Greetings from Graham’s Greenhouse,
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.
Read MoreThis Sunday at 2 pm will be our next monthly meeting. Hopefully, it will be one of our last meetings held exclusively via ZOOM. We are eyeing a hopeful return to an in-person meeting later this year, while obviously monitoring the COVID-19 virus and its effects. Stay tuned and know that once we’re able to meet in person we hope to do so in grand fashion and obviously while remaining safe. We have been discussing some options for a sheltered outdoor location. Should you have a great recommendation for us, please let us know. As always, keep an eye on the website for announcements, events, updates, etc.
Read MoreSpring 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.
Read MoreWe hope this finds everyone doing well! Spring is nearing closer and we’re all busting at the seams to get out of the house. We hope you are staying on top of your orchid collections and enjoying those incredible spring flowers! Obviously, we are all sorry that we have had to skip out on two consecutive spring orchid festivals, but I can share with you that have penciled in some dates for 2022. That first weekend of April 2022 will serve as our hopeful dates for the next Asheville Orchid Festival. So, you have all been warned. Try to avoid the first week of April when planning your pent-up vacation plans in the spring of next year.
Read MoreOn February 14th, the Western North Carolina Orchid Society will host a very special guest speaker. Ms. Wenging Perner with Hengduan Mountain Biotechnology Ltd. plans to share her program “Come with me to Western China – to see the fascinating orchids”. There is no doubt this will be a fascinating journey. Please visit http://hengduanbiotech.com to learn more about our speaker and the work they do.
Read MoreGreetings everyone! Hopefully, that last snowstorm was the end of our winter weather. Probably not as active as the season has been for us here in WNC this winter. We are heading toward March, which is a great thing as the spring season is getting closer. If you have been a member of the WNCOS over recent years, you would know that typically we are fully engaged in putting together our Asheville Orchid Festival during our winter months. We are all disappointed with the reality that we could just not hold the big event this April due to the pandemic. However, we are all much more optimistic that we will begin working on the 2022 Asheville Orchid Festival later this year. We will continue to keep everyone aware of plans as we move along this year. In the meantime, you can help by growing your plants better, adding new orchids to your collections, and be ready to set those spikes for spring flowers in 2022.
Read MoreHappy New Year everyone! I trust you are all as excited as I am, moving into the new year. One with much new hope and some good reasons to be excited about. I hope everyone is doing well, staying healthy, and spending as much time with your orchids as possible.
Last month’s program with Alan Koch was simply awesome. We had a crowd in our ZOOM meeting, had a bunch of fun, and learned a lot of great information in a compressed amount of time. Several folks were taking notes as they nodded along, soaking up all the great information Alan had to offer. Thanks to everyone who made time to attend and participate!
Read MoreHappy holidays folks! We sure have been missing everyone. While you’re reading our newsletter today, please stop now and make a note to attend our online WNCOS meeting this Sunday. Alan Koch with Gold Country Orchids is a good friend of mine, and a real authority in the industry. We really need to improve our electronic audience for these special guest speakers. You are missing out if you are not attending our ZOOM membership meetings. Last month was Harry Gallis speaking about Dendrobium species and their culture. I’m not growing dendrobiums myself, but I learned some things and definitely increased my interest. Harry was wonderful, as we expected, but we should have had more of you orchid lovers in attendance.
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