Orchid Society of Santa Barbara

06/04/2026

This Month’s Meeting: at MaraVilla 5486 Calle Real, Santa Barbara, CA 93111
“Casual Orchid Hunting” presented by Wayne Ferrell
Our June 2026 meeting will be an in-person presentation by Wayne Ferrell. A former President, Vice President, Speaker Chair and Board Member of the OSSB, Wayne worked for many years at the Santa Barbara Orchid Estate. Now retired from SBOE, he continues to seek orchids wherever he goes. When traveling, he always keeps an eye out for native orchids. In this program, he will show photos of these and discuss their ecology.

2026 Membership Dues
Annual membership fee is $40 for individuals, $50 per household. Due in January, pay no later than March. See Treasurer Angela Watt during the meeting.

Are you interested in being more involved with OSSB?
We are seeking candidates for President and Vice President (includes Program Chair). Please contact PJ Sanderson for more details: [email protected] or see her at the meeting.
Orchid Society of Santa Barbara Meeting - June 10, 2026, 7:30 pm - "Casual Orchid Hunting"
[email protected]
​Nancy Augustine​
This Month’s Meeting:
“Casual Orchid Hunting” presented by Wayne Ferrell

A person holding a plant

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Our June 2026 meeting will be an in-person presentation by Wayne Ferrell. A former President, Vice President, Speaker Chair and Board Member of the OSSB, Wayne worked for many years at the Santa Barbara Orchid Estate. Now retired from SBOE, he continues to seek orchids wherever he goes. When traveling, he always keeps an eye out for native orchids. In this program, he will show photos of these and discuss their ecology.

Close-up of a flower

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Cypripedium californicum

Jarvis with Marsh Orchid

2026 Membership Dues
Annual membership fee is $40 for individuals, $50 per household. Due in January, pay no later than March. See Treasurer Angela Watt during the meeting.

Are you interested in being more involved with OSSB?
We are seeking candidates for President and Vice President (includes Program Chair). Please contact PJ Sanderson for more details: [email protected] or see her at the meeting.

July Orchid Sales at Santa Barbara Nurseries

Cal-Orchid: Famous ‘Summer Hummer’ & Neofinetia falcata seminar 17-19 July, Fri, Sat & Sun, open 9am-5pm, possible orchid culture classes on Sunday, call them 805-967-1312 if you are interested.

Santa Barbara Orchid Estate: Summer Open House 17-19 July, Fri & Sat, open 8am-4pm, Sun open 9am-3 pm. Featuring Cattleya purpurata, tenebrosa, bicolor and tigrina and Encyclias. There will be posters and artifacts on display of Paul Gripp’s life as a boy and his orchid years.
Paul Gripp’s Public Memorial: 18 July (Sat) 4-6 pm on the central lawn area of SBOE. Attendees are encouraged to wear their orchid society/plant society name badges. To encourage conviviality, Paul-appropriate refreshments will be served 2-4 pm before the memorial.

06/03/2026

https://youtu.be/IsV36IytVFw?si=IcbMiAmSiLGKlrUZ

OrchidFest 2026 is coming to Nipomo, CA June 27-28. We hope to see ...

05/29/2026

Starts tomorrow

05/20/2026

sale coming up end of May

05/08/2026

Our May 2026 meeting will be an in-person presentation by Sandra Tillisch-Svoboda. Sandra was fortunate enough to be able to travel to the Kingdom of Bhutan in 2007. It afforded her the opportunity to learn about the culture and flora of a very special country. She will share a bit about the culture and people of Bhutan and the orchids that grow in this country, where the landscape ranges from subtropical plains in the south to the sub-alpine Himalayan heights in the north.

Growing up in Minnesota, Sandra's only exposure to orchids was that prom corsage. She began her orchid life as a pot washer for her late husband, Al, and became fascinated with the history of her husband's complex paph collection, which included many oldies like Paph. F. C. Puddle. Al's knowledge, love, and enthusiasm for orchids were contagious. When they built a second greenhouse, Sandra decided it would be hers, and that was when orchids became an important part of her life. Sandra is editor-in-chief of the Orchid Digest. She has served as president of the American Orchid Society, World Orchid Conference Trust, Cymbidium Society of America, and the Orchid Digest. Locally, she was president of the Orchid Society of Santa Barbara and the local branch of the Cymbidium Society. Sandra served on the Santa Barbara International Orchid Show board and, for several years, was the show manager of this prestigious show, one of the largest in the nation. Sandra is a senior accredited judge in the American Orchid Society. Besides the plants themselves and the never-ending opportunity to learn about them, Sandra loves being involved in the orchid world because it offers an opportunity to travel, meet, and work with many amazing and fascinating people.
026 Membership Dues
Annual membership fee is $40 for individuals, $50 per household. Due in January, pay no later than March. See Treasurer Angela Watt during the meeting.

Are you interested in being more involved with OSSB?
We are seeking candidates for President and Vice President (includes Program Chair). Please contact PJ Sanderson for more details: [email protected] or see her at the meeting.

Location Reminder
We are now meeting at Maravilla( 5486 Calle Real, Santa Barbara, CA 93111) on the 2nd Wednesday of the month, except March and August.
Directions: From Calle Real, enter Maravilla and bear left. On the right is a lawn with a flagpole. The meeting rooms are to the left of the lawn with a flagpole. To park, continue to drive around a loop that will lead you to the parking lot. Additional parking is available to the right as you drive in, any parking space without a number is available. Meeting Rooms: AOS Judging in the Galleria Room, Orchid Society in the Valencia Room.

OSSB on the web: Orchid Society of Santa Barbara

Upcoming Orchid Events
Conejo Orchid Society Sale: May 29-30, Newbury Park Library

Orchid Digest Speakers Day: June 20, 2026, at the Huntington, 10:00 am – 7:30 pm, 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino. Speakers: Jack Zhu – Asian Cymbidiums, Nicholas Rust – Terrestrial Orchids, Daniel Geiger – Oberonia, Jason L. Downing – The Million Orchid Project. Attend in person or remote. If you attend, lectures, happy hour and dinner are included. Register by June 12th. Full info: June 2026 OD Speakers Day

July Orchid Sales at Nurseries Santa Barbara Orchid Estate and Cal-Orchid, usually the middle weekend of July, information not yet available on when or if these will occur.

04/28/2026

Conejo Orchid Society
Orchid Show and Sale
Newbury Park Public Library
2331 Borchard Rd, Newbury Park
Friday, May 29, 10:30 am to 5:30 pm
Saturday, May 30, 10 am to 4 pm
Admission is Free
Displays, Plant Sales and Demonstrations
Come Early for the Best Selection
Orchids for sale include many varieties of nursery and member grown plants
Many beautiful but inexpensive orchids for the beginner
Companion plants, such as tillandsias and succulents also on sale
Cash or Checks Only
Demonstrations: 11 am until closing, both days
Bring your orchid questions
Questions: (805) 410-3803
Conejo Orchid Society is a 501(c)(5) Non-Profit Organization
This program is not a Thousand Oaks Library sponsored event

Join the Conejo Orchid Society, a community of orchid growers and collectors in the Conejo Valley. Monthly meetings, annual shows, newsletters, and resources for all levels.

04/03/2026

Hello everyone, Meeting at Maravilla : 5486 Calle Real, Santa Barbara, CA 93111

Details of this month’s meeting are below. The same information is also available on our website: Orchid Society of Santa Barbara

Members are reminded to sign up for Refreshments with Richard Hughes during the meeting. Leslie Jones volunteered for April, but we need to plan for future months.

Orchid Society of Santa Barbara Meeting – April 8, 2026, 7:30 pm.

“Santa Barbara International Orchid Show Grand Champion Cymbidiums”

This Month’s Meeting: Santa Barbara International Orchid Show Grand Champion Cymbidiums, presented by Jim Sloniker

If this sounds familiar, it’s because this talk was originally scheduled for our February meeting, but was not presented due to technical difficulties. In the meantime, the 78th Santa Barbara International Orchid Show (SBIOS) was held March 20-22, 2026, allowing American Orchid Society Judge Jim Sloniker to include the latest Grand Champion in his overview of Grand Champion Cymbidium Award winners.

Since the 1950s and continuing today, orchid nurseries along the south coast of California have been instrumental in producing these highly awarded cymbidiums. Although the standards for judging the prize winners have adapted to evolving esthetics over the years, many of the most prized flowers continue to be bred and grown here. The winners have been selected by judging experts at each show for nearly 80 years of cymbidium orchid hybridizing. The Samuel B. Mosher Trophy is given to the Grand Champion Cymbidium which recognizes the most superior cymbidium in the show.

03/19/2026

The Santa Barbara International Orchid show begins tomorrow, through the weekend.

03/08/2026

There will be No OSSBmeeting this month, nor AOS judging at the meeting. Instead we will be installing our society exhibit on Wednesday March 18 from 9 am . Here is an orchid picture to warm you up for the big show beginning on March 20th:

02/15/2026

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/orchid-obscura-2026-pacific-orchid-exposition-feb-26-mar-1-2026-tickets-1893800912509?aff=oddtdtcreator

Explore the enigmatic world of orchids at the 73rd Annual Pacific Orchid Exposition, starting February 27th in Golden Gate Park!