The February 14th speaker is Andy Phillips and his topic is “Phragmipediums and Their Culture”

He lives in a large town in the south of England called Basingstoke, situated in the county of Hampshire. He has been growing Phrags for over twenty-five years or more as an amateur grower. He is a past chairman of the British Paph Society and past-president and chairman of the North Hampshire Orchid Society which is his local orchid group. He has lectured all over the UK and also in America, he is a British Orchid Council Judge and has a small lab in which he spends time hybridizing Phragmipediums.

Mr. Phillips will be one of the speakers featured at the 2010 Paph Forum held in Washington D.C. at the National Arboretum on February 13, the day before our general meeting. A number of his fine copper orchid sculptures will be for sale at our meeting! VOS members may bring plants to sell as they wish to this meeting.

Also note that the date will be February 14th instead of our usual third Sunday.

The annual Virginia Orchid Society Show & Sale will be held this year starting at noon on Friday, February 26th and runs through Sunday the 28th. Once again the fine folks at Strange's Florist in Short Pump will be our host. Their large family run florist and garden center is a great location to showcase the beauty of orchids in natural light. Strange's will be offering free orchid repotting during the show.

This year's theme is "Orchids in Paris". Come and see how the visiting societies from Virginia and neighboring states interpret this year's theme with plants and props. Also as usual, we will have some talented individuals with their own displays.

The "Orchid Gala" will be held Friday night this year from 6 to 9pm. You will get to see the displays after they have been judged and awarded from earlier in the day. We will have live music, hor’derves, wine, and beer for your enjoyment. An admission fee of $5 for the gala will be collected at the door.

Please check back in early February for a complete schedule of events and a listing of vendors. We are adding some new vendors this year in both plants and related items. The show is free and open to the public to enjoy. Please visit Strange's website for their hours of operation.

Show Docs for Exhibitors

Feel free to email any questions you may have on Orchid culture and always you are welcome as a guest at our meetings to see what we are all about. jerry@vaorchidsociety.org will put you in touch with the past president of the society. We have all levels of experience in the society and a mentoring program for those who are just starting out with orchids.

The Virginia Orchid Society is based in Richmond and we meet the third Sunday from September to May at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden.

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