The Atlanta Orchid Society Bulletin The Atlanta Orchid Society is affiliated with the American Orchid society, The Orchid Digest Corporation and the Mid-America Orchid Congress. Newsletter Editor: Margie Kersey February 2008 www.AtlantaOrchidSociety.org Volume 49: Number 2 FEBRUARY MEETING Harry Russell Vernon, best known as Russ, operates a state-of-the-art greenhouse range located off Ind. 32 The Monthly Meeting: west of Yorktown, Indiana. His favorite orchids (if Topic: How NOT to Grow Phals any can be claimed over the others) are Phalaenopsis. Speaker: Russ Vernon New Vision Orchids Russ was born in Cleveland, Ohio. He had an early 8:00 pm Monday, February 11 interest in plants, starting at age 5 growing cacti and Atlanta Botanical Garden, Day Hall was introduced to orchids by his uncle at age 12. Soon after, he became a member of the American Orchid Society and has been a member for over 40 years. He started growing orchids in a south window and under lights and built his first greenhouse when he was 18. Russ is a graduate of Ohio State University, with a degree in horticulture and served in the Army and Army Reserve for 8 years, leaving service as a Captain. He has worked for Hausermann's Orchids, the Wheeler Orchid Collection and Species Bank at Ball State University, A&P Orchids and Jim Davis, the creator of Garfield the Cat. Russ is an accredited judge in the American Orchid Society, and is the First Vice-president of the International Phalaenopsis Alli- ance and the Mid America Orchid Congress. Three years ago, he and his wife Anita started New Vision Orchids. They have two daughters Zina and Lizan. Not Again!! Alright, this is the LAST time we are going to talk about tessellation. Again it was wrong. Here is the Inside This Issue correct spelling. Seriously... Page Tessellation (tess-sel-LAY-shun) -- The checkered 2…… AtlOS Officers patterns found on some orchid flowers as in Minutes of the January AtlOS Meeting This lovely Vanda from 3 ...… Member Spotlight - Maureen Pulignano RF Orchids in Homestead, 4 ...... Events Out and About Florida Article - History of Orchids, Part 2 5-10 . Table Awards 12 .... The Gallery 13 .... Recent AOS awards All material in the Atlanta Orchid Society Bulletin is copyrighted. The articles and photographs are the property of the authors or the Atlanta V. Sansai Blue 'Acker's Pride' FCC/AOS Orchid Society. Nothing contained herein may be reproduced without (V. Crimson Glory X V. coerulea) permission of the owners. February 2008 1 THE ATLANTA ORCHID Atlanta Orchid Society Meeting Minutes SOCIETY January 14th, 2008 Officers President -Jeff Whitfield The Atlanta Orchid Society Meeting was brought to order by President Jeff 770-634-6153 Whitfield. Visitors were welcomed and introduced. The minutes from the last [email protected] meeting were approved as printed in the newsletter. Vice-President/Programs - Danny Lentz(2007) Day passes to the upcoming World Orchid Congress in Miami are still avail- 770-640-0112 [email protected] able. Contact Jeff Whitfield if you are interested. Secretary–Carl Quattlebaum 404-622-4376 2008 memberships are now due. Cost is $30 for an individual and $45 for a [email protected] family. Treasurer –Reba Herzfeld 4798 Summerset Lane Quarterly ribbon judging winners for 2007 were announced. They were David Dunwoody, GA 30338 Kessler, David Mellard, Cora Ramborger, and Mark Reinke. 770-394-3731 [email protected] A representative from the Southeastern Flower Show spoke and encouraged Immediate Past President - members to register orchids for the flower show. Roy Harrow is the society’s Mark Reinke 864-718-0152 contact person. [email protected] Directors (year term expires) Geni Smith was recognized for the recent HCC award that one of her orchids Barbara Dampog(2008) received. 770-923-5495 [email protected] Members were reminded that American Orchid Society judging occurs the sec- Don Reinhard(2008) ond Saturday of each month. 770-893-1323 [email protected] The treasurer’s report said that the current balance is $9788.13. Bob Grzesik(2009) 404-873-0699 [email protected] The speaker was last year’s president, Mark Reinke. Mark gave an informative Jeffrey Wolf(2009) talk on the history of miniature cattleyas. [email protected] Terry Glover (2010) Our thanks to the orchid judges: David Mellard, James Van Horne, David Kes- 404-248-3951 sler, and Jeffrey Wolf. [email protected] Roy Harrow(2010) 770-434-8059 Our thanks to those who donated plants to the raffle table: Reba Herzfeld, and [email protected] others. Other Volunteers Greengrowers Our thanks to those who donated refreshments: Helen Weil, Lynne Gollob, Danny Lentz Heidi Landau, Gary Collier, and others. Webmaster John O’Connell The meeting was adjourned. [email protected] Librarian –Jeffrey Wolf Respectfully submitted, Show Chair –E-van Dessesau Carl Quattlebaum [email protected] Hospitality – MAOC Rep –Doug Hartong Join the Atlanta Orchid Society [email protected] AOS Rep –Evan Dessasau Membership in the Atlanta Orchid Society is $30 for individuals or $45 for households. Society Auction Chair / Orchid Di- Yearly membership runs January 1-December 31. Anyone joining in the third quarter will gest Rep–Fred Missbach get a 50% discount on the current year’s membership. Anyone joining in the fourth quarter [email protected] will purchase a membership for the following year. You can join at one of our monthly Newsletter–Margie Kersey meetings, or contact the society’s Treasurer (see page 2) for a membership application. [email protected] For directions to the Atlanta Botanical Garden, please visit their web site at www.atlantabotanicalgarden.org or contact one of our society’s officers listed on page 2. February 2008 2 Member Spotlight Maureen Pulignano I grew up in Southern California, where my mother nurtured a few orchids along with the ferns and other tropicals she treasured. My love of all plants and flowers came from her, as well as a bit of a green thumb. Transplanted to South Florida in 1975, I bought my first few orchids from a small garden shop - a shop with a large, hand-lettered There are also some great rewards like blooming my first sign saying, "Lawn Mowers Sharpened" - on Masdevalia and Dracula and Stanhopea and Miltonia and. South Dixie Highway. oh, there are many, many more I have yet to try! One of the plants I bought that day more than My increasingly diverse collection and the advent of digi- thirty years ago lives and is blooming today in my tal cameras led me back to another long-time fascination - greenhouse. I certainly cannot take credit for that; photography. I believe there is nothing quite like the way although, the "Dendrobium that could" is clearly light plays with an orchid and, other than family, orchids responsible for sparking my never-ending fascina- have clearly become my favorite photo subjects. One ge- tion with all orchids. nus that has long attracted my growers eye and my lens is In hindsight, growing appropriate genera in South Galeandra. I have just learned that the print of my Galean- Florida seemed to be more a matter of getting out dra batemanii was awarded a second place ribbon at the of the way than meticulous cultivation and this World Orchid Conference! Until last year I worked only suited me well since, by nature, I am more intui- with my own collection. Now I am a photographer for tive than scientific. For more than twenty years theAOS awards at the Atlanta Judging Center and my portfo- fairly small collection did well under the trees, ei- lio has expanded with a wonderful variety of beautifully ther in hanging pots or tied directly to the limbs. presented flowers. When I retired in the late '90s we built the slat house of my dreams. It took very little time for me to fill the structure and get more disciplined in my care for an increasingly diversified collection that approached 1,000 plants. Just as quickly as the slat house filled, I learned that far more issues arise in crowds! Yet, the ongoing battles I waged in Florida against thrips, snails and giant grasshoppers pale in com- parison to the learning curve that awaited me in 2005 when I arrived in Atlanta. Greenhouse con- struction, heating and cooling, ventilation, irriga- tion, misting, fogging all became part of my required reading list. Thanks to the advice and di- rection I have received from the Atlanta Orchid Society and many individual members, I am get- Galeandra batemanii January 22, 2008 ting more comfortable with the controlled environ- 2nd Place Ribbon - Photography Competition, ment, but there is still much more for me to learn. 19th World Orchid Conference - Miami, Florida February 2008 3 Remarks on the Natural History of Orchids Welcome Our Part 2 of many Billy Frye Newest Members Leticia Quintana Editor’s note: The first installment appeared in the 3375 Spring Hill Parkway, December 2007 newsletter. Apt. 1017 Smyrna, Ga. 30080 I’ll turn next to another obvious but basic question: day 678 844-5402 “What is an orchid?” Some understanding of this is evn 678 313-7257 necessary in order to make any sense of the other ques- tions that I will discuss. I’ll begin this with a bit of his- email: [email protected] torical and botanical context. William T. [Bill] Applegate Not very long ago, orchids were so uncommon that 44 Peachtree Place, NE, Apt. 1931 most of us would not have recognized more than one Atlanta, GA 30309 or two varieties of orchids with any certainty. Much 212-760-2555 less could we have answered the question in a way that would enable anyone to distinguish an orchid from email: [email protected] other kinds of flowering plants.