South Florida Orchid Society

Omar Gonzalez

A chemist by trade and botanist at heart. I have found orchid growing a rewarding and enjoyable hobby. Work skills are used and are enjoyable for change. Solving problems is another aspect I enjoy.

I had moved back to Miami from Iowa in 2011 when I met a man that gave me some orchids: Spathoglottis, Vanilla, and Sobralia. It took a while for me to give up on a vegetable garden. Eventually I attended an orchid show before my first trip to Hawaii. I visited Akatsuka, Carmela, and became even more obsessed in Orchids. Upon my return, I started growing seedlings under lights, after a year it was obvious that I needed a big yard. An opportunity to volunteer at the Bonnet House gave me lots of hands on experience in managing a Vandaceaous collection. From then on, I would learn from anyone that would talk to me, seeking out knowledgeable growers, attending society meetings throughout Florida. I would attend every orchid show from Miami to Fort Pierce. Especially if they had lectures. Eventually some growers took a liking to me and they were a pleasure to get to know. All their wisdom was used to make my collection grow and I figure out how to make them thrive through trial and error. In that time I cannot tell you of how many plants were lost due to being a stranger in my own back yard. I have gone on to do orchid seed culture, hybrids, as well as caring for collections in private homes or businesses. I enjoy growing a myriad of genera, thanks to Springwater Orchids, Redhawk Orchids, Bill Thoms, Andy’s Orchids, Tamiami Festival, Redland Festival, you get the picture. My hands on experience is extensive with Cattleya, and Vandaceous. I also take care of private collections.

Come hear me share the monsters divided, finding the best conditions for orchids, the pests and diseases and many other topics if time allows.

Lessons Learned: Wisdom from Growers and Orchid Growing. The hands on approach to orchid growing. Many failures and long awaited bloom teach more than we knew beforehand. I will share a presentation that will give some practical orchid care guidance.

Omar will kindly be providing plants for our raffle table and will also have plants to sell.

Holiday Party Notes…members are encouraged to bring only non-perishable food to give to those less fortunate families for the holidays. We are not collecting toys this year.
We will have a box at this months meeting for non perishable food items which will save members from having to remember to bring them to the Holiday Party.
REMEMBER: You can use your credit card to pay for your dinner at the next meeting, but ALL attendees must be prepaid prior to the Holiday Party.

MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS & NEW MEMBERS

The Membership Renewal notices are scheduled to be mailed on December 2, 2019. This will give you the month of December to write your check and mail it. Or you could simply bring your check to the November Meeting (11/20) or the Holiday Party (12/18). I will be happy to give you a receipt on the spot. I will have New Membership Cards ready for you to pick-up at the February 19, 2020 Meeting – that is our Annual Auction Night.

We will be most happy to welcome 8 New Members at the November 20th Meeting. Please come out and help us make these new members feel welcome.

Melida Demorizi

Our speaker for the month of July is my friend Melida Demorizi.

She is going to talk to us about how she grows her vandas outdoors in Dade County.
Melida is very involved with the Orchid Society of Coral Gables, and the Pan American Orchid Society. You will find her helping customers when R F Orchids has one of their sales events.
You will also find her in Norman’s Orchids booth at both the Tamiami and Redland Orchid Festivals.
She conducts beginners, intermediate and advanced orchid culture clases at Fairchild Gardens’ Orchid Festival in March.
If you do facebook you have seen her postings of her awarded plants. And her many, many blooming vandas. She runs the fb group ‘I Love My Outdoor Orchids’.

This is your opportunity to learn from a successful orchid grower.
Come this July 17th to our society’s meeting.

Orchids for the raffle table will be provided by OFE Orchid Supplies.

Sheldon Takasaki: Easy Growing Orchids

(& Other Stuff You Want to Know!)

Sheldon Takasaki

We at the South Florida Orchid Society are very pleased to have Sheldon Takasaki from Carmela Orchids in Hawaii as our Speaker for May 15th. Here are a few things you might not know about Sheldon – He graduated from the University of Hawaii with a BS in Horticulture. Carmela Orchids was Incorporated in 1960. He started working at Carmela Orchids in 1970. It was not as big back then only a few employees – now they have around 14 workers. Sheldon was a trustee for the American Orchid Society, and is a life member of the Hilo Orchid Society, the Honolulu Orchid Society and the AOS. Sheldon is very much a family man – he and his wife Pearl have 3 wonderful children – 2 girls (who are both married) and 1 son; they also have two very beautiful grand-daughters Madison who is two and lives on Big Island with her parents and Avery who is one and lives on Oahu with her parents. If you know how much the orchids mean to Sheldon then I’m sure that you also know how much Las Vegas means to him. Just a little side note he likes all kinds of sports too – I don’t know much about the ones we all watch together at my house when he is in town – but I know he loves them. I know that he also loves Ice Cream.

Sheldon’s topic is Easy Growing Orchids and Other Stuff You Want to Know.

As most of you know I have known Sheldon and his family for some time – and I’m delighted that he agreed to take time from the set-up at Fruit and Spicy Park to speak to us.

Please join us for an evening of FUN!

Carmela Orchids is providing the Raffle Table too!

Sally Taylor