July 2019

Hoping you’re all having a wonderful, adventurous summer! Usually our flowering orchids are slowing down in these hot months, unless of course you’re like me and growing a summer blooming collection. For many orchids this is a great time to be re-potting, re-establishing your plants and focusing on your vegetative growth. Take your paphs and phals for example, these guys will grow like weeds if you are watering, feeding and taking proper care of them. I used to put everything outdoors in the summer months, so long as everything was shaded heavily and protected from the weather and insects. Consider taking your orchids outdoors to a covered patio or a deck/porch for the long, hot days and see what kind of exciting new growth you have on your plants before the chilly nights come this fall.

Great meeting we had last month, we hope everyone who attended enjoyed the program and learned more about tips and tricks for growing under lights. As we move onward in to July, we’ve got some really great meetings lined up for the remainder of the year.

July 14th is our next monthly meeting and in case you were unaware, we have the judges coming to visit us from the Carolina’s Judging Center representing the American Orchid Society. This is an open judging event for us all, and an excellent educational opportunity for everyone, regardless of your growing abilities and experience. Here’s how the July meeting plays out, things are a bit different with regard to our schedule. Plants to be considered for AOS judging need to arrive by noon. AOS judging is a process, and every plant has to be entered and registered by the judges. So, have your plants there by noon and know that the judging will begin about 1pm. As plants are reviewed by the AOS teams of judges, you will have the opportunity to listen and observe as they take plants one by one through their process. We’re hoping to see about 25 orchids or so in attendance, and as we’ve told you all along everyone can grow an award quality orchid. If your orchid is healthy, free of pests and in bloom, you should be considering bringing it in. Clean up your leaves, your pot, stake your flower spike if needed, and bring it in. Through the process it is our hope that everyone leaves with a better understanding of what it takes to grow and show award quality orchids. This event also always provides everyone with the opportunity to ask the experts all your questions. Once judging is completed, the CJC’s representatives will provide us with a program which will cover who they are, what they do, the judging process and they’ll tell us what they awarded and why. If your plant is not awarded and you’re confused as to why, they’ll help you understand this as well. As we stated at the last meeting, this is a great honor for us to have the CJC paying us a site visit here in Asheville. It is our job to show up, and bring our plants for them to review and consider.

Moving through the upcoming months we’ve got Hadley Cash of Marriott Orchids coming in August, Keith Davis in September, and that always entertaining and fundraising orchid auction in October. We’re hoping to have about 60 plants on the auction block from exciting vendors around the country. This is always a treat and we’ve not had an auction in a couple of years. Plan to be there for sure everyone!

Best,

Mike Mims

WNCOS President