2024 Speaker line up

January

Ron McHatton, 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.

February

Don Wallstedt

It all started with a Brassavola nodosa given to him by his track coach in the 11th grade.. Don has grown most everything, but has always had a love for the less common orchids, ignoring big floors Cattleyas and colorful Vandas as shows to pick out some weird-looking thing that most folks had never even heard of. He founded 4 groups on Facebook; The Stanhopea Alliance, Growing BIG Orchids, Grammatophyllums Galore!, and Uncommon Orchids, with a combined membership of nearly 30,000 people, representing over 125 countries. Don lives in Kissimmee, and his current obsessions are Eulophias and Bulbophyllums..

March Culture Group Meeting

Meeting open to all members

Topic: Preparing your orchid for show exhibit.

March

Jeff Adkins

Jeff has been growing plants (vegetables and ornamentals) since I was 6 yrs old. I am a 3rd generation orchid grower and I was a biology major in college. I started growing my orchid collection in 1978 and became an American Orchid Society student Judge in 1982 and fully accredited in 1989. I worked at Jones and Scully Orchids as a salesman and built their orchid exhibit for the 11th World Orchid conference.  I started Adkins Orchids, Inc. in 1990 and have garnered numerous awards for exhibits, as well as dozens of quality awards for orchid exhibits and superior plants from my collection from south Florida to New York City.

April

Art Chadwick, Chadwick & Sons Orchids

BIOGRAPHY

Art holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from North Carolina State and an MBA from James Madison University. He founded Chadwick & Son Orchids Inc in 1989 with his father who has been growing orchids since 1943.

‘The Classic Cattleyas’ is widely considered to be the definitive book on large-flowered Cattleya species and was written by Art and his father. Martha Stewart favorably reviewed the book and had both Chadwicks on her TV Show.

Art has the distinction of naming Cattleya hybrids after the wives of the last five U.S. Presidents and personally presenting the flowers to most of the honored recipients. He is a ‘regular’ on the orchid society speaker’s circuit and has been fortunate to give lectures internationally (Western Australian Orchid Conference, World Orchid Conference in France). He is looking forward to speaking at the World Orchid Conference in Ecuador in 2017. Each month since 2002, the Richmond Times-Dispatch has published Art’s orchid advice column. The Winston-Salem Journal now also runs the popular column.

Chadwicks operates 11 greenhouses in rural Powhatan County, a retail store in Richmond, and boards over 13,000 orchids for local clients. The company was recently featured in Southern Living Magazine and the New York Times.

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

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.

 

July

Thanh Nguyen, Springwater Orchids

BIOGRAPHY

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!

August

Mike Sands, Tangled Roots Orchid Nursery

Mike Sands of Tangled Roots Orchid Nursery,  Head horticulturalist of the village of Wellington. I’m a certified horticulturalist through the FNGLA. I hold four spray licenses here in the state of Florida. Also a master naturalist through the University of Florida. As well as work with the university through there first responders for invasive plants and insects that are being brought in either by stormers or accident.

Please note Fred Clarke, Sunset Valley Orchids unfortunately had to cancel and hopefully will be rescheduled in the future.

September

 

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).

 

October

Phillip Hamilton, Bredren Orchids

Phillip Hamilton – He grew up working in his parents’ orchid nursery, Hamlyn Orchids. Although his Dad’s true orchid passion was with the Jamaican native Broughtonias and their hybrids, Phillip’s passion leaned heavily toward Phalaenopsis, which he has been growing and breeding since the age of eight. In 2013, he formed his own business Bredren Orchids, to facilitate the small-scale sale of some of the more unique Phalaenopsis and Broughtonia species and hybrids he grows and breeds.

November

Holiday Party