Bob's Bio:

Born in Berkeley, CA in 1946, one of four children of Berkeley-born parents. My education was at Berkeley schools. My career began as a scientific glassblower for UC Berkeley's the Department of Electrical Engineer & Computer Sciences, (EECS) fabricating experimental electron tubes and lasers. As research funding waned I was tasked with designing the facilities and managing the equipment for EECS' Microfabrication Facility, a shared semiconductor research used by about 400 researchers. I retired from UC after 50 years as Principal Development Engineer for the Marvell Nanofabrication Laboratory, the successor to the Microlab. Alumni from these labs are responsible for the donation of two new UC Berkeley Buildings.

In 1975 I met my partner John Leathers. Our first house came with a solarium and we began growing exotic plants and orchids. We have passionately pursued orchid raising for more than four decades. We grow in our home glass greenhouse and a rented greenhouse in Pacifica California. We hybridize plants and do our own lab work. John's specialties are Pleurothallids and mine Odontoglossum, both cool growing Andean orchids. John received the American Orchid Society's Hybridizer Award and I the President's Award for my contributions to manipulating the chromosome numbers of orchids.

Together we operate Hawk Hill Orchids, a non commercial effort at hybridizing as well as preserving high-elevation Andean orchids.

The Victorian Orchid Craze

At the end of the 19th Century through World War I orchid growing became a passion of the rich and famous. England was the epicenter of the craze. Given the volume of orchid imports the early hybrids contained genomes of some of the finest plants ever collected from nature. The switch from absolute faith based knowledge to science and exploration produced a frenzy, often competitive in the discoveries of nature. This talk is a 50/50 talk. The last part is about what John Leathers and I do and have been doing for almost 50 years. I'll try and obey the 11th Commandment, "Thou Shalt Not Bore".

Dinner with the Speaker

Members of DVOS are invited to a no-host, pre-meeting dinner with our guest speaker, Bob Hamilton. We will meet for dinner at 5 PM on Thursday, July 11th at:

Aung Burma

2151 Salvio St Suite E

Concord, CA 94520

This restaurant is a 5-minute drive from the meeting venue. If you wish to attend, please RSVP to bonddiane9@gmail.com by 5PM Wednesday, July 10th so that I can make reservations.

Greetings Orchid Friends!

My letter this month is being written at a yoga retreat in the mountains outside of Helena, MT, where the temperatures are between 50o – 80oF and we’re surrounded by greenery. It seems like we picked a good week to get away from the Bay Area, where Heat Advisories and Excessive Heat Warnings have been issued for much of the coming week. Luckily, our son has recently returned from college and has been thoroughly trained (I hope!) in how to care for my orchids, both indoors and out. I hope your plants survive the forecast heat! For those of you who live in the inland, hotter portions of our Society’s “reach”, what do you do to cope with heat waves? Do you put up additional shade cloth? …install coolers in your greenhouses or misters for your open-air plants? I encourage people to share their tips and experiences at our next monthly meeting.

Here in Montana, the wildflowers are out in force, and I’ve seen one orchid – the Spotted coral-root (Corallorhiza maculata), a terrestrial orchid that lacks chlorophyll and survives by forming a mycorrhizal association with Russula species fungi, which, in turn form mycorrhizal associations with various trees. This arrangement is known as obligate mycoheterotrophy. The orchid is completely reliant on the trees for its sugars and other nutrients, and is completely reliant on underground hyphae of the fungus to transport those sugars to the orchid. It’s not clear what, if anything, the fungi and trees get in return from the orchid. The orchid seems to be pretty much a freeloader (i.e., a parasite). Nice lifestyle if you can get it!

Diane has lined up what sounds like a very interesting talk for our July meeting. It’s on a topic that I wanted to have covered when I was arranging speakers as Vice President but never managed to schedule. Unfortunately, I’ll miss the July meeting and the talk.

Hope all of you and your orchids are doing well. See you in August.

Henry

Come to Sacramento August 3 for a day of wonderful speakers, vendors, AOS judging, and auction. Nancy McClellan will have advanced sale tickets available for $10 at the DVOS July 11 meeting. Don't miss out!

Some of the plants from 2023 auction

We have found the catalog to be a very useful tool to attract folks to our auction. So send information for the catalog! Your plant doesn’t have to be fancy dancy to be in the catalog. See list of information that would be helpful below. It is OK if you don’t have ALL of this information. Just send what you have. You can provide this information (along with images) in an email to Diane (bonddiane9@gmail.com)

• Photo and description of size (inches wide and inches tall) of the plant
• Name (please include the entire name as you know it)
• Any cultural background that you have or can find
• How have you have been growing it?
• Last time it bloomed, was divided, was repotted
• Has it been tested for Virus? If so- what is it’s status? (you do NOT have to virus test)
• Reserve price (if applicable)
• Donor’s name

As a taste for all - including non-members, the first module presented on How to Repot, Divide, and Mount Orchids will be shown on Tuesday, July 16. There will be a live Q&A session following this broadcast. This should make for a vibrant introduction into series. Registration for this webinar should be up on the website in the next week or two: Webinars - American Orchid Society (aos.org). Then, for members only, all other modules will be made available via the AOS website.

Bulbophyllum bolsteri

Grower David Trebotich

Our Lancer Smith award winner this month is a species native to the Philippines. It flowers frequently through out the year. David is growing it mounted. It appreciates humidity above 75% and bright indirect light but is tolerant of lower light.

First Place

Dendrobium senile

Grower Claire Conger

Claire brings in a beautiful specimen of Dendrobium senile. It is native to Laos, Burma and Thailand at elevations from 1650 - 3950 ft. It's common name is the White Haired Dendrobium due to the leaves and pseudobulbs being covered with soft white hairs. Dendrobium senile is tolerant of a wide range of temperature (cool to warm) and will grow in dapples to bright indirect light. They like to be watered heavily while actively growing but taper off water after new growth matures in the fall.

Third Place

Phalaenopsis Pylo's Sofia 'Peter's Pride' HCC/AOS

Grower Ulrike Ahlborn

Ulrike brings in a complex hybrid Phalaenopsis that was registered by Big Leaf Orchids in 2016. It has nine species in its background. The largest contributions are from Phalaenopsis leuddemanniana, amboinensis and rimestadiana. It prefers warm to hot temperatures and low light. Mature plants can be allowed to dry a bit between watering. This makes it a good choice for a house plant.

First Place

Cattleya warscewiczii h.f. semi alba 'Bedford x self

Grower Renata Johnson

Renate brings in a beautiful species native to Northern Colombia. They are usually found at elevations of 1650- 4900 ft in fairly dense forests growing high in trees (in very high light). Renate's plant is the semi alba form which means that the sepals and petals lack color but the lip is still colored. Cattleya warscewiczii likes to grow in warm to hot conditions in bright indirect light. Water heavily when plant is actively growing them allow medium to dry slightly in late autumn and winter. Cattleya warscewiczii blooms in the summer.

Second Place

Vanda Princess Mikasa

Grower Linda Castleton

Linda brings in a beautiful Vanda. Vanda Princess Mikasa is a hybrid with 57% of its species makeup being Vanda coerulea. Because of the influence of Vanda coerulea, Princess Mikasa can grow in temperatures from cool to warm. It grows well in bright indirect light and wants to be heavily watered.

Second Place

Schoenorchis fragrans

Grower Kaitlyn Strom

Kaitlyn brings in a miniature species that is native to India, Burma and Thailand. They prefer cool to warm temperatures. Grow in shaded conditions. Water heavily while actively growing then less water in the winter. You can expect Schoenorchis fragrans to bloom in late spring/early summer.

Third Place

Vanda falcata 'Honggang'

Grower Kaitlyn Strom

Kaitlyn brings another species for third place winner. Vanda falcata (formerly know as Neofenetia falcata) is native to Northeast Asia. It prefers dappled to bright indirect light and cool to warm temperatures. You should provide plenty of water while the plant is actively growing, never allowing it to dry out completely.

First Place

Guaricyclia Carol Wood's Suncoast 'Paradise'

Grower George Su

George brought in this hybrid (Guaricyclia Pixy Pokai x Encyclia cordigera). It prefers dappled to bright indirect light and warm to hot growing temperatures. You should water this plant regularly but it MST dry out between waterings.

Second Place

Tetramicra canaliculata

Grower George Su

George brings in this beautiful species that is native to the island of Hispanola. They have been reported in literature to be found in a range from Florida and the Bahamas to Puerto Rico, The Virgin Islands and the Leeward Islands. This species prefers dappled to bright indirect light and warm to hot growing temperatures. You should water this plant regularly but allow roots to dry out quickly. Water can be reduced in autumn through winter.

The AOS is implementing a new program in September (details in September edition of Orchids magazine). They are looking for youths ages 15 - 25 that love orchids but may not have the financial means to join the AOS. If you or anyone you know meet this criteria, please contact Diane (bonddiane9@gmail.com). We will get your information to the AOS.

In the past couple of years we have tried to order bulk amounts of Orchiata. We now have a local source of this bark. You can see their information below. This is very high quality bark. If you need some, now would be a good time to get it.