RETURN TO REGULAR MEETINGS DELAYED
Our September 1st monthly meeting at the Venice Community Center has been canceled due to
Covid. We had then planned a Zoom meeting that date but our speaker is no longer available.
We were unable to find a replacement speaker, therefore, there will be no meeting in September.
We have also canceled our September 9th Growers Clinic at the Venice Community Center due
to Covid.

We hope to resume regular meetings at the community center in October but we will take it month
by month as we monitor the Covid risk level in our area. Several of our members have tested
positive and become ill from the highly contagious Covid Delta variant. Our primary concern is
the safety and health of our members.
Please be patience—we will get through this and be back together soon!

Wednesday, August 4th 2020 7:00pm. Zoom opens at 6:30.                       

Presentation – “Genus Dendrobium: A Family Portrait of Dendrobium Species”

Peter Lin started growing orchids over 35 years ago, but then stopped due to school and starting a career.  It wasn’t until about 15 years ago that the orchid “bug” came back and he is now heavily involved once again!  He is an accredited judge with the American Orchid Society, and a hybridizer of mini-catts.  He enjoys meeting with other orchid enthusiasts, and can often be found at various orchid shows and societies around the country.

Due to limited growing space, Peter likes to specialize in miniature orchids, both species and hybrids, and has received numerous AOS awards.  His interests in orchids include Dendrobiums, Angraecoids, and Neofinetias.  He is also known as “Mr Sophronitis” as he has a passion for growing and collecting them.  He maintains a collection of a thousand or more orchids at his home in Southern California in 3 small greenhouses, outdoors, as well as an offsite greenhouse.

Wednesday July 7th 2021 – 7:00pm. Zoom opens at 6:30. 

Presentation

“Famous Lavender Cattleya orchids”

Jeff Bradley has been an avid grower of classic Cattleyas and to some degree, historic Phalaenopsis, since the age of eight, when his father built his first greenhouse. Jeff had the most unusual childhood, as his godparents, the late Mr. and Mrs. Alfred J. Proebstle of Brazoria, Texas, took him under their wing at a very early age, and introduced him to many of the great orchid legends of the past. Mr. Proebstle was a founder of the Houston Orchid Society and an early trustee of the AOS with one of the premier Cattleya collections in the country.

Jeff traveled across the United States and abroad with the Proebstles absorbing as much of the historical facts on famous orchid plants and their growers. His passion for orchid history has never waned, rather it has intensified through the years and he has remained in close contact with the descendants of the great orchid legands.

Jeff’s Cattleya collection is nothing short of historic. He maintains three greenhouses of over 3000 classic Cattleyas and some Phalaenopsis, all of which have been significant to the historical aspects of orchid growing in both the United States and Europe. He maintains one of the most extensive collection of historical photographs, catalogue and correspondence on the celebrated orchid growers of the past.