Want to sell (or buy) a few of your plants – orchid and garden divisions? Here’s an opportunity to make some money* or add to your collection:

When: Friday and Saturday, May 18 & 19.  Sale starts around 8:00 a.m. and ends about 5:00 p.m. each day.

What: The sale is in conjunction with the Ward Parkway Homes Association’s Annual Garage Sale and attracts folks from across KC. (Society members participated in this big sale in 2010.)

Prices for plants will be set at $3, $5, $10 or $15. (Or free!). When you drop off your plants decide how you want your plants to be priced, and we’ll put the appropriate color-coded label on each one. REMEMBER: On Saturday, all plants will be ½ price.

If you can volunteer a couple of hours or longer on either day of the sale, your help would be greatly appreciated.

Where: Home of OSGKC member Jami Parkison, 7337 Terrace, KCMO (two blocks west of Ward Parkway – almost due west of the Broadway United Methodist Church).

How: Drop off your plants on Thursday (May 17). If that’s a problem, call me (816/333-3843) for another time. Pick up plants and your earnings on Saturday after 5:00 p.m. or on Sunday. [Unclaimed plants will be donated to a good home.]

Who: Donating plants to the sale is available to OSGKC members. The sale is open to world.

*10% of orchid sale profits will go to OSGKC.

[The following is a message from Doug Martin.]

Lucinda Winn from J&L Orchids, our speaker in May, has offered a 10% discount on plants preordered for delivery at the meeting.

Doug

[The following was submitted by Susie Hanna.]

January 8:  Hawaiian Island Get-Away at David Bird’s Cave

February 5: Lawn and Garden Show Planning and “Preparing Plants for Display”

March 11: Dr. Ken Cameron, “Vanilla Orchids: Natural History and Cultivation,” a botanical journey accompanied by vanilla ice cream!

April 8: OSGKC Auction

May 6: Lucinda Winn, J & L Orchids, “Miniature Orchids”

June 9: BBQ/Potluck at the Lessendens with Fred Clarke speaking on topic to be announced

June 10: Fred Clarke, “Cycnoches, Mormodes and Catasetums, Recent Trends”

June 24: Growers’ Tour

July 8: Picnic

August 12: Martin Motes, Compact Vandaceous Orchids

Sept 9: Joe Meisel, Ceiba Foundation for Tropical Conservation, “El Pahuma Orchid Reserve” and the orchids and birds of Ecuador

Oct 14: Mid-America Planning Meeting

Nov. 11: TBA

Dec. 9: Holiday Party

[The following was submitted by Holly Hall, OSGKC Secretary.]

Thank you to Cindy Hobbs for organizing the plant sale.

The Society made $750 from the sale of Fred Bergman’s plants.

The next AOS meeting is in San Antonio October 21 – 23.

Mid America meeting is April 13 in Indianapolis.

The Mid America meeting in Milwaukee had programs by Dr. Leonid Averyanov on “New Discoveries about Vietnamese Orchids” and Dr. Joe Meisel on different orchid conservation programs through the Ceiba Foundation. 

November program will feature Dick Wells.

It will be time to sign up for the banquet.

The February show in conjunction with the Flower Lawn & Garden show has Eric Michaels and Nat’s Orchids as vendors so far.

It was proposed that we have a Fred Bergman award.  Susie Hannah and Dan Schlozman will make a proposal at the November meeting.

The nominating committee presented the slate of officers for 2012:

• Glenn Lessenden – President
• Mary Ann Stevenson – Vice President
• Cindy Hobbs – Treasurer
• Holly Hall – Secretary
• Tony King & Brian Donovan  – At Larg

The current issue of Phalaenopsis magazine has an article by Fred Bergman.

Mike Wheeler is going to check on the possibility of doing something at the Great Mall to attract more members.

[The following was submitted by Holly Hall, OSGKC secretary.]

A collection was taken in memory of Fred Bergman and will be given to American Orchid Society (AOS), unless Pat Bergman specifies otherwise.

Jo Anne Curtians is a new member of the society.

Cindy Hobbs gave a treasurer’s report. The society has the following:

• $4640.41 – checking account
• $7,768.85 – show account
• $19,013.06 –regular savings account
• $31,422.32 – Grand total

The AOS fall meeting is in San Antonio, October 26 -30.

The fall Mid America Orchid Congress (MAOC) was September 16  – 18.

MAOC meeting and show next fall:  Mark & Joy Prout are the co-chairs. Cindy Hobbs is the financial officer. We are in the process of finalizing a contract with the Hilton Garden Inn in Independence for the last weekend in October 2012. They are excited to have us back. Monica and Jim agreed to do plant registration. Layla is going to help with the website. There are many volunteer positions that will need to be filled. 

February show with the Flower Lawn & Garden show is the 10 -12.  Dick Wells with Hilltop Orchids and David Bird are two vendors that are committed to it so far. 

A donation of $1,000 to the Nature Conservancy for the Green Swamp was approved. It will be sent to the AOS, and they will distribute the funds. 

Native Orchid conference would like to set up a scholarship of $1,000 for a young person studying orchids.

Paul, Jami and Rick are the nominating committee for the society’s officer slate.

There will be a sale of the last of Fred’s plants at David Bird’s cave September 25, and the money will be given to Pat.

Plans are being made to get Fred’s slides and put them on a CD.

The annual fall plant sale will be before the October meeting on 9th, it will start about 1:00 p.m.

[The following was submitted by Holly Hall, OSGKC Secretary.]

New members present at the meeting: Maureen Hirther & Linda

Linda Samples & Jessica were guests at the meeting.

Beth asked that the last minutes get emailed to her.

Mark renewed our membership in AOS.  So they will judge our show.

AOS has sold their building.

Brian Donovan is our Mid America representative.

The Mid America meeting is September 17 and 18 in Milwaukee.

September speaker is Ernie Gemeinhart on growing orchids hydroponically.

Show in February with the Flower Lawn & Garden show.

Yearbooks are done members need to pick them up.

Donations committee recommends a donation to the Green Swamp in NC.

The Nature Conservancy is working on restoration of the swamp.  It is home to several orchid species. There is an article on the Green Swamp and the restoration efforts in the August issue of Orchids.

If we are to host the Mid America Congress next fall, we need to name a Chairperson and a treasury chair. If you are interested or know someone who would be good for these positions let one of the board members know.

[The following is from Monica McNamara, Chair of the OSGKC 2011 Spring Auction.]

I want to thank all the people who helped make the Annual Spring Auction fundraiser a success, including the generous donations from the many orchid vendors and our members, Tom Reagor’s excellent auctioneering, all the volunteers who helped that day, the delightful refreshments provided, and the generous buyers. The gross total was $2,276.

We had 42 bidders present and 11 of these were nonmembers who either saw our ad in The Gardener, received a flyer from Powell Gardens or Bird’s Botanicals, or were family or friends of our members.

Members can still make donations of healthy plants and orchid-related items. It would be helpful if you can send me an email in advance with some basic info so I can plan accordingly. Members should bring donated plants between 1 to 1:20 pm for setup and viewing.

Thanks so much and see you and your friends on Sunday.  Monica McNamara, Chair of 2011 OSGKC Annual Spring Auction

Current list of orchids available for sale at auction:

From Orchid Inn Ltd
2 Paph delenatii X sib (Pink Butterfly X Round and Round)   ONE IN BLOOM & ONE IN BUD
Paph Wossner Butterfly   (malipoense  ‘Green Giant’ X vietnamense ‘Pink Giant’)  IN BUD

From Michel Orchid Nursery
Odcm Tiger Crow   IN BLOOM

From Natt’s Orchids    
Onc Space Row  IN BLOOM

From Iowa Orchids  
Onc Mackenzie Mountain ‘Jan’s Gem’ HCC/AOS  2 spikes with one IN BLOOM & one IN BUD

From Fantasy Orchids  
Paph fairrieanum ‘Great Giant’ X Paph Hilo Jewel  IN BUD

From Windy Hill
Phrag. Jason Fischer (in bud)
Den. Thomas Warne (buds opening)
Den. Judith Nakayama (in bud)
Epc. Lime Sherbet x B. Little Stars (in bud)
Tolumnia Marilyn Ledoux (in bloom)
Prosthecea Green Hornet (in bud)
Epi. Sun Valley (in bud)
Phaius tankervilleae ‘Rabin’s Raven’ AM/AOS (in bloom)
Phaiocalanthe Kryptonite ‘Chariots of Fire’ HCC/AOS (flowering division)
Eria hyacinthoides ‘Windy Hill’s Snowstorm’ CCM/AOS (division)
Paph. glaucophyllum var. album

From OSGKC members
2 Ludisia discolor
2 Phal. Gold tris
2 Onc. Gower Ramsey (one in spike)
1 Phal ludeanniana
1 Epi. Floribundum
1 Epi. Mabel Kanda
C. Drumbeat ‘Heritage’ HCC/AOS – blooming size
Blc. Mem. Al-Na – Blooming size, a big catt from Bird’s — yellow w/ red lip
Neofinetia falcata – blooming size (three growths)
2 Cym. ‘Nonna’ planted last year should bloom this coming winter, large plants pale yellow flowers.
1 Stanhopea “Wardii” , large Mother plant blooms in July, flowers are the color of a ripe banana
Degarmoara Yamada, bloom size

The Society’s exhibit in the Orchid Society of the Ozarks show did very well.

Twenty-four plants out of 29 took ribbons.  Four took best in class. The Society’s exhibit took best in show.

The spring auction is April 10. There are flyers available to give out. Let Monica know if you know of a vendor that might be willing to donate. 

The Springfield show was March 19 and 20.  Mark and Joy Prout, Iva and Frank Stribling, and Jami Parkison went and set up the exhibit. 

The Omaha show was March 26 and 27.

Treasurer’s report-Cindy Hobbs said the show did a little better than break even.

Powell Gardens open house is April 2 and 3.  The Society has a table that needs volunteers to work.

The May meeting will be May 1.  The second Sunday in May is Mother’s day.

Please consider donating your healthy and pest-free orchids for our Spring Auction from 1 to 4:30 on Sunday, April 10. This is the primary fundraiser for OSGKC and remember that your donations may be tax-deductable as we area 501(c)(3) organization. Receipts will be provided on auction day during the plant check-in.

Blooming plants are preferred. For non-blooming plants a picture of the actual flower or representative flower (or at the very least a brief written description of the bloom) is highly recommended.

Anyone interested in donating plants or other orchid-related items is asked to email the following to mmorchids@everestkc.net as soon as possible:

• The total number of plants
• Names of the plants to be donated (the list will be posted on our Website)

A breakdown of:

• blooming plants for auction
• non-blooming plants for auction
• non-blooming plants for the $5 & $10 sale tables
• description of orchid-related items 

Please make plans to attend our auction and bring at least one friend to assure the success of our event!

We are also still looking for volunteers to help with the auction. Please let me know if you are interested.

Questions? Email contact Monica McNamara or call 913/851-8709.

New member present at the meeting was Laylea.

Tony will contact vendors and Sharon will type up the yearbook, to get it completed.

We are breaking even with the show. 

To be included in the yearbook dues need to be paid by March 1.

The auction of Ron Daly’s plants raised $1,700 for the society.  Many thanks to his family for their generous donation. 

Our exhibit in the St. Louis show won Best in Class.  There were 28 plants which won 21 ribbons.  Three plants won AOS Awards.  Rick Day was awarded an AM for his Masdevallia Tangerine Dragon “Debois”.  Mark & Joy Prout were awarded an HCC for Mormodia Leopard Drops “Mark’s Joy”.   Glenn Lessenden was awarded a CCM for Maxillaria Schunkeana “Hickory Hill”   Many thanks to Mark & Joy Prout  and Doug for all their hard work in getting our exhibit in the show. 

The next show the society will have an exhibit in is the Ozark Orchid Society show in Rogers, AK.  It is the weekend of March 4-6.

The society will have our annual plant auction April 10^th.  Cindy Hobbs and Monica McNamara are in charge of getting set up.

Show Awards

Rick Day – Masd. Strobelii, Best Masdevallia
Erin Morrison – Exhibit, Blue Ribbon for Junior Exhibitor (Erin is 9 years old.)
Joy and Mark Prout – Exhibit, Best of Class Amateur Exhibit
Joy and Mark Prout – Paph. St. Low, Best Paphiopedilum
Mark Prout -  Den. Roy Tokunaga, Best Dendrobium and Best Specimen Plant
David Bird – Exhibit, Best Open Exhibit
Al Clinton – watercolor, Best Orchid Art
Susie Hanna – Den. Aussie Chip, Best Miniature
Susie Hanna – Epi. Little Miss Sunshine, Best of Class 10-16
Tony King and Jason Thoren – cut orchid flower, Best Orchid in Use
Monica – Lc Tokoyo Magic x Slc Tangerine Jewel, Best Cattleya
Doug Martin – Cyp. formosanum, Best Phragmipedium and Cypripedium
Beth Martin – Gongora scaphephonus, Best Miscellaneous General

AOS Awards

David Bird – HCC
Monica – Lc Tokoyo Magic x Slc Tangerine Jewel, HCC
Al Clinton – Masd. Atahualpa, AM 80 pts

What

When: Sunday, January 16, 1:00-5:00 p.m.

Where: Bird’s Botanicals, located in the Interstate Underground Warehouse, 8201 E. 23rd St.Kansas City, MO..  Click here for map.

Sale items: Orchids for sale include

Time for our “Bringing in the Plants and Trying to Fit Them All In” fall orchid sale. Proceeds from donated plants will benefit the society and help finance speakers, vendor visits, and other nifty events.

Where: Our usual meeting place – Broadway United Methodist Church, 406 W.  74th St, KCMO

When: September 26, 2010.  ~ 1:00 p.m. plant delivery (healthy, bug free, *pre-priced if possible)  ~  1:30 – 3:30 p.m. sale  ~  3:30 p.m. pick up of unsold items

*We’ll have $5, $10 and $15 tables but you (or we, if it becomes necessary) may have to amend prices as the sale proceeds. Special plants/circumstances may dictate higher or lower amounts for individual items. Please stick around if you can — shop, chat, query the more experienced growers for tips, snack (I think we’re having treats, as usual), look for bargains as the afternoon goes on, and re-price your donated plants if need be. We got great bargains last year. Let’s do it again!

Flyers will available at our next meeting, Sept. 12, for distribution to workplace bulletin boards, friends and neighbors, etc.

The MAOC room rate at the Fern Valley Hotel is $75, plus tax. For show registration forms and more information about the three-day event’s schedule visit the MAOC web site. (A pdf file is also available about the show: MAOC flyer Sept 2010.)To reserve a hotel room (502/964-3311) or visit the Fern Valley Hotel web site.

Catt the Garden Girl came dressed for the Orchid Sale

Lots of color in our collections!

Send me your blooms, and I’ll post them to the OSGKC Program News blog. Take a look at the great orchids currently blooming in Susie Hanna’s collection.

Over the weekend, five OSGKC members held an Orchids and Garden Plants Sale, in conjunction with the Ward Parkway Homes Association Annual Garage Sale and the Johnson County Master Gardeners’ Tour.

The two-day sale brought in many customers. Several customers, who are new orchid growers and learned about OSGKC at the sale, expressed an interest in attending society meetings. Ten percent of the OSGKC members’ earnings on the orchid sales will go to the society.

 Due to the sale success, we will probably do it again in 2011. If you’re interested in participating, start making plans to contribute your plants to the sale. It’s a great way to refresh an orchid collection, make some money and help the society at the same time!

Slc. George Hausermann

When: May 21 – 22, Friday and Saturday, 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Who: Five members of the Orchid Society of Greater Kansas City [OSGKC] are selling orchids and garden plants. See Orchid Sale – May 2010 page for a partial list of the plants for sale.

What: The sale is in conjunction with the Ward Parkway Neighborhood Association’s Annual Garage Sale. Ten percent (10 %) of the orchid sales will go to the OSGKC .

Where: 7337 Terrace St., Kansas City, Mo., Terrace Street is located between Ward Parkway and State Line. The street is two blocks west of Ward Parkway — and two blocks east of State Line.  The house, which is an English Tudor style, is two houses north of the intersection of 74th Street and Terrace Street and on the east side of Terrace.

Longwood's Exhibition Hall during Orchid Extravaganza

Today I wanted to share with you the ‘secret’ of how we made the 10 incredible columns of orchids you see on the Exhibition Hall floor.  We gets lots of questions about what they’re made of, how much they weigh and where the idea originated.  Let’s immerse ourselves in images to illustrate the process that occurred February 2-4, 2009.

Feeding the Tygon tubing through the concrete octagonal base and the column

Orchid Extravaganza has been in existence since 2007 and the  columns are on their third and final year for display (don’t worry, we have something big planned for 2010!)  The bases are poured concrete to match the octagonal bases of the existing conservatory columns.  The cylindrical portion is made of fiberglass (we discovered wood couldn’t take the moisture) and the very top of the unit is a flat round pan where the orchids are placed.  A thick Tygon tube runs from a pump (hidden behind the tree fern boxes on the edges of the floor) through the fiberglass column and attaches to the bottom the round pan.  We’ve fabricated a ring of copper with tiny holes around the underside of the pan to allow a ‘waterfall’ to drip magically from underneath the ivy.  We chose ivy to conceal the mechanics of this display.  Atop the circular pan is placed a pre-soaked block of Oasis foam (the super-big designer blocks!) Around the block of Oasis we unpotted 10-12 green ivy plants which were placed on their side to drape over the edge.  Sphagnum moss acts like planting media for the ivy since there is no additional soil placed atop the column.

All the columns are up!

The orchids (200 purple hybrid Phalaenopsis total) were purchased from a commercial orchid grower in northern California that I visited when I lived out west.  The plants are un-named hybrids with only the parents listed on the tags.  All were produced in 4″ plastic pots filled with sphagnum moss.  Each plant is slightly different from it’s neighbor, but the overall effect is like watching a crowd in a football stadium.  From a distance they all look the same!

Such beauty emerges from the cotton!

When the orchids arrived they were packed about 25/box.  Each pot was wrapped in a plastic bag to keep the moisture in, the stems were wrapped in white cotton to protect the open flowers, and each plant was wrapped in brown paper to ensure the trip across the continent would be safe.  Even though it was 10 degrees outside,  the boxes were about 60 degrees inside thanks to tiny heat-packs inserted during packing in California.

Numerous volunteers assisted in unpacking the orchids which were double ’skewered’ through the bottom of the pot with a bamboo stake.  The potted plant (yes, they are all still in their pots!) was placed against the Oasis so we could push the ‘skewer’ stakes into the Oasis to hold them in place.

After all the orchids were placed (20 per column) we inserted curly willow (Salix matsudana ‘Scarlet Curls’) into the top to complete the arrangement.  Fresh green moss hides all the pots and Oasis from view.

Pre-soaked Oasis ready for orchid insertion

The pumps will be switched on once water fills the Exhibition hall floor. (we do drain the water for functions and for cleaning)  If you’re lucky to be here late in the day or on when it’s very cloudy then you’ll get the added enjoyment of the LED lights which shine down the columns to illuminate the water that trickles down.

I hope you enjoy this perennial  Orchid Extravaganza favorite  even more now that you know how we put them together!

Stay tuned for more behind-the-scenes about Longwood Gardens’  Orchid Extravaganza.

The finished product--perfection!