President Announces Culture Club Gathering on May 21

Big news for later in the merry month of May! The Culture Club is an informal extra meeting on occasional Sundays during the year. On Sunday, May 21, a Culture Club meeting will be held at Orchids and Tropicals, LLC, located at 5720 Avenue M, Santa Fe, Texas 77510. Laurie and Sheila Skov, proprietors, are long-time members of HOS and have graciously offered their space for a get together in their “jungle.”

All HOS members are welcome to come during the hours of 1 to 4pm on that day. We will have snacks and sodas and a brief program at 2pm. Please come to mingle with other members and browse and shop at this lovely emporium. You will receive a separate emailed invitation with directions and more information prior to the event.

Thank you to everyone who attended the April 13 meeting. It was gratifying to see so many people come even though the date was changed at the last minute. More than 40 members attended, and several people were attending their first meeting. We learned a lot from member Rick Hepler’s discussion and demo of his well-grown Paphiopedilums. Everyone enjoyed all the show-and-tell plants, and the silent auction and raffle winners were happy to go home with new plants!

The raffle plant numbers were amplified by a sample of about 75 unnamed Cattleyas that were donated to the society by the family of a gentleman who had been tending them for many years. I appreciate Ken Whitmire’s efforts to gather the plants and keep them healthy to share at the raffle table.