April 2021
April 2021 WNCOS Newsletter
Spring greetings from the WNCOS! Well, it’s April and something clearly is not right around here. I am so very sorry that we were unable to host the Asheville Orchid Festival this year. Having been asked countless times by folks here recently, it is a sore subject of mine and this has gone on long enough. A reminder that we have penciled in good solid dates for April of next year at the North Carolina Arboretum. We will be ready! Matter of fact, it is about time to begin planning and working toward the festival so we’ll ask you all again to be thinking about how you’d like to be involved. For any new members who are curious about our orchid festival, we will be soliciting your input as we move forward. It is a tremendous event, an incredible undertaking, and something we are proud of. It takes the entirety of our group of volunteers to be successful, and we do all we can to make it fun. So, be ready to join us in the planning, and let’s get focused on April of 2022.
Graham continues to do an incredible job of booking speakers for our society via ZOOM. If you missed the program last month, with Wenqing Perner, you missed a great program with an international guest speaker joining us from overseas. That was a first for the WNCOS!
This upcoming Sunday, April 11 at 2:00 pm we’ve got another great speaker and program scheduled. Dr. Bill Goldner of Woodstream Orchids will be speaking to us live via ZOOM and is presenting a program on Epidendums. We found this to be an interesting program from Bill, as many who know him think of slipper orchids when Bill comes to mind. But also because for many years we’ve had many members in the WNCOS growing different Epidendrums. Russ Bolt over at Looking Glass Orchids in Pisgah Forest has always shared his wonderful Epi’s with our members, and we felt this program would be of great interest. Please join us!
A message from Graham:
It’s Orchiata Pallet Load time again. I have had numerous members approach me about ordering our favorite medium. But we need to keep it simple. The China plant order about killed me. So below is the menu. SpagMoss will be extremely limited to one-kilo bales. Orchiata and tree fern will be 40L bags only. I would like to order one week from today. Email me your wish list and I will get it on the way. Questions welcome for those not familiar with the process. And to be very clear…this is a WNCOS member benefit so members only. My email is G_Ram@yahoo.com
April’s Program
“Epidendrums: Amazingly Diverse, Wonderfully Worthwhile”
presented by Bill Goldner
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 Phragmipedium. They are well known for their innovative miniature Phrag hybrids. They are currently upping their game to include white and yellow Phrag hybrids.
Axel Graumann is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: The WNCOS Presents: “Epidendrums: Amazingly Diverse, Wonderfully Worthwhile”
Time: Apr 11, 2021 02:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Meeting ID: 829 0601 9097
Passcode: 673174
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Meeting ID: 829 0601 9097
Passcode: 673174
Thank you,
Mike Mims
President, WNCOS