Click to join from your computer, tablet SOUTHERN or smartphone: https://www.gotomeet.me/CathyDunn/ ONTARIO 2021-06 or Dial in using your phone: Canada: +1 ORCHID (647) 497-9373 Access Code: 226-011-165 SOCIETY NEWS June 2021, Volume 56, Issue 6 New to GoToMeeting? Get the app now and be Meeting since 1965 ready when your first meeting starts: https://global.gotomeeting.com/install/226011165 June 6Virtual Meeting: Please note that because this meeting is being produced via an internet program the participation capacity is limited to SOOS members only. Be sure to check that you have renewed your membership for Spencer Hauck, Sandhill Botanicals 2020. 2020 Memberships have been extended to the end of 2021. What’s bugging your Orchids? Virtual Show Table Our members are growing and th blooming amazing orchids and you are not shy about sharing Sunday, June 6 , 2021, 1:00 photographs of them. Our virtual show table has doubled in size in less than six months. We often receive over 100 PM (EDT) entries from over 25 different members!! Since we need time to organize the photos and to have them Followed by the judged, photos need to be received by the Wednesday before the Sunday meeting. SOOS Virtual Show Table Submitting photographs to SOOS constitutes permission for Entry Rules: SOOS to publish those images. No remuneration is offered or 1. Take photos between Sun. May 23rd implied. nd and Wed. June 2 . Send your best photos. Points will be given in the usual manner towards the ‘Orchid Grower of the Year’ program for 2. Email photos to [email protected] by participation and winning. Flowers will be judged and nd midnight of the 2 . awarded 1st, 2nd and 3rd in each category and the ‘Plant of the Month’. Winners will be posted on the SOOS website and the 3. Send one line about what you love SOOS You-Tube Channel. about your plant. Elements of a Good Orchid Photograph: 4. Include the name of your orchid. Clean the leaves and remove debris. 5. Limit of 10 slides per member; Stake the flower and remove clips. displays allowed. Use a backdrop that is bigger than your plant. Pick a backdrop whose color is in contrast with the flower. Usually black is best. Declutter the background. Take the photo in bright, indirect natural sunlight. Our February Show could be a reality in 2022. A lot still needs No flashing! to happen, but our normal timeline means that we need to Clean the camera lens for crisp resolution. start planning by late summer. A successful show requires a Get close to the flower. Don’t zoom in. They won’t lot of volunteers, so start thinking about how you can help, bite. and perhaps join the Show Committee chaired by Cathy Use a tripod and a remote. (Now available for a cell Dunn. phone for under $30 CAD). Ontario is experiencing its 3rd and worst COVID wave and we Use the highest resolution possible. are locked down again until June 2. These lockdowns have Check that your photo is in focus. been difficult for many smaller businesses, including your Don’t forget that you can post your photos on the SOOS local orchid vendors. We hope that you can continue to Facebook Group Page anytime of the month! support them during these challenging times. Participation at our virtualized meetings has been strong, and President’s Remarks Welcome Orchid Enthusiasts our virtual Show Table has been extraordinarily successful The warmer weather has finally arrived (mid- May) after a with over 80 entries once again in May. Please continue to long and drawn-out winter where our daily activities participate with your beautiful photo submissions. Please continued to be dramatically altered by the global COVID-19 send your photos to [email protected] during the May 23 – pandemic. It feels good to be outside again, rejoicing in the June 2’nd submission window fresh air and the warming sun upon our faces. We will continue to host virtual monthly meetings until At our last virtual meeting, a member asked when I bring my further notice, and our Program Director, Terry Kennedy has plants outside for the summer, and my response was “when lined up a fantastic roster of speakers including.. the forecasted night time temperatures were at least 7-8C.“ Those conditions have now been met, so my plants are going June 6, Spencer Hauck, Kitchener, Ontario will present on out to enjoy the fresh air, higher humidity and spring rains. In Pests and Diseases, with tips and advice on how to rid your the fall I often leave my plants (mainly Cattleyas, and a few plants of the “nasties”. Phals) out until the temperatures get as low as 4C (sometimes Aug.1, Virtual Orchid Summerfest lower by accident), with no observable detrimental impact as they have acclimatized to the cooler temperatures over the Jim Heilig, California - "Habenaria Taxonomy, late summer. Culture, and Breeding” Remember, if you summer your orchids outdoors, as part of Jim began his American Orchid Society (AOS) judging our Summer Orchidfest program we would like you to send in career at the Great Lakes Judging Center in Ann Arbor, MI and is now a judge at the Pacific Central photos of your Orchid Summer Home, before and after your Judging Center in California. He is also currently plants have taken up residence. This will allow other serving as the Treasurer of the AOS. members to compare, and perhaps come up with new ideas for their plants. Please submit your “before and after” photos 2’nd speaker, to be determined to [email protected] Terry Kennedy, our Program Director has lined up other One year ago, I wrote “some members may not feel exciting speakers for the Fall, so stay tuned. comfortable congregating in groups and may not attend our Many of you have joined and participated with others on the meetings until there is a vaccine or an efficient treatment SOOS Facebook Group page available.” A lot has transpired since then. We have been https://www.facebook.com/groups/SOOSOrchid/. Please successfully running virtual” video meetings, and COVID continue to post photos of your flowers and plants there, and vaccines are now rolling out with increasing speed and will feel free to comment, share your knowledge or ask questions. supposedly be available in Ontario to anyone 12 and older by May31. Hopefully by years end, anyone who wants to be fully Stay safe and healthy, and I hope to see you and your orchids vaccinated with their second shot, will have the opportunity. at our upcoming virtual monthly meeting. Perhaps we will be back to in-person meetings at the Toronto Botanical Garden. John Vermeer Conservation Corner May 2021 Contributed by John Alexander. Submitted for May 15 – June Newsletter It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Spring ephemerals, bird migration and the promise of orchids to come. Usually by mid-May we will start to see some of early blooming native orchids showing their colours. Two of the earliest to bloom are the Moccasin Flower (Cyp. acaule) and the Showy Orchid or Showy Orchis (Galearis spectabilis – which sounds like a magic spell from Harry Potter to me). If you find yourself hiking in a pine forest that is slightly damp, look for the Moccasin Flower. Or if you are in a mature hardwood forest, keep your eyes open for the much smaller Showy Orchid amongst the trilliums, hepatica and ferns. One of the He fertilizes once or twice a month with a phytoplankton recommendations for Covid is to spend time in nature. derived complete fertilizer produced by the BC company called MARPHYLL. A fan is blowing on the pot. The It is a well-known fact that this improves your state of plant sits on an east facing window in a condo with mind and general well being. When you do get out, stay Sunblaster LED’s over the plant on for 8=10 hours. He on the path, brush the soles of your boots before you keeps the temperature at 16-18C at night and 23-25 go, and after your hike to avoid spreading any invasive during the day, maybe a bit cooler at night in the winter. plants like garlic mustard and dog strangling vine. Leave our orchids and all our native plants where they grow Very impressive, Andrew! for others to enjoy. If you find yourself Toronto bound because of stay-at- home restrictions, there are many great ravines in the About SOOS Web site: www.soos.ca ; SOOS city to explore. You may not find orchids, but there is a Facebook group: bounty of spring beauty just waiting for you to see. O.K. https://www.facebook.com/groups/298874747302722/ – now sing it with me – It’s the most wonderful time …… Member of the Canadian Orchid Congress; Affiliated with the (And don’t forget to bring the bug spray.) American Orchid Society, the Orchid Digest and the International Phalaenopsis Alliance. Membership: Annual Dues $30 per calendar year (January 1 to December 31 ). Surcharge $15 for newsletter by postal service Membership secretary: Liz Mc Alpine, renew or join on line at soos.ca/members. 2020 Memberships have been extended to the end of 2021. 2021 new memberships will renew free of charge for 2022.. Executive: President John Vermeer, Vice-President ? Treasurer, Cathy Dunn, Secretary, Sue Loftus; Past President Laura Liebgott, Other Positions of Responsibility: Program, Terry Kennedy; Plant Doctor, Inge Poot; Meeting Set up, Yvonne Schreiber; Vendor and Sales table coordinator, Lynda Satchwell; Plant of the Month:.