Memphis Orchid Society invites you to Orchids by the River.
May 20-22
Vendors open Friday 12-5pm.
Exhibits and Vendors open Saturday 9am-5pm.
AOS Judging starts ~10am Saturday.
Exhibit and Vendors open Sunday 11am-4pm.

Memphis Botanic Garden. FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!

My last event of the year! Then I can breathe and start our greenhouse build!

Melissa, it's nice to hear from you and am looking forward to seeing an account of your greenhouse build.

I stopped by HD today to buy a fence post and strolled through the blue Phals. They must have gotten a new shipment of them in. Anyway, I spotted the orchids-in-a bag display and stopped for a look. I wound up with what was labeled as a BLC. Sherri Styles 'Sunshine'. At home, I punched Sherri Styles into OrchidWiz and got no hits. After some searching, I found out it was Rby. Sherrie Styles 'Son Shine' AM/AOS. Now the BLC. is wrong right off the bat because it has to be written Blc.. The Boffins caused it to become Rby. The Sherri to Sherrie is just carelessness on the part of the grower/shipper and what cost me the search time. The 'Sunshine' to 'Son Shine' is also carelessness but cost me no time because I don't (can't) search on clonal names. I'm beginning to think the boffins are not all that bad because even the old names have been screwed up by the growers. I think I will start a thread just about orchid names and use it as a teaching tool so at least those of us in our little group here will all be on the same page. What do you think, Ursula?

We are back to frying eggs on the sidewalk. Its' just awful out there.

Jim

Jim the heat is really awful. It's the humidity though - my eggs are poached. I was at the school garden covering up the beds with plastic this morning, and promised myself I'd leave as soon as the sun came out. It was tolerable while it was cloudy, with a nice breeze, but Hoo Boy! as soon as the sun came out I was cooked. Been in my desk chair with my feet up re-hydrating for most of the rest of the day.

Jim, I have that plant... Sherri Styles... When I googled it the first thing that came up was '10 orchids you MUST have'

Yes, it has great form and a solid yellow color. Please refer to it as Sherrie Styles or I'll find myself hunting for it again.

Jim

Jim, yes, by all means, a thread like that will be very helpful!! It is so hard to keep up with all those name changes!!
Go for it!!

And what the new abbreviations are. At one time I thought I new most of the main names, Catt., Enc., Oncid. Now...no clue
Great idea Jim, oh Grand Master of theGreat and All Powerful Orchidwiz

Yesterday I walked into my local Trader Joe's and spotted a new shipment of Orchids. How could I resist this fragrant Miltoniopsis for 16.99 !! 5 spikes, just opening!
Good growing Matsui nursery!

Oh, that is just gorgeous. So glad we can enjoy yours from afar, because we sure can't grow those here.

I can keep them going here for 2 to 3 years, then I lose them too. They really resent sitting in old bark and want to be repotted yearly, I think.
It would cost me a lot more to buy this plant at a show!!

Sure would. Between Trader Joe's and our Apopka trips, I can hardly bring myself to buy orchids at the shows any more. Just too much money!

Yes, show that beauty often, Ursula, because we will never see a live one down here.

Jim

Love that one , Ursula!
We can't grow them in Florida because it's too hot and humid during the summer???...
Elaine, do we need to schedule an Apopka run sometime ?

They are not that thrilled with our hot NJ Summers either. Heh, we will enjoy it for a couple of years....

Well . . must admit I like to make our Apopka runs in the fall or spring when it's not so hot, Lindsey.

Also, after summer I'll know what made it through the ravages of the weather and other summer joys so then I can buy to fill in the gaps. Try as I might, I usually lose a few around September or so. (although I am optimistic my new spray regimen will help a lot) We also have been known to bring pathogens home with us from Apopka, no more likely season for that to happen than now.

It's a very disappointing exercise trying to grow cool-growing orchids in Florida. Even Jim with more controlled conditions in his OC has no joy with them.

Ursula very beautiful. We can not grow these in Georgia either. Heat and humidity would kill it in a second.

I wish I lived closer in the area to you guys. I would love to go on a Apopka trip. But I only live about 4 hours for Carter and Holmes orchids. I go there to buy supplies and only the orchids they have on sale. If you buy on line from them the plants seem to be small for the money and the shipping is crazy. They also charge a packing and handling fee.

C & H is crazy expensive. Not me.

You're right, Ken. I've bought a collection of orchids twice from C & H and they were very nice orchids fairly priced, but unless I can put together a big order, their shipping and handling fees are out of line. They do have some unusual varieties - my cool Thunderstorm orchid came from them - and some good sales. Now, I let my kids buy me gifts from them if it's something I can't find locally but I do much prefer to order from growers as close to me as possible and of course to buy locally whenever I can.

The Thunderstorm orchid has yet another spike putting on buds, in honor of TS Colin. It's the Energizer Bloomer.

, to think I used to run to C & H every few weeks when I lived nearby. In those days their prices were like you are paying in Apopka now.

Today is Repotting&Sale at Silva Orchids! I will take a ride down and see what's cooking!