Claude Hamilton to Speak at March 5 Meeting
Best known as a breeder of Broughtonias, Brassavola, Encyclia, Myrmecophila and Laelia species and hybrids, the orchid legend Claude Hamilton will join us in person on Thursday, March 5, to talk about Myrmecophila (Shomburgkia).
The meeting begins at 7:30 pm at First Christian Church, 1601 Sunset Boulevard, Houston.
If you haven’t already ordered your official Houston Orchid Society name badge, you can now order yours online.
About Claude Hamilton
Claude is a 1968 graduate of the Jamaica School of Agriculture. He has been growing orchids since 1963 (for over 60 years). He is a former President of the Jamaica Orchid Society and a life member of the Jamaica Horticultural Society. He is also a Life Member of the Dobermann Pinscher Club of Jamaica and a former Secretary of the Jamaica Kennel Club. He has been an Accredited Judge of the Jamaica Orchid Society since 1986 and of the American Orchid Society since 1994 and is affiliated with the Florida Caribbean Judging Center of the American Orchid Society in Miami. He has lectured and judged orchids in over 34 countries. At age 14, he was one of the founders of the St. James Horticultural Society in Montego Bay, Jamaica as well as a Founding Member of the Montego Bay Orchid Club.
He is well known as a hybridizer (breeder) of orchids and lectures on orchids, orchid culture, and orchid judging. Perhaps best known as a breeder of Broughtonias, Brassavola, Encyclia, Myrmecophila, Laelia species, and their hybrids. He has also bred award-winning orchids of several genera. His hybrids have won hundreds of awards at orchid events in several countries. He has reproduced many rare orchid species from seed to aid in their conservation.
Claude and his wife, Elizabeth (Betty), founded Hamlyn Orchids Ltd. In Jamaica in 1983. They have three adult children. Most of the orchids grown at Hamlyn Orchids were propagated from seed in their own facilities in Kingston. They have exported orchids mainly to the USA, as well as to several other countries, including Africa, Australia, Asia, Europe, Central and South America, and many Caribbean islands. In 1993, Claude was presented with a special award by the Jamaica Horticultural Society for his contributions to horticulture in Jamaica and was made an Honorary Life Member. In May 2017, Claude was presented with an award for excellence in hybridizing by the American Orchid Society. He is a Member of the Orchid Hybrid Registration Committee (OHRAG) of the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) in the UK.
His hybrids have been recognized with over 400 awards from the American Orchid Society, including 269 for plants he has personally exhibited.
He is an amateur photographer and acquired some of his skills while at High School at Cornwall College in Montego Bay, Jamaica. There he learnt not only how to take photographs but learnt how to process film and to print and develop photographic images on photo paper. He has photographed AOS award-winning orchids at shows in Jamaica for many years, as well as in Florida, Guatemala, and Trinidad and Tobago.
Claude “retired” in 2024 and closed Hamlyn Orchids Ltd. and migrated to the U.S. Most of the inventory at Hamlyn Ochids Ltd. was sold locally in Jamaica. Some were exported to Bredren Orchids, LLC., in Apopka, Florida, which his eldest son, Phiillip, owns. A significant number of plants, including in vitro seedlings, were sold to The Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden in Miami for reproduction and the establishment of trees in Miami, Florida.
Unable to fully retire, Claude has now opened an orchid laboratory in Central Florida. He continues hybridizing and judges and lectures mainly in the USA.