February News

Wow! It's been warm for winter. Hope you all are taking advantage of it and getting outside!

Our next meeting on February 2nd at the Mason District Governmental Center at 7pm will be about growing indoors under lights. We will also discuss light in general and how to calculate light in your home.

If you are growing indoors under lights, please send me a photo or bring them to the meeting so we can see your set up and what you like about it. We have a web page from our last discussion on growing Orchids under lights which you may want to read if you haven't had a chance. I'm going to be doing some handouts in an effort to see if I can finally get some of this math stuck in my head regarding footcandles, lumens, watts and how they are related. I will create a web page for us with links to various sites I have found doing research for this topic.

The 2012 Topic Survey is up and ready for your input! Please vote on your favorites and provide suggestions. All suggestions are appreciated. We will have the Annual Orchid Swap and the Holiday Party so you don't have to add those as a suggestion. Be sure to click the Finish button so your vote will be counted.

We need a volunteer for drinks. Also, if anyone has an IPad, could you please bring it to the meeting? We may want to pop out to a website during the presentation. Guess I need to get one eh? :-)

We always want to see your healthy blooming plants for our show table. Don't forget them. You do not have to be a member to attend, visitors are always welcome! Come see what our meetings are like. You'll learn something at every meeting—we have novices as well as master growers who love to share their knowledge.

January News

Our January 5th meeting at the Mason District Governmental Center at 7pm will be an ORCHID RX. Find out what your orchid needs to bloom and thrive. If you have a plant that has not been doing well you may need to learn more about it's culture. Bring in plants you have that need help. Find out if it's a matter of light, temperature, moisture or medium that may be the culprit. If you know the name of your orchid, you may want to do some research before the meeting to learn more about the species (or parents if it's a hybrid) and find out about it's normal habitat.

I need volunteers for snacks or drinks as I forgot to put out the sign up sheet at our holiday party! I think we were too busy eating all the wonderful treats everyone brought.

Does anyone have an IPAD or other type of tablet they could bring to the meeting so we would have internet access? Please let me know. Gordon had a website he wanted to share with us for help with this meeting and it would be better to have internet access for this.

We always want to see your healthy blooming plants for our show table. Don't forget them. You do not have to be a member to attend, visitors are always welcome! Come see what our meetings are like. You'll learn something at every meeting—we have novices as well as master growers who love to share their knowledge.

December News

Our Annual Holiday Gift Exchange and Potluck will be held Tuesday, December 13th at the Mason District Governmental Center at 7pm. Please bring a dish or drinks to share. The gift exchange is the most fun when you bring orchid-themed items with a value of $15-$20. There are always a few favorites that everyone tries to steal which provide a lot of laughs. Plants, books, calendars, orchid pots, notecards, or supplies! You can't go wrong with an orchid plant though! Al's Greenhouse, Orchid Enterprise or Orchids for You are sure to have some great plants or check with Quarter Acre Orchids for an outstanding selection of supplies.

Non-members are welcome to come, it's a great way to meet our members and socialize.  If you do plan to come, please bring a gift so you can participate in the gift exchange, it's truly fun and never dull!

If you are on Facebook, please join our group!! www.facebook.com/groups/hhosva/

November News

Our November 8th meeting at the Mason District Governmental Center at 7pm will be about FRAGRANT ORCHIDS. Prepare yourself for a smelly meeting! While many orchids smell best during the warm daylight hours, some are smelly at night too. We'll have a variety that hopefully will have some fragrance left for you to get an idea of what they are like. You may already be familiar with some of these. My home is delightful right now with some orchids loaned to us from Orchids for You in Vienna, and Ken Meir will be bringing a number of his from Orchid Enterprise.

We always want to see your healthy blooming plants for our show table. Don't forget them. You do not have to be a member to attend, visitors are always welcome! Come see what our meetings are like. You'll learn something at every meeting—we have novices as well as master growers who love to share their knowledge.

September News

Welcome back from a truly freaky summer! Our September 13th meeting at the Mason District Governmental Center at 7pm will be about POTTING MEDIUMS. we will share what types of things are bringing the best results for various types of growers and where to purchase.

We will also be discussing the upcoming NCOS Show and organizing Volunteers and Exhibitors.

We always want to see your healthy blooming plants for our show table. Don't forget them. You do not have to be a member to attend, visitors are always welcome! Come see what our meetings are like. You'll learn something at every meeting—we have novices as well as master growers who love to share their knowledge.