This month will be a great time for new members, old members, experts and novice alike. Is your orchid just sitting there doing nothing. Does it have these weird spots on the leaves. Bring it to our Mother’s Day meeting and let’s try to figure it out. Read more…
The Asheville Orchid Festival Will dominate the April calendar. There will not be an official meeting in April. Please come to the NC Arboretum and celebrate our annual grand orchid show.
Calling all volunteers. If you have stepped up and signed up as a Asheville Orchid Festival volunteer, you need to be at this meeting. If you have not signed up, you will want to be in attendance to learn more about our biggest event of the year.
Genealogy research has become a hot topic with TV programs and Software companies tying to tell you about your genetic connections to the past. Learning about the background of your orchids can also be a fun extension of your hobby… read more
Mark Reinke with Marble Branch Farms in Walhalla South Carolina, is a long time friend of the WNCOS. Mark is a well known and respected orchid grower and hybridizer. Read more…
Graham Ramsey and Leslie Keller would like to invite all WNCOS members and their significant others to the annual WNCOS Holiday Social. This cover dish event will be on December 10th from 1:00-3:00pm, at 53 Crowningway Drive, Asheville 28804. Read more…
November’s meeting will be a great opportunity to learn about New Zealand Tree Fern. Tree Fern is a very unique medium for orchids that has only been on the market for a few years. Read more…
Sarah Hurdel with Needmore Orchids will teach us about this often misunderstood, yet surprisingly easy to grow genus. Her program offers an introduction to the species, hybrids and closely related genera, with a detailed look at cultural needs and what makes this the ultimate showy orchid for growers without a greenhouse! Read more…
Stephen Benjamin started growing orchids , mostly Cattleya’s, when I was nine years old under lights in the basement. After graduating Xavier University with a degree in Biology, I moved to Kentucky to help them make better Bourbon whiskey. Read more…
On August 13th, a team of American Orchid Society judges from the Carolina Judging Center will be our guests for an afternoon of orchid fun. If you have never experienced an AOS judging event, you definitely don’t want to miss this. Read more…
Art Chadwick 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 had been growing orchids since 1943. Read more…
If there is anyone who is worthy of the title Orchid Expert, its Ron McHatton. Ron is Chief Education and Science Officer for the American Orchid Society (AOS). Read more…
Jeremy is a photographer for Carolina's Judging Center, and his photos have featured in Orchids magazine and Orchid Digest. He is the winner of the 2020 Roy T. Fukimura Award for his photograph of Bob Fuch's Aerides lawrenciae 'Crownfox Velvet'. Read more…
This meeting will prove to be loads of fun for the novias and the most experienced orchid growers. The plan is to have group discussions on a variety of potting techniques, potting mediums and general good orchid culture habits. Read more…
Asheville Orchid Festival Schedule
Friday March 31th 9:00am American Orchid Society Judging Closed session. WNCOS members only.
Saturday April 1st 9:00am - 5:00pm Open to the public
Sunday April 2nd 9:00am - 5:00pm Open to the public
Admission for all ages: $5.00 Children under 12 are free. Admission includes all exhibits, all sales areas, and all orchid programs and demonstrations.
For Arboretum non-members and AOS non-members, a daily Arboretum parking fee applies.
Visit the ‘Festival ‘ page for more details about the show.
This is a very important meeting for all members, volunteers, and anyone that wants to be up to date with the 2023 Asheville Orchid Festival. We will cover everything from grooming your plants for our show exhibit to what food you can bring to keep all our volunteers and vendors well fed during the event. We will cover the Arboretum Members Preview party and how to get your weekend parking passes. With just a few weeks left until opening day, this will be our last chance to gather as a group and coordinate our show efforts.
Jeremy is a photographer for Carolina's Judging Center, and his photos have featured in Orchids magazine and Orchid Digest. He is the winner of the 2020 Roy T. Fukimura Award for his photograph of Bob Fuch's Aerides lawrenciae 'Crownfox Velvet'. Read more…
Will is an Associate Judge in the Carolinas Judging Center and Vice President of the Triad Orchid Society. Read more…
Gardening has been a major part of Andrea’s life ever since she was a young child. At eight years old she had her first hobby greenhouse where she collected and grew a collection orchids and other tropical plants. Read more…
Do you have some orchid divisions, extra plants or other orchid related items you want to sell, trade or give away? Click here to learn more.
Who: Graham Ramsey
What: How I Grow My Phragmipediums
When: September 11th, 2:00pm - 4:00pm
Where: Asheville Visitor Center 36 Montford Avenue, Asheville NC 28801
Graham Ramsey, Vice President of the Western North Carolina Orchid Society, will share his new program “How I Grow my Phragmipediums.” Graham has been growing phrags for over 15 years and was mentored by the best, the late great H.P. Norton. Click Here for more information.
Who: Carolina Judging Center
What: American Orchid Orchid Society judging
When: August 14th 11:30am - 4:00pm
Where: Asheville Visitor Center 36 Montford Avenue, Asheville NC 28801
We are very excited to have the Carolina Judging Center team back in the house for an exclusive American Orchid Society judging event. This meeting will be open to all orchid lovers. You might just be next in line for a coveted AOS orchid award. Click here for more information on this grand opportunity.
Who: Bill Thoms
What: WAFL-HSE General Orchid Culture
Where: Asheville Visitor Center 36 Montford Ave. Asheville NC 28801
When: Sunday July 10th 2:00pm to 4:00pm
How: In-person and via Zoom (stay tuned for coordinates)
Who is invited: Open to the public
July’s presentation is called the WAFL-HSE (Waffle House) program, which is all about General Orchid Culture. It covers all aspects of growing giant, beautiful plants and has tips for the beginner as well as the seasoned veteran grower. Click here for more on Bill.
Who: Fred Clarke with Sunset Valley Orchids in person
What: Becoming an 80 percentile Grower
When: June 12th 2:00pm - 4:00pm
Where: Asheville Visitor Center 36 Montford Avenue, Asheville, NC, 28804
How: Also via Zoom Click here to join the meeting
Who is invited: Open to the public
It is our privilege to have Fred Clarke from Sunset Valley Orchids back with us once again, live and in person. Fred is truly one of the leaders in the orchid world. You can be sure he will be traveling with plenty of his first class hybrids for sale and for our raffle table. This meeting promises to be a memorable event. Click here to learn more about Fred, his program and how to pre-order orchids (discounts apply to pre-orders)
Very much looking forward to seeing everyone in person this upcoming Sunday, April 10th. Yes, you read that correctly, we will be meeting at our regular meeting location, the Asheville Visitor Center, 2nd floor at 2:00 pm. Seems like it has been longer than two years since we’ve had a ‘normal’ WNCOS meeting. Much to be excited about, so I hope everyone makes the effort to come out and attend. For our board members, we will be gathering at 1:00 pm for an in-person board meeting, with our regular members meeting beginning at 2:00 pm sharp. While we will be meeting in person, we will have a special guest speaker, Eric Sauer from Ohio coming to us through the screen via ZOOM.
When: March 13th @ 2:00 PM
Where: via Zoom (coordinates to be posted soon)
Who: Mary Gerritsen "Orchids of Madagascar"
Join us for a tour of Mary's journey hunting orchids in Madagascar.
Ron Parsons has been growing orchids for more than 40 years and has been interested in and has grown species for most of that time. Ron loves to photograph orchids and other flowers whenever he can, whether it be in trips to see them in nature or in collections. He has over 3000 published photos that have appeared in magazines, periodicals, journals and books. Ron has co-authored three botanical books, all with Mary Gerritsen. The first two, published by Timber Press, are Masdevallias, Gems of the Orchid World; Calochortus, Mariposa Lilies and their Relatives. Most recently the third book, a large, luxurious 2-volume set A Compendium of Miniature Orchid Species was published by RedFern Natural History Productions. The latter has nearly 1200 pages, 1800 photographs and features more than 500 species.
Marc Burchette, WNCOS member, AOS Judge and orchid
extraordinaire will be giving his famous program, Rewards of Growing Orchids for a Public Garden. Of
course, the garden is the Biltmore Estate where Marc curates the fabulous Biltmore orchid collection. As
always, the meeting starts at 2:00pm this Sunday, August 8 th . Grab your bloomers and a friend and we’ll
see you Sunday.
BIG NEWS! We are breaking the ice of the pandemic isolation. This Sunday, July11th, our meeting will be live and in person. Since the Asheville Visitor Center (Lenoir Rhyne boardroom) has not opened back up yet, we will be gathering at Lake Julian Park. We have rented Shelter #1 which is large and has a great view of the lake.
The meeting will be a grand swap, shop, and give-away setting. Gather up your divisions, duplicates, or anything orchid-related and bring them to the event. Anyone can be a buyer, seller, trader, or lucky recipient of some freebies. Speaking of freebies, to celebrate this long-awaited in-person social gathering, Mike plans to fill his truck with all the Looking Glass Orchids it can hold for the raffle of all raffles. And the raffle tickets will be free for all attending WNCOS members. Everyone is going to leave with orchids.
The WNCOS cooler will be there full of ice-cold drinks. You are welcome to bring your own spirits if you choose. This is not a cover disk event, but if you want to bring some snacks to share, I don’t think anyone will complain. It will be so nice to see everyone after such a long time.
Since we are not completely out of the woods with the pandemic, it has been suggested if you have not been vaccinated yet, that you wear a mask.
So here’s what you need to know;
Place: Lake Julian Park 37 Lake Julian Road Shelter #1
When: July 11th, 2:00 pm until you leave
This should be loads of fun. Can’t wait to see you there (bring a friend).
Graham
When: May 9th
Where: Virtual via Zoom
Who: Dave Sorokowsky with Paph Paradise
Program: 'Multifloral Paphs
Bio: After receiving his degree in biochemistry from the University of Toronto, Dave opted to step outside his chosen field and operated a tropical fish import business for eight years. Upon returning to school, Dave received a degree in enology and viticulture from Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario. While attending Brock, Dave began acquiring orchids one 2” pot at a time and before he graduated, Dave had over 100 orchids. Winemaking and a passion for orchids prompted Dave to seek a warmer climate in California about one year later. Dave has been growing paphiopedilums for about 15 years and seriously hybridizing for the past 10 years. He is an accredited AOS judge and his paphiopedilums have received over 100 awards to date from the AOS and CSA. Many of those awarded plants playing important roles in his breeding program. In 2018 Dave left winemaking in order to focus all of his time running Paph Paradise Orchids.
Dave Sorokowsky is one of the leading paphiopedilum growers and breeders in the world. Please visit https://paphparadise.com/Members can get 10% off orders of $100 or more using the coupon code NC2021 until May 16.
When: April 11th 2:00pm
Where: Virtually via Zoom
Who: Dr. William (Bill) Goldner with Woodstream Orchids
Program: “Epidendrums Amazingly Diverse, Wonderfully Worthwhile”
Woodstream Orchids had the best selection of Phragmipediums, species and hybrids, in the world. http://www.woodstreamorchids.com You can order direct from Bill.
William Goldner, Ph. D.
Dr. William (Bill) Goldner is best known in the orchid world as the owner of Woodstream Orchids with his wife Lynn Evans-Goldner. However, many may not realize that Bill and Lynn have careers outside of the orchid world as National Program Leaders for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
A life-long outdoorsman, Bill’s current mid-life crisis is fly fishing for trout, steelhead, and salmon, a passion he shares with Lynn and their son Zane. Many of the hybrid and cultivar names registered and used by Woodstream Orchids are names of the many places they have fished.
Now Zane (age 11) is part of the pack which includes golden retrievers Luna and Leo and Amber, Coal, and Onyx, Oberhasli dairy goats. In fact at age four Zane and Bill started a jungle cactus and succulent business for Zane. Zane’s Orchid Companion Plants now grows over 100 species of epiphytic cactus (or soft cactus as Zane call’s them). He propagates the cacti from seed and cuttings.
Woodstream Orchids (WSO) is a leading hybridizer and producer of Phragmipediums. They are well known for their innovative miniature Phrag hybrids. They are currently upping their game to include white and yellow Phrag hybrids.
