May Message from the President

Happy May Day!  It's hard to believe it is May already.  Spring is certainly flying by.  

A couple of important items to start

1)  Reminder - The Northeast Judging Center auction is this Saturday, May 3rd in Northborough, MA.  Details, along with an auction preview list of plants, can be found here.  In addition to some great plants to bid on, you are welcome to stay to watch the monthly AOS judging.

nejcaos.org - Judges Auction

Annual Judges Auction

2)  Yes it's May but.........it is still too early to start putting your orchids outside, with the exception of maybe standard Cymbidiums or some Dendrobiums.   If you do put plants outside watch the forecast as we're still seeing frost here and there overnight.  It is a good time though to start prepping your outdoor growing area.  I know mine needs a lot of clean-up!

3)  Proposal to modify the NSOS bylaws to move bi-annual elections to May rather than December.  This would mean that the December 2025 election would be moved to May 2026.  I will provide more detail at the meeting Sunday, but the reasoning behind moving the elections is to avoid a change in the board so close to the annual show when so many activities preparing for the show are already in flight.

We are fortunate to have Joe Silva of Silva Orchids as our speaker this month so please make sure to attend!

As always, we'll have a fabulous fundraiser table to round out the meeting.

See you Sunday!

April Message from the President

Lycaste Belle Ribicoff, named in honor of our centenarian member, has bloomed!

Greetings all...Spring has sprung.  The days are finally getting longer (though the dinner hour continues to sneak up on me so that dinner gets started late!) and many of your plants may be getting started on new growth.

If you have Catasetums you may be tempted to start watering or repot them.  WAIT!  You need to continue to withhold water until the new grow is a good 3-4" tall.  At that point it is safe to start watering.  If they are busting out of their current pots, it's also time to repot.  Just be careful of those new roots when you do.  Cycnoches, which are in the same alliance, depend on those new roots to survive.  The roots on the older pseudobulbs die off, and you may only have the new growth continuing on.

After plants have finished flowering and begun new growth is the best time to repot, if needed.  Remember not to jump up more than an inch, or two for fast growers, in pot size.  There are excellent culture sheets available on the American Orchid Society website.

For our April meeting this coming Sunday, our NSOS secretary and student AOS judge Karen Timko will be presenting her talk on Orchid Basics.  This is great opportunity for our members, new and not new, to learn some valuable information about how to grow that neat plant (or 3, or 7, or......) that you purchased at our show   as well has an opportunity to share tips and tricks amongst the group.

Remember to bring your blooming plants for our show table. Hopefully Lyc Belle Ribicoff will still be fresh come Sunday so you can see it in person.

And don't forget, our fundraiser table!

See you Sunday!

Ginna

Kudos to NHOS Winners

Awarded at the New Hampshire Orchid Society Show this past weekend - 3/28/2025.  

• Ginna Plude - David O Moreton Memorial Award - Best Pleurothalid - Lepanthes caprimulgus

• Ginna Plude - Best Terrarium Design 

• Ginna Plude - AOS Flower Quality Award (83 pts) - Masdevallia Citrus Frost 'Mountain Sunburst'

• Barb Putko - Best Windowsill Grown - Paph Tony Semple