Fort Lauderdale Orchid Society
Orchid Renaissance: Orchid Show and Sale January 10, 11, & 12, 2025
Mike Owen, park biologist, Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park, will be speaking to us on his recent trip to Cuba, partially sponsored by FLOS, on the repopulation of the ghost orchid.
Mike is an engaging speaker (He’s hilarious, smart, kind, and wonderful!) and you won’t want to miss this talk! He has accompanied many FLOS members into the Fak and we haven’t lost one yet.
Miniature and indoor orchids growers mark your calendar for March 13th. Our speaker will be orchid hobbyist Tomas Bajza. He came to the USA about 15 years age from the Czech Republic.
Tom caught the orchid bug less than 10 years ago. Like most hobbyists, he has tried a variety of genera based on his current growing conditions, an apartment balcony in North Miami. Tomas seems to have found his niche: miniatures and cold or intermediate growing species. Join us as we learn more about indoor orchids! Click here for meeting location and driving directions.
Allen Black, our April 10th speaker will be discussing hybridizing Brassavola nodosa with other Cattleya Alliance species and hybrids. Allen is a hobbyist grower and breeder from Richmond Virginia. He has been growing and hybridizing orchids for over 20 years. Allen has crossed and registered over 70 of his hybrids. His orchid goals are to have fun and to create new, unusual orchid hybrids.
Allen was a featured speaker at the 2014 Cattleya Symposium. His program is not to be missed, especially if you love B. nodosa.
The 2014 Annual Fort Lauderdale Orchid Show “Exotic Orchids” was held from Jan 17th – 19th. Many thanks to our AOS judges, our many FLOS volunteers, our vendors, and most of all, the visitors who came and enjoyed the show!
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The following exhibit awards were given by the American Orchid Society judges:
The following orchids were awarded:
Sunrise Orchid Society won first place for their table top display.
Sheldon Takasaki from Carmela Orchids will be our January speaker. As the owner of Carmela Orchids, Sheldon is well known as a breeder of beautiful Hawaiian orchid hybrids and species.
Sheldon grew up picking field orchids – the ones used in leis and drinks. After high school he went to college and began working in an orchid propagation lab. These beginnings led to his intense interest in orchids.
Carmela Orchids, in Hakalua, Hawaii (near Hilo), was founded in 1960 and has developed over the years from a small collection of orchids being grown on top of a bomb shelter to a multi greenhouse operation with an in-house lab.
Sheldon Takasaki is a frequent visitor to Florida and seen at many orchid affairs including our own upcoming Exotic Orchids Show & Sale! Don’t miss this excellent orchidist!!!
Click here for meeting location and driving directions.
Our annual Holiday Party will be held on December 14th at the Tower Club in downtown Fort Lauderdale. Enjoy a relaxing evening together with your FLOS friends. The Tower Club has a fantastic view and it should be a great time for all.
28th Floor, Regions Bank Building
One Financial Plaza
100 SE 3rd. Ave
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301
December 14, 2014
6:00—10:00 PM
How much: Members $40 – Guests $65
Live musical entertainment by Salvatore Fazio. Dance the night away!
There will be a raffle and gifts… everyone goes home with a new blooming size orchid!
Ginny Salus is our party organizer.
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From Federal Highway – At Broward Boulevard, go west to Southeast Third Avenue (the first street light) and turn left. Make
another left on Southeast Second Street (the first street light.) Turn left into the second driveway to access parking.
Parking: Because it is a Sunday we can use the Regions Bank lot. The bank lot entrance is the immediate
right after the intersection on SE 3rd Ave and Broward Blvd, in the Financial Plaza. The main entrance doors
are to the right of the parking lot.
The Tower Club phone will be manned the night of the party if anyone needs help: 954-764-8550
Our annual orchid auction takes place in October. As always, expect unique, rare and exotic specimens to add to your collection! This promises to be a night of fun, fierce bidding and satisfaction as you go home with your coveted prize.
The auction starts at 7:00PM. Registration starts at 6:30.. Come early to register, inspect plants, and plan your bidding strategies!
Here are some tips for FLOS members:
While you’re repotting, think about donating a division to FLOS. The proceeds from our auction go to reducing the cost for the holiday party. Remember we will be getting plants from vendors but we also need your participation.
Donate healthy, pest and disease-free, named divisions. Bare root or potted.
Include a picture of the orchid in bloom, if you can. (One of your own or one from the internet. Just Google the name for an image.)
If you can’t get a picture, tell us what it looked like, such as “ Big white Cattleya with yellow lip” or “Blooms in winter around the holidays”
Do you have extra pots or supplies that are taking up room in your grow area? One person’s trash is another person’s treasure!
Meeting September 9, 2013 – Ruben Sauleda
Our September speaker is Dr. Ruben P. Sauleda who began growing orchids at the age of 12. At the age of 16 he established Ruben In Orchids. Almost half a century later it is internationally recognized and is one of the oldest orchid business in the United States. Dr. Sauleda will be presenting on the Unifoliate Cattelya’s of Columbia, their variations and specific culture.
When Milton Carpenter’s wife, Nancy, was in the hospital for the delivery of their second daughter, Peggy Ruth, he gave her a flowering plant Rhyncholaeliocattle (Brassocattleya) Springtide (Madame Charles Maron × C. Monica [1925]). The large, pinkish, fragrant cattleya cast its spell over this Florida native and so began his journey into the world of orchids. Decades later he has written the lavishly illustrated book From the Hand of God to the Miracles of Orchids that chronicles his life with these seductive plants from many angles, including that of grower, hybridizer, judge, speaker, traveler, photographer and owner of the nursery Everglades Orchids.
Milton Carpenter shares his breeding experiences, revealing how 15,000 hybridizing attempts resulted in 3,000 capsules and eventually to his registering more than 500 grexes. Yes, 500 – amazing. Early on, he focused on creating heat-tolerant cymbidiums and Oncidiinae, a natural choice for his nursery located just south of Lake Okeechobee, Florida. For example, in cymbidiums, he sought to develop plants with heat-tolerance, smaller stature and fragrance, all with an eye toward making orchids that were “easy to grow and easy to flower.”
Milton will be autographing discounted ($30) copies of his book at our meeting.
Meeting Monday, July 8, 2013 – Movie Night!
Fort Lauderdale Orchid Society is proud to present “Wild Orchid Man In the Mountains of Amazonas” movie night! Join Stig Dalström as he travels through the Peruvian Andes searching for rare and unknown orchids of the Amazon rainforest. This exciting movie promises to be a breathtaking look into the native landscape of orchids.