Palomar Orchid Society

06/01/2026

Andy's Orchids Summer Open House will take place June 12-14. Over 7000 species amongst 700,000+ plants to choose from. Nursery is located at 734 Ocean View Ave. Encinitas CA 92024. Visit andysorchids.com to view catalog. See you there!

06/01/2026

Repotting and Dividing Orchids
Culture Class lead by Ed Danielewicz and Alex Nadzan
Wednesday, June 3, 2026
5:00 p.m. Carlsbad Senior 799 Pine Ave., Carlsbad, CA

Our June culture meeting will focus on some alternatives to standard media for growing orchids in view of the current scarcity and high cost of orchid bark and the use of these media to repot and divide a variety of orchids. We will briefly review the basics of repotting and dividing orchids and feature demonstrations on repotting using alternative types of media for orchids. June is one of the best times to repot your orchids when most orchids are actively growing by sending out new roots and producing new pseudobulbs. Two of our very experienced growers, Alex Nadzan and Ed Danielewicz, will conduct the session.

Alex Nadzan, POS Co-President, will briefly highlight repotting basics. Since we have reviewed this topic many times, Alex asks attendees review the Repotting Basics document on the POS website prior to this meeting.

Ed Danielewicz is a newer member of our society who has been growing orchids for many years (more detail on Ed’s background below). Ed will highlight some newer media he is using and apply them to repotting some of his orchids. During the demonstration, both speakers will address any repotting questions you may have so bring them to the meeting. This should be a very educational session for our new members as well as for our more experienced growers who want to review techniques for the 2026 growing season. The plant table this month will be provided by one of our local orchid growers.

Ed Danielewicz has been a member of the San Diego Orchid Society since the early 1980’s and has been growing orchids outside in Carlsbad for over 40 years.

Ed’s interest in orchids was stimulated by the late John Walters of Rex Foster Orchids who sold him his first orchid and stimulated him with his infectious enthusiasm. In addition to orchids, Ed grows bromeliads, heliconia, palms, cycads, euphorbias, cacti, ginger and many other plants in his garden in La Costa. He joined the Palomar Orchid Society a few years ago after meeting Alex Nadzan at the World of Orchids Show at the San Diego Botanic Garden.

Like Ed, Alex Nadzan has been growing orchids in Southern California for many years and has focused on growing and hybridizing members of the cattleya alliance as well as growing Australian dendrobiums, cymbidiums, oncidiums and Neofinetia falcata, the Japanese wind orchid. He has been President or Co-president of POS for over 12 years and a longtime member of SDCOS.

REMINDER: June, July, & August Meeting Location and Time Change: Due to a conflict in scheduling, we will have to relocate to the Senior Center (799 Pine Ave, Carlsbad, CA 92008) adjacent to our current Pine Avenue Community Center location with the meeting running from 5-8 pm. There is ample parking and the meeting room is slightly smaller but will work for the 3 months listed, then back to the Community Center for the September through November meetings from 4-7 pm.

05/07/2026

05/05/2026

At the preview for the World of Orchids Show last Friday. The show opened to the public on Saturday May 2 and will run through June 1. Don't miss it! https://sdbg.org/

05/03/2026

Arthur Pinkers on ‘Coelogyne, My First Love ‘
General Meeting Wednesday May 6 at 4 p.m.

This month we are pleased to welcome back Arthur Pinkers who will be sharing his talk ‘Coelogyne, My First Love’. This genus is very diverse and Arthur will explore some of the warm and cool growing species, their culture and some of the hybrids that are commonly available. These wonderful plants can provide very showy specimens on relatively small plants and should be a part of everyone collection.

Arthur is a shared speaker with the San Diego Orchid Society, and he will be giving his talk "Oncidium Intergeneric Orchids" on Tuesday, May 5th, at 6:30pm in Balboa Park. You can watch his talk on Zoom (contact Barry or Alex for the link) or attend in person at the Casa Del Prado, room 101.

Arthur has been an orchid enthusiast since the age of sixteen, when he acquired a plant of Slc. Glittering Jewel, which infected him with the orchid bug. His forty plus years of experience growing orchids started in the Pacific Northwest with a greenhouse to fend off the cold, rainy days. In 2004, a job change forced him to move to Santa Clarita, California, where the conditions are extreme for growing orchids.

Growing up in the Seattle area, Arthur attended Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington, graduating with a B.S. in Chemistry and Biology. He worked for many years as a chemist and had the fortune of having his dream job as the Lab Director for Beall Orchid Company until shortly before its close in 1990. Despite not having a current career working with orchids, Arthur has taken an active role in the orchid community. He has been an Accredited Orchid Judge for over twenty years, served in most executive positions on the Board of the Northwest Orchid Society, including serving as President from 1988 to1989 and President of the San Fernando Valley Orchid Society 2016 to present. He was the center photographer for the Pacific Northwest Judging region 1993 - 2004. Currently, Arthur serves as the Awards Director for the Pacific South Judging Center and one of the photographers for the Pacific South Judging Center. Although he has an interest in a wide variety of orchids, botanicals are a special draw to him for their diversity and charm.

Arthur has been married to his wife, Margie, for over twenty-nine years, and has two adult children and a Granddaughter and Grandson. While they have not inherited his love for growing orchids, his family enjoys the beauty and wild aromas his backyard jungle brings to their home, a respite from the desert landscape around them

03/30/2026

Nico Goossens: “Phalaenopsis: The Overlooked Epiphytic Orchid’ Wednesday, April 1, 2026 4 p.m.

This month we are happy to welcome back Nico Goossens, who will share his talk on “Phalaenopsis: The Overlooked Epiphytic Orchid”. Nico will demonstrate a technique he created by mounting Phalaenopsis on plaques, allowing them to develop aerial roots and avoid the setbacks they can go through on a typical mount. He sells these mounts and mounted Phalaenopsis at local shows.
Nico’s first experience with orchids was an abandoned quarantined box of a shipment from Guatemala in 1976. His father, who was a custom house broker, came home and dropped them in his lap after a customer refused to accept the orchids that had been fumigated and warehoused for several months by customs due to improper documentation. He knew nothing about orchids and spent several weeks reading orchid books from the library and managed to keep these plants alive for around 6 years. That was enough to ignite his interest in orchids and, for the first two decades, he grew his orchids indoors and in shade structures in the backyard.
Nico started working in construction in 1982 and learned how to properly build houses, patios, and decks. This eventually led him to design and understand greenhouse structures and materials including plumbing, heating, and electrical.
In 1993, Nico started to grow his orchids in a greenhouse with Lisa Humphreys. The first one was a gifted 6' x 8' hobby structure which was too small and overheated too fast. In 1995, he built a 16' x 48' greenhouse in Encinitas and they grew their orchid business, Lico Orchids, which sold orchids and did orchid shows for 25 years.
Nico now has his own 8' x 16' greenhouse in Escondido and continues to work as a handyman and builds shade structures, greenhouses, ponds, and waterfalls for others. He has built so many shade structures and greenhouses in his lifetime that he's lost track of how many.
Nico enjoys growing all kinds of orchid genera and especially species. He is also interested in the conservation of Southern California’s local native orchids and leads hikes to see our native wild orchids. In addition, he enjoys speaking and sharing his experiences and knowledge with orchid societies and at orchid shows.
This month’s opportunity table will be provided by Nico and Lisa Humphreys.

03/08/2026

Don't miss Andy's Orchids Spring Open House which takes place next weekend. Enjoy browsing this wonderful collection which includes over 7,000 different species, both mounted and potted. Andy's is located at 734 Ocean View Ave. in Encinitas. To view the catalog of plants, go to andysorchids.com.

03/02/2026

Ron Parsons : “Rarities and Oddities of the Orchid World”
This month we are excited to welcome back Ron Parsons, who will be sharing his talk "Rarities and Oddities of the Orchid World" at our March 4 meeting. His talk features some of the strangest and rarest plants of the orchid family, including both terrestrial and epiphytic species. The majority of terrestrial orchids are not in cultivation and many of those shown were photographed in nature. Most of the epiphytic species presented are in cultivation, and though some may be relatively common, others are not, but hopefully all will inspire a bit of awe.

Ron is a shared speaker with the San Diego County Orchid Society, and he will be giving his talk, "Colombia, Otra Vez!" on Tuesday, March 3rd, at 6:30pm in Balboa Park. You can watch his talk on Zoom (contact Barry or Alex for the link) or in person at the Casa Del Prado, room 101.
Ron has been growing orchids for more than 50 years, and has been interested in the species for most of that time. He loves to photograph orchids and other flowers whenever possible. Ron has more than 124,000 digital images, most of which are of orchids, and still retains a slide library that exceeds 100,000 botanical images. He has given more than 500 talks on various botanical topics and has more than 7000 published photos. Ron has co-authored five books on botanical subjects, all with Mary E. Gerritsen. The first two, published by Timber Press, are Masdevallias, Gems of the Orchid World and Calochortus, Mariposa Lilies and their Relatives. The third book, a two-volume set, A Compendium of Miniature Orchid Species, was published by Redfern Natural History Productions in January 2014. In 2019 The American Orchid Society Guide to Orchids and their Culture was released and is on its third printing. The fifth book, a much-revised second edition of A Compendium of Miniature Orchids Species was released in October 2021. It is now a four-volume set with 3100 photos (1800 are new), including those of more than 500 species not in the first edition.
This month’s plant table will be supplied by Andy’s Orchids.

01/30/2026

"Laelia Species and Their Culture"

This month we are excited to welcome Peter Lin as our guest speaker at our meeting on Wednesday, February 4. Peter will share his talk "Laelia Species and Their Culture". We will learn about the many different Laelia species, their color forms and some of their culture requirements.
Peter is a shared speaker with the San Diego County Orchid Society, and he will be giving his talk on Tuesday, February 3rd, at 6:30pm in Balboa Park. (For Peter’s topic, please refer to the SDCOS Newsletter for the title). You can watch his talk on Zoom (contact Alex or Barry for the link) or attend in person at the Casa Del Prado, room 101.
Peter started growing orchids over 40 years ago but stopped due to school and starting a career. It wasn't until about 20 years ago that the orchid "bug" came back and he is now heavily involved once again. He is an accredited judge with the American Orchid Society and a hybridizer of mini-catts. He enjoys meeting other orchid enthusiasts and can often be found at various orchid shows and societies around the country. He also has hundreds of photos of his orchids that he maintains on Flickr at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/minicatt/collections/
Due to limited growing space, Peter likes to specialize in miniature orchids, both species and hybrids, and has received numerous AOS awards. His other interests in orchids include Dendrobiums, Angraecoids, and Neofinetias. He maintains a collection of several thousand orchids at his home in Southern California in 3 small greenhouses, outdoors, as well as an offsite greenhouse.
Peter will be providing the plant table this month and he is offering a 10% discount for plant pre-orders that he will deliver to our meeting. The cut-off date for ordering is January 31st (send orders to Peter directly at [email protected] and indicate what society you belong to). Peter’s orchid catalog with plants available for sale can be found on his website including some pics and price lists at:
https://www.diamondorchids.com/

01/23/2026

Hope to see you this weekend at the show in Balboa Park.