Jim & Melana Davison
Jim and Melana Davison are AOS Accredited Judges. They have an extensive and diverse orchid collection that seems to be continuously growing. Not only involved in caring for their orchids, they are actively involved in several South Florida orchid societies. Melana is the current President of the Orchid Society of Coral Gables and past President of the South Dade Amateur Orchid Club. Jim is the past President of the Orchid Society of Coral Gables and the East Everglades Orchid Society.
Jim’s appreciation for orchids stems from his scientific background. Before his recent retirement, he worked as a Nuclear Chemistry Manager at the Turkey Point Nuclear Power Plant. Melana is more interested in the aesthetic qualities of orchids, especially the ones that look strange and other worldly. She owns her own Orchid Maintenance business and is known as “The Orchidiva.” They have opened their own retail nursery, Jim-N-I Orchids. Together, Jim and Melana have 7 grown children and five grandchildren. They live in Homestead with their 2 dogs, four of the five grandchildren and 5,000 plus orchids in their own collection, many more in the nursery.
They will be instructing on the many ways to mount orchids. Mounting orchids is a very natural way to grow epiphytic orchids. Not only does this presentation look nice, many plants appreciate it: their roots will get plenty of air, and for orchid types that care about drying quickly, this need can be easily accommodated too. Jim will be instructing us on various methods, differing types of mounts, and what is considered a ‘mounted’ orchid. He will also be bringing supplies that can be used for orchids.
Jim and Melana will also be providing plants for our raffle table.