2025  Speaker line up

January

Giant World of Miniature Orchids
Tomas Bajza, Tarzane Group

Tomas will show amazing pictures of various miniature and small orchids, talking about their needs, growing tips and techniques. He’ll show simple setups for your new orchid babies, how to feed them, mount them and care for them.wholesale orchid nurseries in the United States. In addition to his professional positions Ron is an accredited AOS Judge.

Febuary

Ron McHatton

A Ph.D. is a chemist by training and is currently the American Orchid Society Director of Education and Regional Operations. Prior to that position he was Apopka production manager for Kerry’s Nursery, one of the largest wholesale orchid nurseries in the United States. In addition to his professional positions Ron is an accredited AOS Judge.

March

Josh Jones, The Orchid Den

Grower, producer, and educator of all things orchid related. Joshua has been growing healthy and established orchids for over 15 years. Living in Jacksonville, FL his entire life, he started growing orchids with a basic Phalaenopsis and graduated to more complex species and hybrids of all genera. Eventually learning ceramics on his own and creating orchid pottery with great detail using the best products available. Branching out to finally create his new venture in life with The Orchid Den. Joshua has received multiple awards for his exceptionally well grown plants, educates about orchid growing, is starting to hybridize orchids, and you can also watch his YouTube channel (The Orchid Den) to learn more for yourself.

April

Jerry Steele

May

Members Auction

1. Paid Members may bring up to plants (3) or orchid items related items (still totaling 3), clean & disease free or orchid related collectables. Remember, adding flower photos increases the selling price

2. Arrive by 6:15pm early to register your plants

3. The revenue share is 70/30. For example, if your plant sells for $100 you receive $ 70 & the Society receives $ 30.

June

July

Keith and Dina Emig, owners of Winter Haven Orchid Nursery.

Keith and Dina Emig will present a program entitled “Vandaceous…But Not Vandas”.  Keith and Dina grow, hybridize and register plants in the Oncidium, Cattleya, Phalaenopsis, Vanda, and Dendrobium alliances, and have created their own genera (Emigara). They have received more than 45 American Orchid Society awards, so far, including nine for their original crosses. Keith’s orchid journey started with a trip to the dentist where, on the receptionist’s desk, was a small plant with three leaves and an inflorescence with twenty blooms suspended in a beautifully presented fashion. He learned the dentist was an orchid hobbyist who grew the multifloral Phalaenopsis. It was on. Orchid fever is infectious, and all possible information and plants were obtained. What resulted was a uncontrollable driving force of endless experimentation to better grow and flower these plants. There is no substitute for the company of other enthusiasts, with whom to share this fever. Soon the passion of combining the attributes of two beautiful plants, by cross pollinating, stimulated his imagination. A flasking case was built, and has been a fixture in their kitchen for over a decade. More than 1,000 seed pods have been flasked to date and it seems each season there is some new cross that has more exciting possibilities. Keith’s passion also drew him to the Ridge Orchid Society in Lakeland and the American Orchid Society, revealing the orchid world’s secrets. Keith has served on the board of directors of the Ridge Orchid Society for more than a decade, including at least seven terms as president. Be sure to check out Keith’s article “Luck of the Draw” in the March 2017 “Orchids Magazine” (p. 208).

August

Bill Nunez ‘ AKA ‘ Rhizome Cowboy ‘  

​I grew up on 1800 acres of family owned ranch land. I started working on Cattle ranches in the 70’s and became familiar with Florida cypress swamps. I greatly enjoyed my adventures into these wonderful swamps. They became my refuge and I always had the sense of traveling back hundreds of years in time when I entered one of these untouched places. I was able to find many of the Florida orchid species along with native ferns and a variety of wildlife.
I began growing orchids in the late 60’s after several years of tagging along with my father to visit his friend’s greenhouses. Some of these growers were past FWCOS presidents.
Jack Sweet 1946-48. Cliff Curry 1962 John Matthews 1963
John & Gloria Naugle   1968 Gladys Whitesell 1969 Richard Bates 1978
I began to receive a few back bulbs from some of these folks and a few of them lived. I was off to the races after that. I built my first flask box when I was in high school. I have been growing orchids most of my life and I get a great pleasure now when I am making new hybrids mostly in the  Cattleya alliance.

I was the president of the Florida West Coast Orchid Society for 3 terms and am currently the 1st VP.  I have been fortunate enough to receive several AOS awards and register several of my hybrids.  The greatest satisfaction for me is to have one of my hybrids awarded. Now I am older than dirt and I am still fascinated with orchids.
Somewhere back in my memory I am still a young man on an afternoon adventure in pristine florida cypress head or oak hammock.     Bill Nunez ‘ AKA ‘ Rhizome Cowboy ‘

September

Don Wallsteadt

October

Thanh Nguyen, Springwater Orchids

Thanh Nguyen is the owner-operator of Springwater Orchids (Melbourne, FL). He is an engineer by trade, but also has been collecting and growing orchids for 35 years. His orchid business began in 2001, mainly selling on the internet but gradually moved to orchid shows in recent years.

Thanh loves orchid species. And although he grows and sells all orchid genera, his forte has always been the genus Paphiopedilum. He collects fine plants; grows, sells, breeds, and enjoys sharing his experiences with his customers and colleagues. His passion in paphs resulted in numerous award winning plants and an on-going paph breeding program using local lab work, and local growing environment. His goals are to bring the excellence of a paphs breeding program back to America, and augment the enthusiasm of paph growing by way of sharing his growing experience and educational programs via shows and society speeches. You will see these goals reflected in his breeding program with well thought process to target various audiences; from easy growing/flowering plants to state of the art breeding catered to the most difficult collectors’ interest, in parallel with conservation of breeding species, improving overall plant and flower quality, broaden their growing conditions to make growing paphs a joy, not an aggravation!

Give it a try, and buy a paph seedling!