MOS
Newsletter of the Michiana Orchid Society
Addendum
September, 2007
Editor
Shirley Keim sak12000@aol.com
At the
Our display at the Indiana State Fair. It received a 2nd place ribbon in its category.
All the orchids in the display came from Sandy, Sylvia and
Deb. Thank you to Sandy, Deb, and Sue
for setting up and registering. Thanks
to Bruce, Ron,
We arranged all the entries in the Arts and Crafts display
and entered it as an exhibit. It
received a 1st place ribbon and trophy in its category. Thank you to Sue, Barb,
August Road Trip Highlights – August 25
On Saturday August 25 members of MOS gathered at Lynda’s house to carpool for our annual August road trip. Seventeen members were able to participate. As we drove the 2 ½ hours to Little Frog Farm, in the rain, we weren’t too sure what kind of a day it would turn out to be. By the time we reached Rob’s greenhouse we encountered a detour due to a washed out bridge. Miraculously, as we arrived at Rob’s the rain stopped and the sun began to shine. Rob was surprised to find out that after the first car arrived there would be three more cars arriving. We too were surprised. Rob’s assortment of orchids was much larger than any we had remembered from previous trips.
While at Rob’s we noticed what seems to be a forthcoming trend in association with orchids. A number of growers are now into bromeliads. Be careful. They too can be addicting. Already there are several of us who are having to choose between an orchid and a bromeliad.
The other fascinating non-orchid plant we encountered was Pinguicula, the fungus gnat carnivore. No orchid grower should be without one of these. (More on that later.)
After Rob’s, tired and hungry, we continued on to Green Acres. Upon arriving the first order of business was the all important pit stop. Potty stop by oil lamp and scented candles? We weren’t sure this was an added treat for the customers or whether Walter and Cindy had run out of light bulbs or forgotten to pay the electric bill. We soon found out that the noise in the garage was from a generator that alternated between the house and the greenhouse.
Like a number of us in the Michiana area, Walt and Cindy were without power from the previous night’s storm. Things could have been much worse. During the previous night’s storms, within walking distance from Green Acres, forty houses had been leveled by a tornado.
Awesome!
After the pit stop we ate roast pork with all the trimmings to gather energy for the blissful stress of looking at and deciding which orchids from Walt and Cindy’s three greenhouses would be coming home with us.
Orchids Galore!
Because of the power outage the waterfall in the rainforest foyer was not running. Without lights it was hard to see the fish in the 700 gallon fish tank and the two parrots in their wall enclosure. The sad news was the passing away of the bobcat that had been with Walt and Cindy for sixteen years.
After several hours of looking, learning, and purchasing we headed for home.
Was it a good road trip? If the look on Ron’s face in the following picture is any indication - YES!
Happy Ending!
Pinguicula – the Fungus Gnat Eater
This is a
fascinating carnivorous plant. For more information log onto http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinguicula.
The following factoid was taken from the above article.
“Butterworts are usually only able to trap small
insects and those with large wing surfaces. They can also digest pollen which lands
on their leaf surface. The secretory system can only function a single time, so
that a particular area of the leaf surface can only be used to digest insects
once.”
The NEXT MEETING will be held September AT THE LIBRARY Saturday, Sept.8 at 1:30.
Mystery Plant at the Greenhouse
TIME TO ADVERTISE!!
It's time to advertise our upcoming orchid show. If everyone advertises the show in their area, we can get the word out. Below is the information on our orchid show. You could print this and take or send to various places to advertise. Thanks,
Jean Moskowiz
Fall Orchid Show
October 27-28, 2007
· Michiana Orchid Society Show and
·
· Saturday and Sunday, October 27th and 28th, 2007
· 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m
· Free Admission
· Orchids in bloom, orchid experts, growing tips, orchid sales and elaborate displays.
· American Orchid Society judged competition
· Photographers welcome
· Educational Workshops
Michiana Orchid Society Background –
Orchid enthusiasts from