Santa Clara Valley Orchid Society Established 1951

Helping You to Become a Better Grower

October 2010 SCVOS Newsletter

(please note that links in electronic copies are functional

Pot. Toshi Aoki „Pizzazz‟ AM/AOS

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Speaker Notes

On Wednesday, October 6th

, our speaker will

be Fred Clarke of Sunset Valley Orchids. Fred

created Sunset Valley Orchids in 1995 as a

natural outgrowth of a hobby that began twenty

seven years earlier. Sunset Valley Orchids is a

“boutique” style nursery where they are

dedicated to excellent customer service and

unique offerings.

Backed by 24 years of experience in the

horticultural industry as a professional grower

and manager, Fred applies these skills to

produce robust and unique orchid hybrids.

Sunset Valley Orchids is located in Vista,

California, 30 miles north of San Diego and 60

miles south of Los Angeles approximately 10

miles from the Pacific Ocean. The 13,000 sq. ft.

of greenhouse space is composed of 4 distinct

growing environments.

SVO is a specialty plant breeder of award

quality orchids. Their efforts are focused on the

development of cutting edge orchid breeding

lines. They are providing new and unique

hybrids and species in several genera including;

Cattleya, Paphiopedilum, Catasetinae, and

Bulbophyllum. Their plant offerings are

produced in a laboratory and grown from seed at

the nursery. The flasking lab processes over 300

new hybrids annually producing 2000 replate

flasks. The plants are selected on strict criteria of

robust growth and ease of flowering. This is

accomplished by selecting only the most

vigorous seedlings throughout the processes of

flasking, community trays, and potting. This

grading results in the strongest and best plants

for both customers and for future breeding.

Fred‟s presentation this time will focus on

his work with miniature cattleyas, and should

include some truly beautiful pictures. SVO in

my opinion produces some of the best minicatts

around, as his awards record shows.

Fred is an accredited American Orchid

Society Judge in the Pacific South Judging

Region. Orchids from Sunset Valley Orchids

have many AOS awards, including seven that

have received the highest honor, the „First Class

Certificate'. Here are a few of his awarded

plants:

Potinara Pure Love „SVO II‟ AM/AOS

Cattleya Black Jack 'Universal' HCC/AOS

Please be sure to come to see this exceptional

speaker!! Support your SCVOS and

Become a better grower!!

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Membership

No new members this month??!! Please go

out, find a friend, and drag them to the

meeting…that‟s how we grow!! Big thanks to

those of you who joined us for the auction!

SCVOS News

If you are not getting your newsletter via email,

please be sure to give your currently correct

address to Ed Nazzal, paphman@gmail.com.

All plants brought for sale by members must be

properly labeled, disease free, and priced in even

dollar amounts. Ten percent of the sale price

goes to the club treasurer, Marvin Bell, before

you leave. We rely on the honor system. Thank

you to those abiding by this rule.

Refreshments Announcement: All members

with last names starting with F-H please bring in

refreshments for October. Remember that you

have the highest percentage chance to win a

plant from the opportunity table by bringing

food. In August there were only 4 tickets in that

drawing…this month‟s winner could be you!!

Thanks to Dave, Ann and Ed for your pictures

this month. Unfortunately it seems like

everyone else‟s plants are just like mine these

days – all nothing but a bunch of lettuce.

Hopefully the wonderful summer we had was

just the thing all your paphs and cyms needed to

have a spectacular flowering season this fall and

winter, and that you‟ll be able to send in some

nice pictures in the months to come to the new

newsletter editor, Dave Smitt. Since Dave takes

all the pictures anyways, hopefully he‟ll be able

to include lots of his own images; hopefully as I

step back a little I can have more time to do

things like take pictures. Everyone else?!!

Please make Dave‟s job easier by sending him

some images. It‟s really difficult to put together

an interesting newsletter if no one submits any

images. Please remember lots of pictures =

interesting newsletter, and I like to be interested.

Yay.

Ed went to San Bruno Mountain State Park

and found a relatively rare orchid, at the

southern end of its range. This is Piperia

elegans, a beautiful terrestrial that ranges from

Santa Cruz County north almost to Alaska.

Typically found in much cooler conditions, the

fact that Ed found this in the San Bruno

Mountains attests to the effects of elevation on

temperature; I think it‟s pretty cool to find

orchids growing in the wild. Nice work Ed!!

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Ann sent in this picture of Paph. parishii,

one of few actually epiphytic paphs. This one

typically grows in birds‟ nests or fern roots in

high tree branches. Not too picky about

elevation or temperature, this species lives

naturally in Yunnan China and Thailand, but has

to some extent been line-bred in captivity. Some

of the best have upwards of 12 flowers on an

inflorescence.

Paph. Doll‟s Kobold is a hybrid of

charlesworthii and henryanum, and exhibits

pretty much exactly what you would expect for

the cross – nice pink color and spots on the

dorsal sepal. Also, it‟s a very small plant – very

cute. Nice one, Ann!!

Ann also sent in this Bulbophyllum

grandiflorum, a member of the Hyalosema

section of bulbos (which is a very taxonomically

confused group). This species, native to low

elevation forests, lives on islands from Sumatra

to New Guinea, and exhibits quite a bit of

variation from one island to the next, especially

in terms of how far the flower opens. Ann‟s

plant has fairly closed flowers. Are these

separate species? I don‟t know…

We had a fabulous auction this month, with

some of the best deals on great orchids that

board members could remember in recent years.

Lots of plants went for just $1!! Maybe that

makes the auction a good idea to put down on

your calendar for next year…a great chance to

pick up some pretty nice plants pretty cheap.

Also, Manuel Sagisi brought some great cyms to

this year‟s event; hopefully he can be persuaded

to bring in more!! Big thanks go out to Ed

Nazzal for organizing the event and to Jeff

Trimble for serving as auctioneer (and to Peter

and Ann for help running plants back and forth.

This event is always so much fun…seems a pity

to wait until the spring for the next one. Hope to

see you there!! Thanks to Dave Smitt for taking

pictures of it.

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Thanks to Dave, Ed, and Ann for sharing

some pictures. Please keep those pictures

coming!! Thanks so much to those of you who

have been so consistent in sending them and by

all means keep it up!! Your photos and thoughts

submitted to me or Ed Nazzal become a valuable

part of the tradition of the SCVOS: helping

people become better growers.

Remember, for much more information about

orchids, links, our future schedule, care sheets,

contact information, previous newsletters, and

lots of pictures of plants and people, visit the

website:

santaclaravalleyorchidsociety.org/links.htm

The SCVOS:

Helping You to Become a Better Grower

Future Speakers

November 3rd: Samantha Kha!!

Samantha Kha, of Orchid Zone fame, will

present pictures from the finest event in the

orchid world, the Tokyo Dome Show in Japan.

Every year, the very finest orchids in the world

are exhibited here, along with spectacular

displays and amazing sales booths. Did you

know you have to pay to exhibit a plant there?

Did you know that the winner of best in show

gets a Mercedes Benz as the prize? Did you

know the same guy has won best in show three

times? Steeped in tradition and full of amazing

plants, our trip through Tokyo Dome will be led

by one of the best paph breeders in the world –

her knowledge of both paphs and other species

and hybrids is immense, and she‟s just the

person to take us on such a tour, since most of

the paph section in Tokyo Dome comes out the

door of the Orchid Zone. One of the best Tokyo

Dome stories is of a white Paph. Mystic Knight

that was sold from the Zone to a Japanese man,

who carried it on his lap on the plane back to

Japan, where it immediately went to the Dome

show, won grand prize, then promptly died due

to all the stress of moving and then sitting in the

show for a week. Wow. Draaaama. Sounds

fun.

Upcoming Events and OCA

The Diablo View Orchid Society show is

on the 14th of October – try to go and see this

show for all the species grown there but not

here. A number of growers there have perfected

the art of growing cool species in a rather warm

environment. I‟m always impressed to see

Draculas and huge specimen Masdevallias there,

alongside the colorful minicatts that make up the

bulk of plants entered. I‟ll be there judging on

Saturday, so I hope to see some of you up there

as well – there tends to be some good vendors

there as well. This would be a great opportunity

for you to go support another society just like

ours; I hope you‟ll consider making the short

drive up there. The Berkeley Botanic Garden is

close by, and would make a nice side trip for

those of you planning to spend the whole day. I

know I‟ll be there on Saturday and will probably

go for a walk around the garden on the way

home.

In SCVOS-land, our last major event of the

year will take place on December 5th, at the

Annual Holiday Party. I‟m sure I don‟t have to

remind you all of how much fun this one is…it

is the only event where we have an open bar.

Wait a minute…maybe we should have one of

those more often!! In any case, there‟s great

company, great food, and lots and lots of plants

both free and on the raffle table for you to enjoy.

Since last year‟s plants from Maplethorpe

Orchids went over so well as freebies, we‟ll be

going back there for more; your payment

includes a free plant probably in a 6” pot or

larger. It‟s worth it right there to attend!! In

addition, we‟ll be flying in some rare species

plants from Haiku Maui Orchids in Hawaii –

since Ed knows the proprietor well, we get

special select plants not listed in their catalog

and unavailable to the general public. I

remember a few years back I got an awarded

Laelia tenebrosa! Remember that attending the

Holiday Party is a privilege of society members

and their guests – and that the society covers a

large portion of the costs associated with

running the event. So please support your

society and make every effort to attend. It‟s a

ton of fun, and the more people, the louder and

more fun the party becomes. More info to come,

but see the flier below for details!

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Reintroduction of native orchids in Panama

This project is an instrumental part of our

orchid conservation strategy in El Valle. A

widespread practice of wild orchid gathering

among local people has dramatically diminished

native orchid populations in this tiny

Panamanian town and the surrounding

mountains. It is thus imperative to reintroduce

these orchids into the wild so that this place will

be a paradise for them again. In close

cooperation with the Institute of Agricultural

Investigation of Panama a local nursery plans to

reproduce eight native orchid species in its

nurseries and plant them in their original habitat.

Once the reintroduction process is completed,

our rangers will try to prevent the exploitation of

the precious flowers from occurring again.

We identified eight orchid species

particularly badly affected by excessive

gathering: Acineta chrysantha, Cycnoches

warscewiczii, Eriopris biloba, Gongora

armeniaca, Gongora gibba, Gongora tricolor,

Houlletica tigrina, and Neomoorea irrorata. With

the technical assistance of the university, we will

reproduce and cultivate these orchids in our

nurseries. Once they grow sufficiently large, we

will plant them on the protected land. When the

reintroduction process is completed, our rangers

will watch over the orchids until they start

reproducing.

This is Neomoorea irrorata, one of the species

selected to reproduce. Photo courtesy of Eric

Hunt.

Remember that your SCVOS dues help

support projects like these, and that these

projects are essential tools in learning in situ

orchid conservation. Please help support them!!

What a great project! Click here for more.

Orchid Facts

Cymbidium (Cym.), also called “boat orchids,”

was first described by Olof Swartz in 1799. The

name comes from the Greek word kumbos,

which means hole or cavity, referring to the

shape of the base of the lip. It has 52 species

distributed in tropical and subtropical Asia

(India, China, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines,

and Borneo) and northern Australia. The large

flowered hybrids that people all over the world

are familiar with have been bred from species

that grow in high altitudes. The species in this

genus may occur as epiphytic, lithophytic or

terrestrial. Tropical species usually display their

flowers in a pendent fashion.

Cymbidiums grow with sympodial growing

habit, like the Cattleya. Some can grow to a

height of about two feet. The flower stalks of

some species can reach the length of three feet.

Flower size range from two to four inches. A

flower stalk can bear fifteen or more flowers

depending on the species. The flower spikes

from the base of the youngest mature

pseudobulb during the winter season. A plant

with many pseudobulbs can have many

flowering spikes giving it a spectacular display.

Colors for this genus can be white, green,

yellowish-green, cream, yellow, brown, pink,

and red (with markings of different colors at the

same time), but not blue and black. Recent

hybrids have produced dramatic dark maroon

hues that can almost be considered black;

usually these hybrids have Cym. canaliculatum

as a parent. Some cyms have waxy flowers that

can last ten weeks, but this is dependent on the

species (or the species used in a hybrid). Some

flowers last as little as two weeks (Cym.

dayanum). They can grow as many as eight

long, narrow, green leaves on each pseudobulb.

Probably the most number of leaves produced on

a pseudobulb in the orchid family.

They are one of the most popular and

desirable of orchids. Cymbidiums make great

houseplants. In temperate countries, they are

relatively hardy, and can withstand temperatures

as low as 45˚F. The flowers make beautiful

corsages and are used in floral arrangements. In

China, they have been in cultivation for

thousands of years. In Bhutan, Cymbidium

hookerianum is a delicacy cooked in a spicy

curry or stew.

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The type species of the genus is Cymbidium

aloifolium, photo courtesy of IOSPE.

- Oliver Colmenar

SCVOS Online

So much online – check it out!! We have a

Facebook page. Have a look at it on Facebook!

Also see Matt Bond‟s Flickr page, and Eric

Hunt‟s SCVOS Show page, and the Internet

Orchid Species Encyclopedia, which the

SCVOS helps fund.

Calendar Oct 14-17: Diablo View OS Show and Sale

Pleasant Hill Community Center, 320

Civic Drive, Pleasant Hill, CA.

Contact: Dennis Olivas

d.olivas@comcast.net

See Flier Below!!

Oct 16-17: Hanging Gardens Open House

Shelldance Nursery site, Coast

Highway, Pacifica - east side of the

highway, 3/10 mile north of Reina

Del Mar Avenue.

Contact: Dan Newman

hgardens@earthlink.net

See Flier Below!!

Dec 5: SCVOS Annual Holiday Party

Three Flames Restaurant,

1547 Meridian Ave, San Jose

Contact: Sandi Fox

sfox@greybeard.net

Board Meeting

The October board meeting will occur on the

20th

at the home of Sandi Fox. For more

information, directions, or if you‟d like to make

an announcement, please contact Kristina by

phone at (408) 229-2747 or by email at

kbellwolf1@sbcglobal.net. Participating on the

board is a very rewarding and infinitely

educational experience – highly recommended!

Please come out and support your society!!

2010 SCVOS Board It‟s election time in SCVOS-land, and here is the

slate of candidates to be voted upon at the

November meeting:

President: Kristina Bell

Vice President: Peter Brown

Treasurer Marvin Bell

Secretary: Sandi Fox

Membership Chair: Cristin McDaniel,

Roger Bindt

Directors: Ann Stuart

Eanghak Quach

Dave Smitt

Ed Nazzal

Marie Lofton

Now is also the time to consider joining the

board. If you‟re at all interested in serving

on the board, we encourage you to attend a

board meeting in the near future or the

December budget hearing. Serving on the

board is a wonderful experience, and one

that I would totally recommend to be “in the

know” about our society, orchids, and where

to go to buy what (and lots of trips to

nurseries!!).

SCVOS Board

The Santa Clara Valley Orchid Society is a

non-profit organization that meets the first

Wednesday of each month at the American

Legion Hall, 1504 Minnesota Avenue, in the

Willow Glen neighborhood of San Jose,

California. The meeting starts at 7:30 PM. The

skill session starts at about 7:00 PM.

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Officers for 2010 Kristina Bell, President (408) 229-2747

kbellwolf1@sbcglobal.net

Tim Culbertson, Vice President (301) 641-2556

timc@harker.org

Jay Rose, Secretary (408) 506-3262

jayman8117@yahoo.com

Marvin Bell, Treasurer (408) 229-2747

marvskis@sbcglobal.net

Directors for 2010

Kate Culbertson (301) 356-4041

kmackey@stanford.edu

Ed Nazzal (408) 268-3573

paphman@gmail.com

Eanghak Quach (408) 629-3794

epigarden@yahoo.com

Dave Woodfill (408) 248-5983

ofiew@comcast.com Peter Brown (510) 755-3654

pjb@presol.com

Ann Stuart (408) 267-3397

annystuart@yahoo.com

Sandi Fox (408) 683-0145

sfox@greybeard.com

Marie Lofton (408) 629-0264

smlofton@pacbell.net

2010 Auction Chair Ed Nazzal (408) 268-3573

paphman@gmail.com

Membership Peter Brown (510) 755-3654

pjb@presol.com

Sandi Fox (408) 683-0145

sfox@greybeard.com

Website: santaclaravalleyorchidsociety.org Tim Culbertson (301) 641-2556

timc@harker.org

Member Database Ed Nazzal (408) 268-3573

paphman@gmail.com Newsletter

Tim Culbertson, Editor (301) 641-2556

timc@harker.org

Dave and Ofelia Woodfill, Mailing (408) 248-5983

ofiew@comcast.net Publicity

Susan Wiedmann (408) 979-1726

Hmgbird@pacbell.net

Library Marie Lofton (408) 629-0264

smlofton@pacbell.net Plant Opportunity Tickets

Dave and Ofelia Woodfill (408) 248-5983

ofiew@comcast.com Kitchen Crew

Conrad Kumata

ckk1boater@aol.com

Liz Gehrig (408) 363-6901

eagehrig@aol.com

2010 Greenhouse Tour Doug Pulley (408) 354-1412

dpulley1@comcast.net

2010 Show and Sale Tim Culbertson, Co-Chair, Secretary (301) 641-2556

timc@harker.org

Eanghak Quach, Co-Chair, Judging (408) 629-3794

epigarden@yahoo.com

Peter Brown, Co-Chair, Sales (510) 755-3654

pjb@presol.com

2010 Bus Tour Kristina Bell (408) 229-2747

kbellwolf@aol.com

2010 Holiday Party Kristina Bell (408) 229-2747

kbellwolf1@sbcglobal.net

AOS / ODC Representative Tim Culbertson (301) 641-2556

timc@harker.org

My Final Entry!!

Weeeelll, if you‟ve gotten this far, thanks in

bunches…I‟m about done with the position of

newsletter editor and I wanted to thank you all

for your comments and support over the years.

Five years is a long time to do a good job – lots

of opportunities to become complacent, boring,

and trite in writing something, often similar or

the same things year after year after year. I feel

like I‟ve tried to keep it interesting; I hope

you‟ve read and been interested in the newsletter

all this time as well. Thanks for giving me the

opportunity to learn so much – lots of new

species and hybrids every month, lots of new

events to keep track of, and lots of great new

speakers. It‟s been a trip – I‟d really like to

thank you all as well for your overwhelmingly

positive comments about the newsletter. Every

now and again your comments kept me

writing…thanks for that. I wish I could

continue, but I want to spend as much time as

possible with Mark; I‟ll try to bring him by so

you can watch him grow up some. Again,

thanks for all your kind words, your help, your

photos, and your assistance with writing this,

and best of luck to Dave Smitt as he takes it

over. I can‟t wait to see the new format, new

layout, and new ideas of a new mind jumping

into something fresh. I so enjoyed the ride…

-Tim

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Recent AOS Awards From the AOS Pacific Central Judging Center Images are property of the photographers and/or the AOS and

should not be reproduced.

Anguloa ruckeri 'Winston'

(A. clowesii × A. hohenlohii)

HCC 79

Exhibited by Amy and Ken Jacobsen

Awarded September 7 2010 at SFOS Meeting

Dendrobium cuthbertsonii 'Christopher John'

species

CCE 94

Exhibited by Steve Beckendorf

Awarded September 7 2010 at SFOS Meeting

Phalaenopsis bellina 'Goblin'

species

AM 81

Exhibited by Ramon de los Santos

Awarded September 1 2010 at Sacr. OS Meeting

AOS Cal-Nevada Region Judging occurs on the

first Wednesday of the month at the Oddfellows

Hall in Sacramento in association with the

Sacramento Orchid Society meeting.

AOS Pacific Central Judging occurs on the first

Tuesday of the month at the County Fair

Building in Golden Gate Park in association

with the SFOS meeting, and on the third

Wednesday of the month at the Lake Merritt

Garden Center in Oakland in association with

the OSC meeting.

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Hanging Gardens Open Greenhouse Sale

Saturday & Sunday, October 16 & 17 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Orchid species in and out of bloom

Many rare and hard-to-find plants

Cool to intermediate/warm growers

Mature plants, seedlings, established and bare-root divisions

Orchid companion plants

Orchid growing supplies Shelldance Nursery site, Coast Highway, Pacifica - east side of the highway, 3/10 mile north of Reina Del Mar Avenue Take the Highway 1 Pacifica exit from Highway 280 or Highway 35. Follow the long curve down the hill, then make a U-turn at Reina Del Mar Avenue, the first traffic light you come to on Highway 1. Turn right into the driveway marked by an orange sign saying "Orchids", and go up the hill to the unpaved parking lot. My greenhouse is the first one on the right side, just before you get to the parking lot. For more detailed directions, email hgardens@earthlink.net or call 415-305-8355. Come to shop or just to browse - everyone is welcome! Dan Newman