New Members 4 Combining newsletters 5
Publicity Committee 6 AOS webinar 6 Green Growers 7
Birthdays 7
Coming Shows 7
Posey Project 7
Vanda Care 8
Memoriam 9
Barbara Messina 9
Dancing Ladies 9 Foster Orchids 11
April Highlights 12
April Blooms 13 Notes from the Orchidnut 15
May Program - Paphiopedilums by Al Taylor
Al has been growing orchids since 1974 and has been a member of the AOS since 1977. He has always tried growing many different genera, but he has grown primarily Dendrobiums and Cattleya-type orchids. Still today he attempts growing orchids that do not have a tendency to grow well in hot, low-level climates. Experimenting is the primary key to growing anything well. Although a long time paying member of the Central Louisiana Orchid Society, Al would not become involved in anything except reading the Society newsletter. See Program Page 4
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May, 2016
E Y E S O N O R C H I D S
BROS Officers, 2016
President
Bob Lank
225.978.2615
Vice-President
Valerie Creehan
225.756.8363
Secretary
Marie Williams
225.205.8069
Treasurer
Blair Many
225. 921.9938
Show Co-Chairmen, 2016
Lata Johnson
225.933.0801 [email protected]
and
Randy Johnson
225.205.8181
Newsletter Editor
Danna Spayde
225.317.0933
Assistant Newsletter Editor
Valerie Creehan
225.756.8363
Board Members
Jim Gershey, thru 2016
Randy Johnson, thru 2017
Lata Johnson, thru 2018
SWROGA Reps:
James Jeansonne & Tin-Wein Yu
AOS Rep:
Tin-Wein Yu
Orchid Digest Rep:
Frank Zachariah
Standing Committee Chairs:
Program Co-Chairs
♦ Lata Johnson ♦ Tin-Wein Yu
Membership ♦ Valerie Creehan
Finance ♦ Blair Many
Librarian ♦ Bob Danka
Refreshments ♦ Nancy Morrison
Publicity/Membership ♦ Danna Spayde
Minutes of April, 2016 Meeting…... President Bob Lank opened the April 20th meeting at 7:00 p.m. with 33 members and four guests attending: Lisa Knowles, Marla Knowles, Sandy Bergeron, and Jean Scott. Bob introduced four new members: Becky Stephens, Helen Melancon, Martin Gingell, and Wesley Matthews. He announced that the potting workshop will be held on April 30 at Ter-ry Rehn’s home, and there will be no Green Growers in May. Blair Many received a birthday orchid. Bob reminded members to take home foster orchids and reported that 20 foster orchids were taken to the hospital since the last BROS meeting. He also complimented Dan-na and Valarie on their continued good work on getting the newsletter out. Upcoming shows are: New Orleans, June 4-5; Acadiana Orchid Socie-ty Show, June 11-12; and the Baton Rouge Orchid Society July 9-10. There is a sign up sheet for setup and takedown for the New Orleans and the Acadiana shows. Danna announced that the Orchids for Seniors will be going to see Lowell Tilly’s bonsai collection on April 25 and invited all to come. Ed Gaskell brought orchids to the television stations as publicity for the So-ciety and the upcoming show in July. Randy introduced our speaker, Tom Kuligowski, who spoke on An-graecums. He gave an informative and interesting Power Point presenta-tion showing several types of species and hybrids. He spoke about their need for daily watering, amount of sunlight, and medium. He stated that with good culture, they can grow rapidly. He recommended a bal-anced fertilizer such as 20-20-20. Members were encouraged to ask questions during his presentation. Next month’s speaker will be Al Taylor who will speak on Paphiope-dilums. Valarie won the door prize, and seven raffle plants were distributed. The meeting was adjourned at 8:55 . Respectfully submitted,
Marie Williams, Secretary
Oncidiums
On page 10 is an article about how we’re soon going to be seeing Oncidium orchids on the shelves of many stores. I believe they have arrived. On Mother’s Day weekend Trader Joe’s had several shelves of them, although most of the ones I saw were intergenerics and not regular yellow dancing ladies. I figured I’d soon be picking up some; and, sure enough, when I went by there on Saturday, I came home with several. And all but one of them had a name tag! Hallelujah! A couple even had new bloom spikes coming, although the plants were a little beat up. I for one am happy to see something besides large white Phalaenopsis that are so tall they will barely fit in my little car! Be on the lookout for the ladies.
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May, 2016
E Y E S O N O R C H I D S
President from Pg 1
This month we are planning on having a live auction of some of Clyde Howland’s orchids and possibly a silent auction for some also. As everyone knows, Clyde grew some very interesting plants so this is your opportunity to get a plant that as you continue to grow it you will remember Clyde and all of the things he did for each of us individually but also for the BROS. Last, but DEFINITELY not least, our annual show is fast approaching, July 8-9. Lata and Randy have been very busy insuring that we have judges, vendors, tro-phies, and hospitality to insure another excellent show. Please begin thinking of things you will be willing to do to help when called on during the next 2 months leading up to the show. The Publicity Committee has been meeting regularly to try and come up with thoughts and suggestions to increase attendance and general information about our show. If you have any thoughts or ideas of things we can do both for the show or marketing it, let Lata, Randy, Danna, or me know so we can see about incorporating it into the Show. I look forward to seeing everyone on Wednesday May 18th at Burden beginning at 6:30 with meeting starting at 7:00PM. I hope many of you will also be able to join us for dinner before the meeting. Bring your blooming plants to show our members how well you are growing your plants and the beauty and uniqueness of many of the flowers.
Bob Lank
News and Events
Green Growers June 8
BROS Meeting June 15
Program - “Preparing for
the Show”
No Green Growers
July 9 - 10
Annual Show and Sale
at Burden Center
Monthly Meeting
July 20
June July
Some of the crowd at the April meeting trying out a new seating arrangement
Speaker Kuligowski checks out blooms at April meeting
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May, 2016
E Y E S O N O R C H I D S
Baton Rouge Orchid Society
P.O. Box 66242
Baton Rouge, LA 70896-6242
225.308.1304 or 225.383.3554
www.batonrougeorchidsociety.com
Three opportunities to learn about orchids….
Baton Rouge Orchid Society - 7 p.m. - 3rd
Wednesday ♦ Burden Center, 4560 Essen Lane
Baton Rouge, LA ♦ featured speakers, growing tips,
plant clinics, awards table, plant raffle.
Green Growers - educational program for novice
orchid growers ♦ 7 p.m. on 2nd Wednesday of
month except May, July, and December at 425
Nelson Dr. Baton Rouge.
Orchids for Seniors - 10 a.m. - 4th Monday
January through October, except July ♦
Independence Park ♦ 7500 Independence Blvd.
Baton Rouge, LA. Orchid programs,
field trips, potting workshop.
Extending the knowledge and appreciation of
orchids to members and the gardening
community of the Greater Baton Rouge Area
New Members
In April we welcomed 4 new members! Left is Wesley Matthews; Martin Gingell to right. No picture for Becky Stephens or Helen Melancon - maybe next month. Welcome to all of you. We are delighted to have you with us. We look forward to seeing you at all Soci-ety meetings and events.
Program from page 1
In 2002 a decision had to be made to have a new greenhouse, rebuild, or stop at-
tempting to grow orchids. After carefully weighing the pros and cons, he had a new
greenhouse built and began making meetings of CLOS.
In 2003 he was asked if he had interest in becoming involved with the the Shreve-
port Judging Center. With no hesitation, he joined immediately and became a stu-
dent judge in 2003 and has been elevated to fully accredited status.
The AOS judging community affords fast friendships and
continuous opportunities for learning. Clerks and show com-
mittees are considered part of this AOS judging community. In
this process Al has garnered 60 AOS awards for his plants. The
rebuilding of that greenhouse has given Al a true, fun and en-
joyable element that should last through the rest of his life.
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May, 2016
E Y E S O N O R C H I D S
I have been volunteer Editor of “Eyes on Orchids” since 2007. From then to now I have also produced a newsletter for the Orchids for Seniors (OFS) Orchid Study Group. I’m tired of doing two different news-letters per month and have had to resort to duplicating some of the articles. Since some BROS members now belong to OFS, I hate to subject them to the same articles twice. Therefore, beginning with this issue, I’m combining the two newsletters so I have to do only one a month. I’ve cleared my intention with President Bob Lank, who wondered why I hadn’t thought of it sooner. I’m just a little slow sometimes! The OFS newsletter is called “Notes from the Orchidnut”. I’m going to add a page or two with that title at the end of this and future “Eyes on Orchids” news-letters. If you’re not interested in OFS news, just don’t read it. If you read it and find something that you’re interested in, you are invited to join OFS at any time for any of our activities. OFS meetings are held on the 4th Mon-day of the month at 10 a.m. at Independ-ence Park. This is the BREC Park on the corner of Independence Blvd. and Lob-dell, next to the fire station and on the opposite side of the street from the Gar-den Center and the BREC Theater. It’s the one with all the tennis courts. I’m ex-plaining this because some people tend to confuse it with the Garden Center and have trouble finding us. Our meetings are lots of fun, and we have a great group of members. We do not meet in July, November, or Decem-ber. Several times a year we take field trips in a BREC van which costs $1 per person. Annual OFS dues are $10, payable to BREC. We devote most of our programs to orchids, but the members are interest-ed in all kinds of plants so we sometimes deviate. For instance, our February and April meetings were about bonsai. Our June meeting will be our annual potting workshop, and in August we See OFS next column
BROS Newsletter &
Orchids for Seniors
OFS continued
will have a program on hypertufa and learn how to make our own pots. Don’t know yet what we’ll do in September and October - possibly one more field trip. Having said all that, let me tell you that the May OFS meeting will be moved up a week to May 16, the third Monday, because I will be out of town on the 4th Monday. We are planning a field trip to an orchid grower in Slidell. When we take field trips, we leave Baton Rouge in time to arrive at our destination by 10 a.m. After our visit, we have lunch in the area before returning to Baton Rouge. They’re usually pretty much all day trips. OFS is 20 years old this year. I started this group in 1996 when I was employed at the Council on Ag-ing. When I left there in 2001, BREC took us into its Adult Leisure Pro-gram where we have remained. There are probably a couple of hundred names on the lists of emails of those who receive the two newsletters, and some of you are on both lists. If you are, you will receive the newsletter twice for a few months until I am able to get the lists con-solidated. If you do get it twice, please let me know by return email to make it easier for me to find the duplica-tions. Come join us at Independence Park sometime and see what we’re all about.
Danna
A recent OFS meeting
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May, 2016
E Y E S O N O R C H I D S
AOS Webinars
Publicity/Membership
Committee Update
The Publicity/Membership Committee met on May 4 to get serious about planning publicity for our Show. Although we announced at the April meeting that we would not be using our famous “bumper sticker” type cards this year, we changed our minds about that and have ordered some. They will be here by our meeting, and we’ll distribute them to you to give to all your friends and families to encourage them to come to the Show. The Committee’s next meeting will be on Wednesday June 8 at 11 a.m. at Hu-nan’s Chinese Restaurant on S. Sherwood Forest. We welcome anyone who would like to join us in our efforts. We will need everyone’s help to publicize the Show, especially because our location is different this year. If you have any special con-nection with any media, please let a Committee member know how to follow up on it.
Greenhouse chats with Ron McHatton Join Ron McHatton, American Orchid Society Chief Education/Science Of-ficer, for a Q&A session on how to grow and care for your orchids. Every-one is invited! Come to one or both - the more the merrier.
Tuesday, June 14 at 8:30 pm EDT
Register at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6688975018868678915
Send your questions to Sandra Tillisch Svoboda by June 12th to [email protected].
**********************
Special Interest Webinars—Specially for AOS members:
Food, Sex & Alcohol: The Fascinating World of Orchid Pollination
When: Tuesday, May 31 at 8:30pm EDT Join us for a fascinating glimpse into the
world of orchid pollination with Ron McHatton, AOS Chief Education/Science Of-ficer. Ever wonder why these flowers we are so pas-sionate about look and smell the way they do? It's not by accident. Ron will
examine how flower form and fragrances are influenced by the need to attract ap-propriate pollinators.
Register at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3176334435104154883
**********************
North American Orchid Conservation - Open to everyone When: Tuesday, June 21 at 8:30pm EDT Join Past AOS President and Education Chair Sandra Svoboda as she talks about the endemic orchids of North American and the conservation efforts and organizations that exist to ensure that our North Ameri-can native orchids survive.
Register at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/700915946744837891
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May, 2016
E Y E S O N O R C H I D S
Green Growers Schedule
June 8 July 9 - 10 Orchid Show
No Green Growers meeting
August 10 September 14 October 12
Meetings are at 7 p.m. at the home of Gene & Thelma Berg
425 Nelson Dr. Come for good fellowship,
refreshments, learning - and door prizes.
Happy May Birthday to the
Following Members:
Sharon Brauner 5/27 Valerie Creehan 5/20 Bob Danka 5/11 Patty Granier 5/18 James Morrison 5/21 Heli Roy 5/21 Chip Thompson 5/4 Be sure to come to the meeting to get your birthday orchid gift. Must be pre-sent to get it.
June 4 - 5 New Orleans Orchid Society Show Lakeside Mall Metairie June 11 - 12 Acadiana Orchid Society Show. Ira Nelson Horticultural Center Lafayette
Upcoming Shows The Posey Project
Last month we reported on the Posey Project. It is continuing with the beautiful arrangements made by Commander Ed now being delivered to four TV stations monthly during the week of our meeting. PBS was recent-ly added. We would like some feedback on this project. If you have seen the ar-rangements or heard them mentioned on air, please led Ed know. We’re do-ing this to increase awareness of BROS in the community, and we hope it’s doing some good. We know Donna Britt has men-tioned them on her web page. Appar-ently some of the stations have rules about what they can accept and show and may not be able to give them as much recognition as we’d like.
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May, 2016
E Y E S O N O R C H I D S
Vanda Orchid Care
By Valerie Creehan
Vandaceous orchids are some of the most favorite plants grown by orchid enthusi-asts. Growers continually strive to grow healthy, robust plants with beautiful blooms. There are the common variety called Ascocentrum or Ascocenda. Also, there are other species and hybrids such as Rhynchostylis, Aerides, Aeridovanda—Aerides x Vanda, and other combinations.
Vandaceous orchids are monopodial, generally upright, having a single stem with two rows of leaves emerging on opposite sides of the stem. They are epiphytes which are plants that grow on another plant, deriving moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, and sometimes debris around it. Inflorescences grow from the leaf axis. A ma-ture plant can produce babies or keikis, which will also continue to grow.
There are three types of leaf shapes: strap-leaf, terete, and semi-terete. Strap-leaf plants have flat or V-shaped leaves. This group includes species such as coerulea, dearie, luzonica, merrillii, tricolor and sanderiana, as well as the asocentrums. Te-rete refers to the pencil-like leaves which grow alternately up the stem. They like to climb. The most common species in the terete group are Papilionanthe teres and Ple. hookeriana. The most readily available plant in this terete category is Ple. Miss Joaquim ’Agnes’, which is the national flower of Singapore. The plant was a natural hybrid of Ple. hookeriana and Ple. teres, which was found in the garden of Miss Agnes Joaquin in 1893, and said to be the catalyst for a multimillion dollar Asian orchid industry. Semi-teretes are a hybrid combination of strap-leaf vandas and the terete vandas, or having some teres in the background. Terete vandas and semi-terete hybrids are sun lovers. Pictured are some examples of the leaf shapes.
Strap-Leaf Terete Semi-terete
Vanda Robert’s Delight Vanda or P. Miss Joaquin ‘Agnes’
Vanda BB Head Rawaj Spice
See Vandas Pg 9
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May, 2016
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Vandas
In order to be successful in growing vandaceous orchids, the following cultural conditions should be addressed:
Light—The maximum light should be given without burning the leaves and keeping the temperature within an acceptable range. The terete and semi-terete vandas may be able to withstand more light than the strap-leaf. During the middle of the day the strap-leaf varieties need to be somewhat protected. In south Florida, Robert Fuchs states that their greenhouses have about 50% shade. Plants can be grown outdoors with the maximum light without burning the leaves.
Temperature— Optimum temperature for vandaceous orchids during daytime are 65 degrees or higher, and a maximum of 90-95 degrees. They can continue growth any time of year if given warmer temperatures and bright light. Ideally, temperatures should not go below 55 degrees at night. Although, some vanda growers have said they let their night time temperatures go lower, (40-45). Plants need to be protected from air movement during colder days and nights.
Water—Plants that are mounted in baskets or hanging with no media need watering daily, preferably in the morning. In the warmer months, it is better to water twice daily. In winter when temperatures are lower and there are cloudy days, water more sparingly, and avoid late afternoon watering. Watering needs to be thorough, with a low pressure wand, or placing in a clean vat of water for soaking, allowing roots to change color from silver to green.
Air Movement—Vandaceous orchids are epiphytic and need good air circulation in warmer temperatures. This air movement helps to decrease chances of fungal and bacterial infection.
Fertilizing—Vandaceous orchids are heavy feeders. Robert Fuchs recommends fertilizing once a week during the growing season and does not recommend high nitrogen fertilizer due to interfering with flowering. He uses Peter’s 20-20-20 all purpose with micronutrients weekly during the growing season at a concentration of 1 teaspoon per gallon of water, and every two weeks in winter. Jack’s Classic All Purpose fertilizer is packaged for consumer sales. At every third feeding, a 10-30-20 bloom booster is used along with 1/4 tsp./gal. of Superthrive (root stimulant) once a month. Plants should be flushed thoroughly with water once a week to remove salt build up.
Potting—Most vandaceous plants are grown in plastic or wood baskets. If grown in media, porous media (tree fern chunks, coarse bark, or charcoal) needs to be used for proper aeration. Roots are aerial and do not like to be disturbed. If a basket is rotted and repotting is needed, soak plant in water a few minutes and remove from old container carefully as possible. Soak in a solution of hormones and fungicide about 5 minutes, then pot in a new basket. Seedlings can be potted in 3 inch pots in loose media and slightly more shaded conditions.
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May, 2016
E Y E S O N O R C H I D S
Memorium Our friend and long time BROS member Herbert J. Landry, passed away peacefully on Thursday, April 14, 2016 at the age of 88. He served in the U.S. Navy in the late 1940's and was a dedicated employee of Bell South for 35 yrs., retiring in 1985. He was an active member of Pioneer Club (Bell South retirees active in civil projects) and a long-time church and public servant. Services were held on Monday, April 19, at St. John the Evange-list Catholic Church in Prairieville with Interment at Prairieville Community Cemetery. Memorial donations can be made in Herb’s honor to the Baton Rouge Eye Bank, Society of St. Vincent de Paul, or Prairieville Com-munity Cemetery. Many of us will remember Herb as a long time special friend of Clyde How-land’s. Herb was always present at the potting workshops when they were held at Clyde’s even though he couldn’t come to Society meetings. He will be missed.
Our member Barbara Messina is very sick in the new cardiology area of Our Lady of the Lake hospital with heart issues and temporal arthritis. She asked for prayers. Please remember her.
Barbara Messina Needs Our Prayers
Editor’s Note: this is part of an edited article which I have permission to use in this newsletter. The full article can be ac-cessed at the URL at the end of the article. The edited article is provided by [email protected]
These dancing ladies are Oncidium orchids. Their name comes from their distinc-tive shape that resembles the flowing skirt of a dancing woman. Oncidiums are joining Phalaenopsis on store shelves due to an agreement between the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Taiwanese government which allows Taiwan orchid growers to ship the plants in a growing medium like sphagnum moss to the United States. Prior to the ruling, which became effective March 7, Taiwan could only ship Oncidiums bare root to the U.S. Without the protective growing medium, the plants had be shipped quickly by overnight air, making it pro-hibitively expensive to transport them in large quantities. Some Taiwan orchid growers have already filed applications to export Oncidiums to the U.S., and Taiwanese officials said it will take at least four months to get the plants ready for shipping and couldn't say when the plants will be will be available to American consumers. The Oncidiums, like the Phalaenopsis, will be subject to specific growing, in-spection and certification requirements to prevent a quarantine plant pest from be-ing introduced to the U.S.
See full Story at the following URL: http://www.mnn.com/your-home/organic-farming-gardening/stories/dancing-lady-orchids-are-coming-US-stores
Dancing Ladies Coming Soon
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May, 2016
E Y E S O N O R C H I D S
Dtps. Shu Long Princess Alcra. Sunday Best ‘yellow’
Third group of
foster orchids taken to
OLOL Oncology and
4th floor Med unit on
May 4th, delivered by
Chip Thompson and
Valerie Creehan.
Portion of
April blooms
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May, 2016
E Y E S O N O R C H I D S
April Speaker Tom Kuligowski
Topic: Angraecums
Our April speaker was Tom Kuligowski from south Florida. He gave a very interesting Power Point presentation on Angraecum hybrids and species. He has been growing orchids for more than 25 years and has a great angraecum blog. He became interest-ed in Angraecums after buying one from Home Depot in 2000. He discussed plant and flower structures and growing characteristics. Flowers open with a green tint and change to pristine white. Damaging the root system of a plant can make the plant go dormant. Some Angraecums can grow up to 6 feet. There is a wide range of ways to grow the plants: mounted, in pots, and in baskets. Tom said he prefers to use clay pots as opposed to plastic to help keep the orchids cool. Some blooms are very fra-grant. Most Angraecums originate from the Comoros Islands (off the eastern coast of Africa) or Madagascar. Tom stated that he uses Jacks 20-20-20 fertilizer once a month. Light needs vary from intermediate to low cattleya light.
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May, 2016
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Rlc. Hsinying Mini Dancer ‘C.H. #1’ Eplc Jackie Bright ‘Treasure’
Bifenaria harrisonionum (species) Lc. Irene Finney ‘Spring Beauty’
Lc. Aussie Sunset ‘Cosmic Fire’ Dial Fair Jewel
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May, 2016
E Y E S O N O R C H I D S
Paph. Lady Isabel x Wilheiminae
Philippinense
Oncda. Chaculatum ‘Clock Work’
V. Josephine Van Brero
x Suksumran Spots
Un Named Vanda
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May, 2016
E Y E S O N O R C H I D S
June Meeting: Monday, June 27 at 10 a.m. in Room 137 at Independence Park
Annual Potting Workshop & Pot Luck Lunch
Orchids for Seniors Supplement
If you aren’t already aware that, as of this month, I’m combining our “Notes from the Orchidnut” newsletter with the Orchid Society’s “Eyes on Orchids” news-letter, please see page 5 for an explana-tion. I hope this merging of the newslet-ters will provide everyone with more in-formation about growing orchids. I’m also merging the mailing lists, which is going to take a couple of months or more. While that’s going on, some of you will get the newsletter twice. If you do, please let me know so it’ll be easier for me to straighten out the mailing list.
Report of our April &
May Meetings
In April we had to cancel our third at-tempted trip to Avery Island because I was very busy with a conference and re-quested the van too late to get it. In-stead, we visited the home of Lowell Til-ley here in Baton Rouge to see his bonsai creations. He had presented a program on bonsai for us in February and invited us to visit him. We had a delightful visit with Lowell and his family. His yard is like a botanical garden. Not only does he have an extensive bonsai collection, he has a large variety of other types of plants. After our leisurely visit with Low-ell, we went to Chili’s on Millerville for a delicious lunch and good fellowship. Some of us also visited Lowe’s and Naylor’s Hardware after lunch to look at their plants. It was a most enjoyable day.
In May we visited John & Peggy For-ester at their home in Slidell. John is an orchid fancier and the son of OFS mem-ber Helene Forester. More on this meet-ing next month for we haven’t been yet as I write this.
Plans for June Meeting
Our June meeting will be at Independ-ence Park, as it’s too hot now for field trips until fall. Bring a few of your plants that need dividing and repotting and learn how to do it. I’ll also bring some of the numerous Trader Joe orchids that I have as many of them need re-potting. Bring the pots you want to use, either clay or plastic. Potting mix will be pro-vided. In conjunction with our potting work-shop we will have our usual pot luck lunch. Bring one of your specialty dishes to share with the others. Drinks, plates, utensils, etc. will be provided. There will be no meeting in July be-cause of the orchid show and sale sched-uled on the 9th and 10th.
Blanche needs pots!
Blanche Hoover pots a lot of various kinds of plants for various community functions and is always in need of flower pots, all sizes and either clay or plastic. If you have any excess pots, bring them to one of our meetings for Blanche.