Bulbophyllum medusae

Carol Klonowski has been growing orchids since the 1980’s when a friend in Berkeley,California, gave her a cattleya and it bloomed out with three big, dark lavender flowers and an intoxicating fragrance. She built an entire greenhouse in her backyard to accommodate the precious plant, which only led her to buy more orchids. Then another friend gave her a gift membership to the Orchid Society of California and it’s been a serious passion ever since. She can recall going to monthly meetings at OSC and DVOS where orchid legends such as the late Frank Fordyce and Dick Emory would be available to answer the many questions an eager hobbyist could ask. Carol has served as Director, Vice President, and President of the Orchid Society of California for most of the past two decades and is currently an Accredited Judge with the American Orchid Society, California Sierra Nevada Judging Center.

After receiving his degree in biochemistry from the University of Toronto, Dave opted to step outside his chosen field and operated a tropical fish import business for eight years.
Upon returning to school, Dave received a degree in enology and viticulture from Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario. While attending Brock, Dave began acquiring orchids one 2” pot at a time and before he graduated, Dave had over 100 orchids. Winemaking and a passion for orchids prompted Dave to seek a warmer climate in California about one year later.
Dave has been growing Paphiopedilums for about 12 years and seriously hybridizing for the past 8 years. His Paphiopedilums have received 75 awards to date from the American Orchid Society, with many of those awarded plants playing important roles in his

 “When I was just a little boy, 7 or 8 years old, my father and I were suddenly hooked on orchids. At a home
and garden show we saw a Catasetum pileatum and were shocked by its beauty. When we asked people where to buy that plant, we were pointed to the orchid booth of one of the most important and respected orchid growers in Brazil’s orchid history – Mr. Heitor Gloeden. Soon after that initial contact, he took us under his wing and taught us about orchids.
As a native of São Paulo, I quickly learned about many orchid species. Those that I was first in touch with are still my favorites: Cattleya, Laelia, Sophronitis, Oncidium, Paphiopedilum and Vanda. I love all orchids, but these are the ones that have continued to populate my daydreams, even when I was working on the options trading floor at the Pacific Stock Exchange!

My father and I learned about orchids together, so orchid growing became a partnership with him. Today my dad is 88 years old, and we still spend hours discussing possible crossings, preferred cultivars and plants that we still “need” to add to our respective collections. Still living in Brazil, he cultivates beautiful orchids there, while I pursue my hobby here in Northern California. I love it here. I immigrated in 1989 to Ohio. After college, I moved to California where I put down roots, made friends, and began cultivating orchids.”

The Plant Table will be supplied by Sergio Garcia

DVOS Meeting Speaker: Steven Beckendorf – Why are there so many orchids?

Orchids are the largest family of flowering plants, with about 30,000 species. How did they become so successful?

Recently, a combination of molecular analyses and orchid fossils has made it possible to estimate the rate of orchid evolution. The results show that orchid evolution has sped up at least three times since the most primitive orchids appeared. These accelerations produced not only the huge increase in the number of orchid species, but also the extravagant diversification of shape, color, and pollination mechanisms that fascinate us. I’ll describe some of the genetic and environmental changes that allowed these accelerations.

Steve started growing orchids in the early 1980s and quickly became fascinated by Odontoglossums and their close relatives because of their beauty and variety. They had a glamorous past as the most sought after plants in the orchid frenzy that gripped Europe in the 19th century. In addition, excellent hybrids were available from growers and hybridizers on the West Coast.

He soon realized that few of the species in this group were readily available and began collecting them for propagation and use in hybridizing. His attempt to find unusual or lost species has led to many trips to the cloud forests of Mexico & South America.

As a geneticist and developmental biologist at the University of California, Berkeley, Steve has worked on the mechanisms that define tissues and organs in early animal embryos. Because of this background, he has been interested in several of the scientific aspects of orchids, including molecular taxonomy and deceptive pollination strategies.

Steve is passionately involved in orchid conservation and is a director of the Orchid Conservation Alliance (OCA) and a member of the Conservation Committee of the American Orchid Society. He is also an accredited AOS judge.

The Plant Table will be provided by Dennis Olivas D&D Orchids

Angelic Nguyen has many years experience as a silk painting artist, floral designer, graphic and web designer. Growing up with orchids and tropical flowers around her hometown near Saigon, Vietnam, her passion for orchids has shown up in her paintings and designs. After she and her family escaped from the Communists and came to the U.S. in 1990, she started a new life as a graphic artist at the San Jose Mercury News.

She has been growing orchids for about 20 years, and started her company, Orchid Design, in 1999. Angelic works on orchid growing, orchid arrangement, graphic design, and web design. Recently she has also been concentrating on photography and has taken thousands of orchid pictures for promoting orchid shows.

Orchids she grows include Cattleyas, Phalanopsis, Laelias, Dendrobiums, Oncidiums, Paphs, Phrags, Lycastes, Bulbophylums, Vandas; hybrids and species. She also has several rare Cymbidiums — standard, pendulous and peloric, and has done some hybridizing of Cymbidiums, Laelias, and Cattleyas. In the meantime, she enjoys finding different orchids blooming in her garden every day.

Angelic was Art Director for the Cymbidium Society of America Journal in 2006, and served as the newsletter editor for the San Francisco Orchid Society for about ten years. She has been involved in many activities to support orchid societies with design and printing for postcards, brochures and flyers, and has also served as President, show chair, and as a board member of several Bay Area orchid societies. She is currently the show chair for the SFOS’s summer show, “Orchids in the Park”. She’s also helping shows promotions, social medias advertising for many orchid, flower and garden shows in California.

Orchid Design has been participating in the Pacific Orchid Exposition, the Santa Barbara International Orchid Show, the San Diego International Orchid Show, the San Francisco Flower & Garden Show, and many other shows for the past decade.

She has also been giving orchid presentations and skill sessions for orchid and garden societies, using her experience and large selection of her photographs. She has spoken on a variety of orchid topics, including the 19th World Orchid Conference, Fragrant Orchids, Unusual Cymbidiums, Pendulous Cymbidiums, “Cattleya, the Queen of Flowers”, Laelia Species, and “The fascinating Orchids of Vietnam”.

You can visit her website www.ORCHIDesign.com,  email your orchid wish list to her: angelic@orchidesign.com or ask about something you would love to have in your orchid collection.

You can also find Angelic Nguyen and Orchid Design, and be her friend on Facebook!