Report From The OCTOBER 2021 Meeting
President Joe Grienauer opened the meeting by welcoming folks who were joining us for the first time. George Grantham gave an update on our recent show and sale at the Volunteer Park Conservatory. Gordon Cromwell updated us about the upcoming NW Flower & Garden Festival and our plans for a garden which will include a real greenhouse. Thuan Nguyen reviewed how the exhibits turned out at the recent Washington State Fair. He handed out ribbons to many participants who won not just ribbons, but cash prizes for their blooming plants. Joe presented the report from the Nominating Committee and member Joff added additional information about the slate of Officers and Directors.
We then had our main presentation by Andy Easton on the topic of Warmth Tolerant Cymbidiums. He showed many small Cymbidiums and included some of the important species like ensifolium, madidum, parishii, aloifolium and so on. He then included a number of the medium growing hybrids. Andy also spoke about the timing of blooming for various seasonal considerations such as Christmas and Mother’s Day.
After his talk, Andy took many questions from the audience. He also generously donated many cymbidium plants to our raffle table which made it quite special.
Andy is also a frequent contributor to the Odontoglossum Alliance. You can read his contributions in their online journal here: Odontoglossum Alliance
Steve Dorsey stepped up as our Orchid Basics speaker. His topic “I’ve got this new plant. Now what do I do?” addressed many of the concerns people have after acquiring plants at our big sale as well as our two recent bountiful raffle tables. He reviewed how to inspect your plant for pests, physical damage and root condition. He also covered repotting with clean techniques and tools, using disinfectant, fungicides and pesticides as appropriate. It was a very practical and thorough guide.
Ben Johnson reviewed the plant table.
To top off the evening, Joff recruited a special presenter to help him with our Raffle. Violet, who is Yoshi Nagamatsu’s daughter, did a wonderful job of picking and calling out the winner’s of our raffle.
