NOVICE CLASS- WEDNESDAY NOT THE USUAL TUES.
July 5, 2000 - 6:30 PM - CASA DEL PRADO - ROOM 104

Duncan Werth, 2nd Vice President

Our own Tom Biggart of Granite Hills Orchids will be the presenter. His topic is a surprise. So come find out. It’s sure to be entertaining and informative.

Don’t Forget: New Day/New Rooms
GENERAL MEETING- NOTE IT’S WED. NOT 4TH OF JULY

July 5, 2000 - 7:30 PM - CASA DEL PRADO - ROOM 102 - (not Room 101 for July & August due to construction.)

By Ben Machado, Departing 1st VP

This month our guest speaker is going to be a return engagement. Ron Parsons made such a terrific presentation last year he’s coming back again. This time to provide us a presentation titled "The Species of Dendrobium". On his last visit with us he clearly came through as a "Species Nut". Ron has an extensive knowledge about Species Orchids of all types, he is very well known for his abilities of orchid identification and superior photography skills. From all the enthusiastic response from his presentation last year this should be an outstanding presentation.

Just to keep in the spirit of the species presentation Andy Phillips of Andy’s Orchids, our very own one of kind "Species Nut", will provide the plants for the Plant Opportunity Table. This should be another treat because of the range and diversity Andy has in his stock. One look at Andy’s Orchids catalog and you can easily believe that Andy is the biggest species grower in the US and probably North America. All this right here in our back yard in Encinitas CA.

Dear Orchid Friends,

This month we welcome the new officers for the SDCOS Board. We appreciate the fine service our outgoing officers have provided us. Many of them have served these volunteer positions over and above the call of duty by agreeing to serve more than one term. It’s time to give them a rest, with appreciation, and welcome the incoming group. In light of service for the various positions I will also be tendering my resignation as soon as possible. Nearly two years have passed so rapidly. It has been a great learning experience and I have appreciated being your Newsletter editor. Many of you assumed that since our intrepid former editor Harry Tolen served his position for 10 years that I would do the same. No way! One of the privileges of being editor has been receiving newsletters from other orchid societies around the country. Each of them serves a two year position, like any other elected office in the society, which allows fresh opportunity for service.

My work and travel agenda will not permit me to continue any longer. So I hope as you read the next few, lighter, editions of the newsletter you will consider yourself as the new editor! It’s fun and rewarding! You need a computer, e-mail capability plus the Society provides the Pagemaker program. Please contact me with your interest and I will make sure the transition will be a smooth one. Thank you for allowing me to be of service.

Rebecca Lawrence

Editor

Members and Advertisers

If you have monthly meetings or announcements related to orchids, make sure the information gets to the Editor by the Second Tuesday of each month for publishing in the next issue of this newsletter. To contribute articles or to advertise your orchid-related business, please contact Rebecca Lawrence, Editor, 820 Ocean Crest, Cardiff, CA 92007, Phone: 760-943-8860 or E-mail: Rebsie@home.com .

ORCHID CULTURE SHEETS AVAILABLE

As a service to its members, the SDCOS is providing a set of Orchid Culture Sheets. Prepared by the American Orchid Society, genera covered include:

Catasetum, Cattleya, Cymbidium, Dendrobium, Lycaste, Masdevallia, Miltonia, Odontoglossum, Oncidium, Paphiopedilum, Phalenopsis, Stanhopea, Vanda.

Pick up your set at the July meeting, supplies are limited, first come first served. One set per member, please, but you can make as many of your own copies as you like. (Sorry, no mailings. As an AOS member, you can request a set and they will mail them to you at no charge.) Culture sheets are also available online, simply hit the "culture" link!

Dates to Remember
July 2000

July 1, 9:00 am
SDCOS Species Group Meeting
First Saturday each month
Paul or Ann Tuskes (858) 274-5829

July 5, 7:30 pm
General Meeting
Note different day & room this month
Room 101, Casa del Prado, Balboa Park
Gary Pierwola (619) 426-9108

July 14, 7:30 pm
Palomar Orchid Society Meeting
Second Friday each month
Vista Community Center
Greg Luetticke (760) 724-4711

July 11, 7:00 pm
SDCOS Board Meeting
Second Tuesday each month
Balboa Park
Siv Garrod (619) 483-8787

July 15 and 16
Santa Barbara Orchid Fair
On Grounds of Santa Barbara Orchid Estate
1250 Orchid Drive, Santa Barbara, CA 93111
Information: 1-800-553-3387

July 19
Cymbidium Society Meeting
Third Wednesday each month
Carlsbad Women’s Club
Larry Phillips (619) 746-5518

July 21, 22, & 23
Mini Show - different rooms 102 & 103

July 21, 10 am – 2 pm
Zoo Orchid Greenhouses Open House
Third Friday each month
Janette Gerrity (619) 231-1515 ext. 4306

Book Review

"Orchid Fever" by Eric Hansen

Review submitted by Sue Volek

Too contrived to be true? The plot of Orchid Fever, a tale of the mania that surrounds CITES and endangered orchids, smacks of a TV tabloid expose studded with international intrigue, wily authorities, blameless miscreants, crafty smugglers, anonymous informers, and the occasional white knight. It all sounds barely credible. But orchid people will understand author Eric Hansen’s fascination with this compelling tale of good intentions gone terribly awry.

Hansen skillfully weaves anecdotal threads to support his assertion that CITES – as it applies to flora listed in Part II of its appendix – has been manipulated from its inception by some of the orchid establishment (read Kew Gardens) to perpetuate that establishment’s own control and authority. Hansen shows how this jealous manipulation has produced a tragic oxymoron by further endangering the rare flora, in this case slipper orchids, that it proposes to save by thwarting legal propagation and salvage.

Hansen finds real orchid people are way eccentric enough to populate his story. Some are familiar to San Diego Orchid Society members as occasional speakers or acquaintances while others are less well known. It doesn’t matter. All are interesting as the tale spins from steaming Borneo jungles to the cold latitudes of Denmark, while Hansen attempts to ferret out the facts about reported orchid rustlers. Can these awful stories about needless destruction of Paphiopedilum sanderianums and other rare slippers be true?

Unfortunately so. The line between who are the good guys and who are not blurs as Hansen describes rivalries that are all about power and influence and not about saving orchids. It’s a maddening, frustrating, agonizing read as heavy-handed plant police stomp through greenhouses accomplishing nothing but destruction. When asked tough questions, the horticultural authorities who are supposed to be wearing white hats are suspiciously uncommunicative.

Just as the reader concludes that the situation is indeed hopeless, Hansen closes with a parable of salvation. Illustrating just what one man with a good idea and a lot of tenacity can do, the author introduces us to a Johnny Orchidseed of sorts, whose solo efforts have rescued untold thousands of endangered plants. Maybe there’s room for hope, after all.

Orchid Fever delivers its "tale of love, lust, and lunacy" in a big way. Anyone who’s been around orchids for more than 20 minutes will understand the issues, recognize his or her friends and appreciate how deliciously Hansen describes the world of orchid mania. Pity that it took a horticultural disaster to do it.

Orchid Fever is published by Random House, 2000.

ORCHIDS ON THE INTERNET

by Cindy Hill

Here is another orchid-related Internet home page I think you’ll like exploring. Whether you are looking for orchid pictures, growing tips, a certain orchid to add to your collection, vendor catalogs, or links to other orchid sites, The Orchid Mall is ideal for one-stop shopping. Webmaster Carson Whitlow (slipperguy) has spent untold hours in creating and updating this premier site, and we are the lucky beneficiaries. We can indulge our obsession and feed our ‘habit’, whether it be for information, plants or fellow orchidophiles. Carson invites readers’ suggestions, contributions and comments, so the site stays fresh and relevant. Here is the list of the different sections of The Orchid Mall, along with descriptions of what you’ll find in them:

¨ Announcements and Events

¨ Orchid Plant Sources – pointers to vendors’ sites

¨ Services, Supplies and Software

¨ The Reading Room – articles, essays on orchid culture

¨ Orchid Societies – links to societies worldwide

¨ Speakers’ Page

¨ UnClassified Ads – buy, sell, trade,’looking for’, whatever

¨ Photographic Sites

¨ Search Engine – for locating businesses and plants on the Mall and www

¨ Of Special Interest – links to other orchid sites you’ll enjoy visiting

I think you’ll find The Orchid Mall is a great hopping off point for virtually any aspect of orchids.

HELP HOTLINE

The SDCOS offers this service to members who seek cultural information about their orchids. Here are some friendly hobbyists with a great deal of experience about certain types of orchids, and who have kindly volunteered to answer your questions.

Cattleyas, Oncidium/Odontoglossums, Vandaceous, Greenhouse grown, West SD County

Forrest Robinson - (619) 270-6105

Species, all types, Indoor and Outdoor

Ann & Paul Tuskes – (858) 274-5829

Paphiopedilums

Ann Tuskes - (858) 274-5829

Bob Hodges - (619) 461-4915,

Phalaenopsis, Cattleyas and Dendrobiums

Alma Marosz – (619) 583-0334

Vandas, Ascocendas

Edith and Leno Galvan - (619) 441-7503

Encyclias, Epidendrums, Laelias

Tom Osborn - (760) 787-0282

Pleurothallids

Don van Kekerix - (619) 224-4938

Cymbidiums

Loren Batchman - casa@orquideas.com

Sam DeMaria - (619) 295-2951

Northeast County, all types

Dave Reid - (760) 728-7996

San Diego West County, all types

Jean Beck - (619) 435-8211

San Diego Central, Outdoor, all types

Jim Wright - (619) 276-5295

Fred Tomaschke - (619) 276-3225

San Diego East County, all types

James Masst – (619) 443-2800

Bud Close – (619) 444-8839

South County all types–

Genie Hammond -- (619) 426-6831

Ed Marty – (619) 470-7175