May 2012
 Hope you all had the opportunity to make it to our show and, if you were not there, you missed a great time. The fundraiser on Friday night for the Dana Adobe was well attended (almost sold out) and, except for the rainy Saturday afternoon, the attendance was good during the two show days. There are always a few glitches when you have an event like this but the show committee members worked them out quickly and kept everything moving along smoothly. I thank the members of that committee for the many hours they donated to making this show the best one yet. I am also thankful for the folks that stepped up and helped from Thursday’s setup through Sunday’s take down. The Five Cities and Santa Maria Orchid Societies combined their display into a single large display that this year won the AOS trophy. The orchids in the display won a number of awards including the following perpetual trophies, Grand Champion (Best Orchid in the Show), Rebecca Northern (Most Unusual Species), Robert L. Asbell (Most Outstanding Cymbidium), Paul Jenzen (Best First Bloomed Seedling of any Genera), and Paul Delegram (Most Unusual Pleurothallid Alliance). We also had three Best of Division orchids in the display (Phragmipedium, Pleurothallids, and other genera). There were also a large number of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place ribbons won by orchids in the displays. I do not think we have ever won so many awards and trophies at a show in the past. So keep on learning how to grow your orchids better each year by attending our meetings, talking to other members, and listening to and learning from the speakers. Maybe next year you will win an award.
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May 2012
 FCOS was honored to be able to have Paul Gripp speak to us at our April meeting. Paul was instrumental in making the Santa Barbara Orchid Estate (SBOE) into the first class company it is today. Paul spoke to us about the genus Sarcochilus which has about 25 species with 17 of them living on the eastern side of Australia. They are a hardy Phalaenopsis relative. He mentioned that most of the hybrids are from four species: S. flacatus, S. hartmannii, S. fitzgeraldii, and S. ceciliae. Instead of showing slides, Paul brought along a large number the actual plants with him (both species and hybrids), with all of them being in bloom. Within some of the species, he discussed the different varieties of an individual species that have been found in different habitats in Australia. He stated that at SBOE they grow their S. hartmannii using crushed granite as the media and,when the plants begins to outgrow the pot, they just put a original pot and roots into a larger pot with no need to transplant and disturb the roots. S. ceciliae is a sequential bloomer and needs dryer conditions than the other species. Most of the species and hybrids have some variation in the size and color of the blooms. He said that at SBOE, when they pull plants out of the flask, they put all the plants and agar into a pot with media and do not separate the small orchids. After they have grown together for about 6-12 months, then they separate them and put them into individual pots.
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May 2012
 We'll be doing something a little different this month. We all never seem to have enough time to get all our repotting done, so we are going to dedicate the meeting to just that. We will set up several tables with seats around them instead of the usual seating setup, so we all have a place to work. The Society will provide bark, perlite, coconut husk and a few pots. You should bring any special mix or pots you wish to use, and stuff like clippers, gloves, ties, stakes, etc. We'll spread newspaper on the tables but it's also nice sometimes to have a plastic dishpan to work over. If you don't bring anything with you, don't worry, we should have an ample supply of all the sundries. But do bring your plant(s) with you, and if you anticipate using more than a gallon or so of mix, you should bring extra. The idea is also that those more experienced can help those that are not quite sure how to proceed. We'll also have a roving brand of experts to assist you all. The plant table will consist of plants from a variety of sources. The common thread is virtually all of them need repotting or dividing. We will have our plant table drawing BEFORE the clinic, so we can get those little rascals safely settled in their new homes.
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May 2012
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