South Florida Orchid Society

SFOS July 2013 Membership Meeting

Wednesday, July 17, 2013
The Hampton Inn Miami Airport West
3620 N.W. 79th Ave.
Doral, FL  33166
8:00 PM Program beings

The July meeting will be presented by long time supporter of SFOS, Mirta Russis Heineman.  Mirta will present a program titled “A Peak into the World of Epidendrums”.  The program will focus on the most common Epidendrums we can grow here in South Florida.

Mirta was born in Cuba and came with her family to the States in 1961.  She did not speak English and therefore could not go back to college until she had tackled that rich and tricky language.  After her children had finished High School she went back, graduated, and became a teacher.

Mirta bought her first orchid from the tailgate of a truck that was selling tempting specimens after one of the Miami Shows closed.  This was some 20 years ago.  Ask her about The First Time?  She’ll tell you with a smile, “Phalaenosis”.  After that she bought many orchids – but with very little luck in keeping them healthy until she started taking classes to learn how to take care of the little darlings.

After she retired she devoted more time to her new challenge.  She joined six different orchid societies and attended just about every class that she heard about – all to learn more about orchids.  She has traveled many times to many cities and countries to attend shows, conferences, and classes – and to rescue orchids.

She has been president, a vice president, and has occupied almost every board position in many orchid societies where she is a member.  For the last two years she was the President of COS.  This enthusiasm for orchids has taken her to many of our local societies to make presentations and attend shows.  She has also taught at AOS.  We hope you will join us for this wonderful program.  Guests are always welcome!!

SFOS May 2013 Membership Meeting

Wednesday, May 15, 2013
The Hampton Inn Miami Airport West
3620 N.W. 79th Ave.
Doral, FL  33166
8:00 PM Program beings

Our May program will be presented by Dr. Brian Monk. The title of Brian’s program is “Tolumnias: We Were All Weeds Once“.

Brian Monk was born in Milton, Florida in 1969. Shortly after his birth, Brian’s family moved to Charleston, West Virginia where he spent the next 18 years. As a young man, Brian’s intense passion for nature led to his profession and his many hobbies including bird watching, orchid growing, and natural history.

In 1992, Brian received his B.S., cum laude, from Hampden Sydney College in Virginia followed by a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from Virginia Tech in 1997. In 2005, while working as a Veterinarian in Orlando, Florida, Brian met the love of his life Mary-Margaret, in Ft. Lauderdale. Because of Brian’s passion of all things orchids, he and Mary-Margaret form Blu Llama Orchids, Inc. Brian and Mary-Margaret were married on April Fool’s Day in 2006 and reside in Ft. Lauderdale with their five cats and their ever expanding orchid collection.

Brian started growing and hybridizing orchids in his backyard, but this has recently expanded to 4000 square feet of greenhouse space. He will grow anything green, but focuses on his hybridizing projects, which include the development of multi-floral white and pink paphiopedilums, warmth tolerant red Oncidiinae, and standard pink Cattleya with an all-white lip.

Brian’s photography has won awards online, in the 2007 Miami International Orchid Show and at the 2008 World Orchid Conference. He has had a solo exhibit of his fine art photography at the Leu Gardens in Orlando and has been a featured artist at the AOS Gardens.

We hope to see you at the meeting!!!

Please join us at our new location for a wonderful program presented by Dr. Ruben Sauleda, a long time member and Past President of South Florida Orchid Society. Ruben’s program is titled “Flasking and Propagation of Orchids” which covers from pollination to flowering. Ruben will also provide the plant raffle table and have plants for sale.

Dr. Ruben P. Sauleda began growing orchids at the age of 12. At the age of 16 he established Ruben In Orchids. Almost half a century later Ruben In Orchids is recognized internationally and is the oldest orchid business in Florida. After graduating from Miami Senior High School, he attended Miami-Dade Junior College where he received an Associate of Arts. He was the first biology student in the first graduating class to receive a Bachelor of Science at Florida International University. He was then accepted to Florida Atlantic University where he received a Master of Science in biology working on the orchids of the Bahama Islands. During this time he was asked by Dr. Donovan S. Correll to collaborate on the Flora of the Bahamas by contributing the treatment of the orchids. After graduating from FAU, he was accepted to the University of South Florida, where he received his Ph.D. in Orchid Taxonomy. He has held positions as a Research Associate at Fairchild Tropical Gardens, Florida Atlantic University, the University of South Florida and several other research institutions. He has taught classes at Florida International University and Miami-Dade College.

Dr. Sauleda has also written several books on orchid culture and has written over a hundred articles in scientific journals. He was Chairman of Education for the 2008 World Orchid Conference in Miami and was responsible for arranging all the lectures, overseeing all the photography and was the editor of the proceedings. His specialty is flasking and he is presently the leader in reproducing Encyclia, Cattleya, Schomburgia and Tolumnia species and hybrids.

Please join us at our new location, Hampton Inn Miami Airport West, 3620 NW 79th Ave., Doral, Florida 33166. The meeting will begin at 8:00 PM and refreshments will be provided. We know you will enjoy the wonderful program Ruben will present.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Fire Fighters Memorial Building
8000 NW 21 St., Miami, FL 33122
8:00 PM Meeting begins

Georgia Tasker, a long time member of the South Florida Orchid Society, will present our September program. Georgia will present a program titled “Biodiversity in Ecuador, including the Galapagos Islands”.

Georgia Tasker is a writer on staff at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Gardens in Coral Gables. She writes for The Tropical Garden magazine, has a gardening blog on the Fairchild website, and has written 3 handbooks in her on-going series, “Gardening With Fairchild”.

Prior to joining the Garden staff in 2009, she was a garden writer with The Miami Herald and the author of 3 garden books. She is a graduate of Hanover College in Indiana and received the first certificate in tropical botany from FIU in 1984. She was a Pulitzer Prize finalist and a Knight Journalism Fellow at Stanford University. She has been awarded the Barbour Medal from Fairchild and the first lifetime achievement award from Tropical Audubon Society.

She is a photographer, amateur birder, butterfly gardener and passionate traveler, having been to the Arctic and the Antarctic, Madagascar, Africa, Borneo, Papua New Guinea, Australia, China, Japan, all of Europe, Central America and much of South America. Just recently, she watched whales in Baja California, Mexico and spent six weeks in Myanmar, India, Bhutan and Nepal.

We hope you will join us and bring a friend for this wonderful presentation by Georgia Tasker.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Fire Fighters Memorial Building
8000 NW 21 St., Miami, FL 33122
Click here for a map.
8:00 PM Meeting begins

Kathy Whalen from St. Germain Orchids in Homestead, Florida will present our July program.

Kathy’s program is titled “Caring for Cattleyas” and will include a demonstration on how to properly repot Cattleyas.

With over forty year’s expertise and a bold presence in the agricultural life of Homestead, Florida, the family of St. Germain Orchids continues the legacy of superior quality orchids and warm genuine service. Founded by two siblings with tremendous entrepreneurial spirit, St. Germain orchids began as a roadside stall enticing passersby with vibrant, fresh blooms. Years of enduring effort and an unwavering passion for orchids expanded the family run business into what has become the region’s premier vendor of nearly 200 types of Cattleya orchids. While an extensive variety of orchids can be found at St. Germain’s, exotic Cattleya varieties is there specialty.

Bring your friends – we know everyone will enjoy this wonderful program!