Volume 27, Number 1September, 2004

www.geneseeorchid.org

WELL, SUMMER IS DEFINITELY ON THE WANE, or then again, maybe it isn’t!Soggy as it may have been (ever remember waiting until halfway throughAugust just to get ripe homegrown tomatoes? …), this summer has been a

busy one for the GROS.

WE’VE MOVED TO A NEW MEETING PLACE! We willopen our orchid season at the Jewish Community Center ofGreater Rochester on Edgewood Avenue.We’ll have morespace for our meetings and library, with a separate room for

our Beginners’ Meetings. See all of the details inside inthe President’s Corner and with the map, p. 5.

Our first speaker of the orchid season will beClaudio Rossi of Cloud's Orchids, who will present a

program on "Rupicolous Laelias", those rock-dwellingminiatures of the Laelia genus.

A frequent participant in our annual Spring showsand a popular presenter over the years, Claudio is an AOS judge who

along with his partner, runs a 39,000 sq. ft. nursery in Jordan Station on theNiagara peninsula in Ontario, Canada. He supplies orchids to the metropoli-

tan Toronto area and has a web store at www.cloudsorchids.com. Claudiois interested in many orchid genera, although he is probably best knownfor his expertise in Paphiopedilums andPhragmipediums. Claudio will be bringing

plants to sell at the meeting. You may pre-order by using the order form on his web-site; the prices in $US will cover the import fees without further shipping charges.Just make sure you indicate that you are a GROS member when you order.

We will be taking Claudio to dinner on September 13th; time and location are still un-certain. If you'd like to join us, please call Jeff Snyder at 377-5895 by that afternoon forreservations. The Show Table will be raring to go at our new meeting place, so don’tforget your flowering plants. We’ll see you there!

IN THIS ISSUE:

Exec. Board NewsPresident’s Corner

Library NewsCalendar 2004-5By-laws Changed

Map to JCCMembership Renewal

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Beginners Meet ing 6 :30 p .m.k Soc ial "Hour" 7 :00 - 7 :15 p .m .k Meeting begins at 7:15 p.m.Senior Adult Lounge at the Jewish Community Center, 1200 Edgewood Avenue, Rochester, NY

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Presidents CornerWelcome to the start of a new orchid season.Things are different already!

New Meeting LocationWe will be meeting at a new location, the JewishCommunity Center (JCC), 1200 EdgewoodAve. Our general meeting will be held in theSenior Adult Lounge at the JCC. The meetingwill start at 7:15 pm. Beginner’s meetings willbe held at 6:30 pm in Room 1 at the JCC.

Only Kosher food is allowed in the building.Several simple rules can help us comply withthis request from our hosts. No pork products.No mixing of milk products and meat prod-ucts. No shellfish ever, and no meat productsunless specified as Kosher. Since what we bringto the meetings for refreshments is usuallybaked goods, these rules should not cause muchchange as long as there is no lard used in any ofthe cooking.

Executive Board MeetingsAnother change is that an Executive BoardMeeting is scheduled in conjunction with everymeeting, usually the week before. These meet-ings will be cancelled if they are not needed,usually by e-mail. As usual, the Executive Boardshould attend, but everyone interested is in-vited.

The next Executive Board Meeting will takeplace Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2004 at the home ofyour President, Jeanne Kaeding, 161 CrosmanTerrace, Rochester, at 7:30 pm. Call if you needdirections, 442-3202. The topic of discussionwill be the budget for this next year.

By-LawsThe updated Bylaws will be published in theNewsletter. Substantial work was done on themlast year and final votes made. Thanks go toJudy Ekberg for completion of this task.

Fall Orchid ShowsWe have two orchid shows we support in thearea this fall, Central New York Orchid Society(Syracuse) and Niagara Frontier Orchid Society(Buffalo.) Please think of either setting up or tak-ing down one of our club exhibits at theseshows.

Beginner’s MeetingThe Beginner’s Meeting will start promptly at6:30p.m. in Room 1 at the JCC. The topicsthis month will be: 1) a discussion of general or-chid care for beginners, and 2) discussion of anupcoming beginner group project.

- Jeanne Kaeding

Executive BoardMeets in JuneI have put in the numbers we talked about at themeeting Sunday into my budget spreadsheet.As you can see, the income and expense arenot the same amount. A big change is the showbudget. We changed the expense from $6800 to$8500, an increase of $1700, and increased ourincome expectation by only $1000. Anotherbig factor is the reduction in income expectedfrom memberships from $4000 to $3300.

The budget numbers for our 2004 show aresomewhat misleading, as the expenses for lastyear,$8000, included the banquet (as did the in-come), but the budgeted expenses, $6800, didnot. So perhaps this year's budget is more ac-curate.

We have done well controlling expenses andgenerating income. The Show did better thanbudgeted, many of our expenses were not asgreat as budgeted. Our treasury is likely to bethe same or slightly fatter than last year at thistime. There was a request at the Board Meetingto give a one-time increase to the show budgetof ~$2000 to see if we could improve atten-dance. This may be the year to try this.However, I would like to "balance" the budgetfirst, then add on the $2000.

So I think we need more discussion of the bud-get. Any ideas on cutting expenses particularly,please let me know. Thank you all for your par-ticipation. I think the discussion on the pro-posed Summer Orchid Fair was a good exampleof how the different points of view all contributeto good decisions and a healthy society.

- Jeanne Kaeding

May Meeting NotesThe meeting was called to order by JackieCannizzaro. She thanked those who broughtrefreshments. Judy Ekberg gave a treasurer’s re-port: we have a balance of $18,289.52.

Joe Kunisch presented the slate of officers forelection: President: Jeanne Kaeding; ExecutiveVice President: Jim Marlow; Program VicePresident: Jeff Snyder; Treasurer: Judy Ekberg;Secretary: Kim Hober. The vote was unani-mous. Jeff Snyder nominated Joe Kunisch asMember-at-Large, and he was elected.

Judy Ekberg presented the additional change inthe by-laws (article 10), which was approved.

Scott Conley suggested that GROS donate$700 to the various judging centers who sentjudges for our spring show. $200 was also sug-gested as a donation to the LambertonConservatory. John Ellenberger moved wevote the donations as a package, seconded bySue Flanders. The motion carried and the do-nations were approved.

Dottie Daly reported on the picnic for nextmonth. It will be at Pond View shelter atMendon Ponds Park. Come at noon, eat at 1pm. She asked members to sign up and bring adish to pass.

Kathy Kluge presented our speaker for theevening, Joane Molenock, owner of TheHollow Orchids and Herbs. New business fol-lowed the presentation:

Ron Uhlig discussed the prospect of movingour meeting location to a larger space. He islooking into the JCC.

Kathy Buggie announced that Joan Burnhamis looking for donations of mature, warm grow-ing plants for St John’s Home for their indoor“garden.” Plants may be left at the security deskin the south wing.

Respectfully submitted,Judy Ekberg (filling in for Kim Hober)

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GROS LibrarianSeeks SuccessorA new year is about to begin for the GROSand we look forward to the new surroundingsat the JCC! I was not part of the move this timeand appreciate everyone who took the time todo it. It is a major undertaking! As of yet, Ihave not seen our latest “digs,” especially thepart for our library materials, but rest assured,we will be “open for business” at the firstmeeting in September.

I want to put out some thoughts and also a re-quest at this time for someone who might feelan interest in becoming the next GROSLibrarian. After 18 most interesting and deeplyrewarding years on the job, I plan to retire at theend of the season. Now would be the perfecttime to “learn the ropes” as you work with meand Dean for a year. You can experience the re-wards and challenges the job has to offer.

This would be a great opportunity for a coupleor for two people who would like to share theresponsibility. Keeping this in mind, I have de-layed ordering books so “someone else” couldbe part of that process. If interested, please callme at 865-2081.

- Carolyn Edwards, Librarian

Librarian SeeksReturn of MaterialsI am putting out a request for the following pe-riodicals that are missing from our library ma-terials that need to be sent out for binding.

The Orchid Digest1993 - July/Aug./Sept. issue Vol. 57, No. 31999 - April/May/June issue - Vol. 63, No. 22003 - April/May/June issue - Vol. 67, No. 2

Orchids (the AOS publication)September, 2003 issue

I would like to have these periodicals bound,and before ordering replacements, I open therequest to you folks in case you can “spare acopy.” This would be easier on our budget.

Also, there are still items out from last season!Attempts on my part to get them returned havebeen futile. If this situation applies to you,pleasecontact me so we can make arrangements for thereturn of these materials. We would like to havethem for the opening meeting - especially thevideos and periodicals. If you are experiencinga hardship and it is a problem, call me. Theseitems are costly to replace.

- Carolyn Edwards, Librarian

Executive Board Meetings at Jeanne Kaeding’s*

September 7, 2004 Executive Board meeting (Tuesday)September 27, 2004 Executive Board meetingNovember 1, 2004 Executive Board meetingNovember 29, 2004 Executive Board meetingDecember 30, 2004 Executive Board meeting (Thursday)January 31, 2005 Executive Board meetingFebruary 28, 2005 Executive Board meetingMarch 28, 2005 Executive Board meetingApril 25, 2005 Executive Board meetingJune 4 or 5, 2005 Executive Board meeting just before picnic

* 161 Crosman Terrace, Rochester, all at 7:30 pm.

Fall Orchid Shows

October 1-3, 2004—Central New York Orchid Society Show,Syracuse, NY.October 15-17. 2004—Niagara Frontier OS Show, Buffalo, NY.

November 12-14, 2004—Niagara Region OS Show, St. Catherines,Ontario, Canada.

GROS Calendar for 2004-2005 Regular Meetings at JCC*

September 13,2004 regular meetingOctober 10, 2004 GROS auction - SundayNovember 8, 2004 regular meetingDecember 5, 2004 banquet - Sunday evening, location TBAJanuary 3, 2005 regular meetingFebruary 7, 2005 regular meetingMarch 7, 2005 regular meetingMar. 31- Apr. 3, 2005 GROS Spring Show - Eisenhart Aud.April 4, 2005 regular meetingMay 2, 2005 regular meetingJune 4 or 5, 2005 picnic at local park - location TBA

*unless noted otherwise

A live gardening program hosted by

Michael Warren Thomas

WYSL 1040 AMSaturdays from 9-10 a.m. New! Live on the Web at

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4

GROS Lists FinalChanges to OurConstitution, Bylaws

The following are the changes as approved atthe meetings in April and May 2004.Changes/additions are in bold; deleted text isnot shown. Bylaws in their entirety will beavailable at the September meeting.

ARTICLE 3 - OFFICERS AND DUTIES

SECTION 2: The Executive Board shall consistof the elected officers and the most recentpast President who is still a member of theSociety.

SECTION 3:(a)President: The President shall have gen-eral supervision over all affairs of the Society.The President shall preside at the regularmeetings of the Society, and at the ExecutiveBoard meetings. The President shall appointall committee chair persons, not otherwisedesignated in the Bylaws,and shall be a mem-ber ex officio of all committees except theNominating Committee.The President shallsign or authorize another officer to sign alllegal contracts. The President shall also beauthorized to sign checks in the absence ofthe Treasurer.

(b)Executive Vice President: In the absenceor disability of the President, the Presidentialduties shall be performed by the ExecutiveVice President.The Executive Vice Presidentshall supervise the preparation of meeting fa-cilities and hospitality arrangements for theSociety's meetings.

(d)Secretary: The Secretary shall keep a writ-ten record of all business transacted at meet-ings of the Society and of the ExecutiveBoard. The Secretary shall submit minutesof all meetings in a timely fashion for pub-lication in the newsletter for membershipapproval. The Secretary shall prepare cor-respondence requested by members of theExecutive Board. The Secretary shall main-tain a written inventory of all property ofthe Society and its location.

(e)Treasurer: The Treasurer shall be custo-dian of the funds of the Society, shall receiveall dues and other monies due it, shall signchecks and disburse funds as authorized bythe Society or by the Executive Board, keepa correct account of all monies received andexpended, and shall give a financial report tothe members at each regular meeting. TheTreasurer shall maintain a list of members ingood standing and submit the list for pub-lication in the newsletter each Septemberfor the October issue.

ARTICLE 4 - MEMBERSHIP

SECTION 4: A return by mail membership formshall be published in the April and/or Maynewsletter. Membership forms shall be avail-able at all meetings and public functions.

ARTICLE 5 - MEETINGS

SECTION 1: Regular meetings shall be heldon the first Monday following the first Sundayof the month when practicable Septemberthrough May. There shall be a minimum ofsix (6) business meetings including theAnnual meeting.

SECTION 2: The Executive Board will meetprior to the first regular meeting of the yearto prepare, a proposed calendar and budgetand make other necessary plans. TheExecutive Board shall meet on other occa-sions at the call of the President.

SECTION 3: The Annual Meeting shall be heldin May for the election and installation of of-ficers, the receipt of reports, approval ofcharitable donations, and other business asmay arise.

ARTICLE 6 - FINANCES

SECTION 1: Committee chairpersons antici-pating expenses greater than the amount-budgeted shall submit a request to thePresident for approval.

SECTION 2: The newly appointed AuditingCommittee shall receive the Society’s fi-nancial records for auditing purposes byJuly 1. The audit is to be completed by July

15, at which time the report shall be pre-sented to the new President, and the newTreasurer will receive the books and a copyof the report.

ARTICLE 7 - STANDING COMMITTEES

Standing Committees shall be theNominating Committee and AuditingCommittee. Other Committees may beformed as the President and Executive Boardshall deem necessary to carry out the objec-tive and purpose of the Society.

ARTICLE 10 - DISSOLUTION

In case of the dissolution of the Society, anyunexpended funds shall be given to theAmerican Orchid Society,16700 AOS Lane,Delray Beach,FL 22446-4351.Dispositionof any books, equipment and other inven-tory items,or proceeds from their sale,shallbe donated to either the AOS or anothertax-exempt organization determined bythe current Executive Board.

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Parkside OrchidNursery to HostPleurothallid FestivalThe first Pleurothallid Festival will be held atParkside Orchid Nursery in Ottsville, PAFriday, October 1, 6:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. andSaturday, October 2, 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Special guest vendors will be Hoosier Orchids,J&L Orchids and Woodstream Orchids. Anopening reception and party on Friday eveningwill be highlighted by a travelogue presenta-tion and the first opportunity to explore thesales area.

A series of lectures and workshops will be heldthroughout the day on Saturday, in addition tothe sale of plants and supplies.

Details for the event are available by calling610.847-8039, or on the Web at the website,www.parksideorchids.com

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GROS BoardMeeting Minutes The GROS Board met on June 6, 2004, priorto the Annual Picnic. Attendees: JeanneKaeding, Jackie Cannizzaro, Kathy Kluge, KimHober, Judy Ekberg, Jeff Snyder, Joe Kunisch,Phil Matt, Jim Marlow, Jon and DodyEllenberger, Ron and Sandy Uhlig.

New Meeting Place:The board discussed moving to a new locationfor GROS meetings. It was agreed that wewould move to the JCC for several reasons.Judy Ekberg is coordinating the negotiationsand move. If this space does not work out, wewill be able to return to the Temple.

GROS Show 2005: The show dates have been set for March 31-April 3, 2005.

Summer Orchid Fair:There was much discussion about the upcom-ing Orchid Fair being organized by Jim Marlow.GROS was asked to sponsor and/or partici-pate in the fair. This invitation prompted muchdiscussion about the organizations role in com-mercial ventures and the basic mission of theclub. It was agreed that this year GROS wouldnot participate, but that the topic would be fur-ther discussed in future board meetings andeventually possibly brought to the member-ship.

Budget 2004-2005:The budget was passed and will be available forthe membership to view in the Septembernewsletter. Fine-tuning of budget categorieswas discussed.

Other Business:A date for the fall auction and the Decembermeeting/dinner still needs to be decided. JudyEkberg agreed to redesign the GROS brochure.The board also discussed having a standingboard meeting the Monday prior to the GROSmeetings as necessary.

Kim Hober, Secretary

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GROS Moves Meeting Site to Larger Venue at theJewish Community Center - 1200 Edgewood AvenueOur new meeting place is the JCC of Greater Rochester, located in the Rochester suburb ofBrighton. It’s a very accessible place, close to major expressways and very easy to find.When you enter the JCC grounds from Edgewood Avenue, please bear to your LEFT andenter the parking lot to the left of the main building - careful over the speed bumps. Theentrance we will use faces this parking lot. We’ll be meeting in the Senior Adult Lounge. TheBeginner’s Meeting is in Room 1, right next door.

6

GROS MeetingTopics for 2004-5Although we are still working through manydetails, the GROS has signed several speakersfor our meeting in the new orchid season. Thisfar, we have set the following meeting topics:

Sept. 12, 2004 - Claudio Rossi (Cloud’sOrchids) - “Rupicolous Laelias.”

Nov. 8, 2004 - Roger Cole (Arbec Orchids) -“Mini Cattleyas.”

Feb. 7, 2005 - Howard Ginsberg (BedfordOrchids) - "Golden Peoker, Golden Parent"

Mar. 7, 2005 - Dennis D'Alessandro (GypsyGlen Orchids) - "The Orchids of Ecuadorand Bolivia"

We will announce other programs as the sched-ule develops.

- Jeff SnyderProgram Chairman

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Newsletter ListsAd RatesGot something orchid-related that you’d like tosell or trade? It can be plants, spare pottingmedia, orchid pots, fluorescent grow tubes,light fixtures - almost anything! It costs very lit-tle to advertise in The Orchid Collection, and theproceeds go to help defray your Society’s op-erating expenses. Here are our current rates:

8 lines FREE to members $10 non-mem.1/8 page $5 members $15 non-mem.1/4 page $10 members $25 non-mem.1/2 page $15 members $35 non-mem.Full page $30 members $65 non-mem.

The GROS provides design services gratis forall members’advertisements. Just drop an emailto newsletter@geneseeorchid.org and we’ll takecare of the rest.

Newsletter CopyDeadlines Set for2004-5 SeasonIn order to facilitate the scheduling of articlesand advertising for the upcoming orchid sea-son,I have set copy Orchid Collection deadlinesfor the year. Please note that if you know youwill be sending me something for the newslet-ter, call or email ahead of time so that I canplan to save space for your material. It can bevery dificult to try and “squeeze in” a lastminute article when the rest of the newsletterhas already been laid out and is ready to go.

You can send me email or articles and ads atnewsletter@geneseeorchid.org. You can alsophone me at 288-7025 and leave a message.

I transmit the newsletter file to the printer elec-tronically.However,as is the case with any printjob, we are subject to the workload and avail-ability of the printer’s shop. In addition, mail-ing the newsletters involves a special trip to thebulk mailing unit at the main post office; this fa-cility is open during regular business hours onweekdays only.

2004-2005 Copy DeadlinesOctober issue: Sept. 20November r issue: Oct. 20December issue: Nov. 20January issue: Dec. 19February issue: Jan. 20March issue: Feb. 20April issue: Mar. 20May issue: Apr. 20June issue: May 20

Don’t hesitate to send in something for thenewsletter! Your experiences with growingthat special orchid, or with using differentgrowing media or methods are typical of thekinds of things that other GROS membersmight enjoy reading. We provide editingand other help - just ask!

- Phil Matt

Editor, The Orchid Collection

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Auction ChairmanNeeds Your HelpOur October Auction is just around the corner!As I plan to “retire” from my Auction dutiesafter this season, I would like to take on an "ap-prentice" for this year's auction. I will do mostof the work while my apprentice helps andlearns the ropes for next year. The apprenticewill run the auction next year. I am also lookingfor other helpers for the auction.

It’s really a lot of fun to organize our annual auc-tion! The Auction Chairman is responsible forchoosing orchid vendors, ordering plants, set-ting up the auction site, and of course, makingsure that the usual auction doings are fun for allGROS members. Everyone always has a greattime at our annual Auction, and the orchid bar-gains, banter and bidding are fast and furious.Please see me at the September meeting, or callat 377-5895 if you’d like to help.

- Jeff Snyder

Auction2004

Sunday, Oct. 10th

Beautiful plants! M Wonderful food! M Bargains for all!

Save the Date!

Details in the next newsletter…

- Orchid Addict, from Page 7Give me some kind of sign that will help mekeep going on as she plans to add an automatic misting system, 4000 watt grow lights and areverse osmosis water treatment system to thegreenhouse. Or, if I am still not seeing wherethis will end up, maybe you could suggest an in-tervention strategy or a therapist who special-izes in these things.

I know you must be out there. There is no waythese people could be surviving without thesupport of others like me.

- Steve HayesOriginally published

in the Maine Orchid Society Newsletter

7

How to Care forBare-Root Plants

Many vendors sell bare-root orchidplants. Sometimes this is just to savemoney on shipping. Plants are also

sold this way to make available a division thathas just been separated from a larger plant orthat has been recently imported and has nothad time to be properly potted up and re-es-tablished.

Foreign orchid vendors are forced to sellbare-rooted plants because the UnitedStates customs and agricultural regula-

tions require that all potting media be removedbefore the plant is allowed to enter the country.By the time they are offered for sale here in theUS, these plants have suffered doubly: not onlyhave their roots been damaged, but in mostcases they were packed and shipped manyweeks before being sold.

The weakened condition in which manyof these plants reach us should not deterbuyers from the opportunity to add un-

usual species or desireable plants to their col-lections. With a few special techniquesbare-root plants can be revitalized quickly andwill be growing normally in a short time.

One trick used by orchid growers is tosoak stressed plants in lukewarm sugarwater for 20-60 minutes prior to pot-

ting. Use one tablespoon of sugar per gallon ofwater. In addition, I add Superthrive™ at a rateof 20 drops per gallon. Sometimes I even soakthe medium in a Superthrive™ solution. A sec-ond method is to place the plant in a sealedZip-loc™ bag with a small amount of moist-ened sphagnum moss. Place the bag under thebench or in a low-light setting with intermedi-ate temperatures. Do not expose these bags todirect sunlight. When root initiation occurs,pot the plants. You can cover the newly pottedplants with a plastic bag to maintain a higher hu-midity and thereby reduce dehydration.

Plants that have almost no roots can bepotted in pure sphagnum,which seemsto cause plants to throw out new roots.

Or, use sphagnum mixed with a little perliteand tree fern. Be careful using this method, asmany species cannot tolerate the constant mois-ture supplied by moss and must be potted in a

different medium as soon as root initiation oc-curs. Don't make the same fatal mistake I oncedid by potting up plants with a sphagnum mossball around the root mass.Although this is a finemethod during the growing season, root rot isthe almost inevitable result during the fall andwinter. With a little ingenuity and care, bare-root plants will respond quickly if well cared forwhen first taken into your collection.

Growing in my home I have found thatalmost all imported, bare-root plantsare growing normally within a year and

a half of obtaining them.Many bloom within thefirst year. Good luck to all!

- Hugh McGuinnessGreater New York Orchid Society

via the Staten Island OS News Letter(Edited for the The Orchid Collection)

Living with AnOrchid AddictShe's gone again. I'm not sure where she wentthis time. Or, at least I don't know specificallywhere she has gone. What I do know is that bynightfall, there will be more plants, or orchidfood or medium (never large or extra large) inthe greenhouse. I won't see her carry it in. Ithink she sneaks it in when I'm not looking, butit will be there.

Innocently, I'll ask her about the newest addi-tion and she will nonchalantly say, "Oh, thatstuff, it's been there a long time." Like she hasbeen sneaking cookies and candy and doesn'twant me to know about it. Should I begin toworry about her yet? Are there 12 step pro-grams for Cymbidium abusers! Will I need to at-tend "Orchid-al-anon" with her to bring herback to the family.? How much longer will it bebefore she starts using orchid petals as garnishin our salads?

I didn't really notice any of this at first, as anyaddiction sort of sneaks up on us. She initiallywould be gone once a month to a meeting andsince she would bring plants home, it seemedinnocent enough. As I think back on it, I shouldhave seen it coming but I just didn't. Sure, look-ing back it's easy to recognize, but while it is

happening the signs didn't seem that obvious.I know, the orchids silk-screened on the sweatsuit should have tipped me off. That one was abit obvious. Ok, the orchid tea set and match-ing placemats and tablecloth should have beena sign I picked up on - but I just didn't. And the“Orchid” vanity plates on the car might havebeen a sign of some kind, but I just wasn'twatching that closely.

I guess, maybe, I might have been enabling herin some way. Maybe I encouraged her by goingto the nursery with her.Maybe the day I broughta cheap orchid home from the Home Depot,she may have taken it as a sign of support. Isuppose that night that I went to the MaineOrchid Society Auction and told her to "goahead and bid on that one! " could only havebeen interpreted as outright enthusiasm for thesport.

How could I have known where it would all endup? There was no anticipating the gnats ormites or whatever those things are that flyaround our kitchen. There was no way to guessthat the weekends would be spent wiping offleaves and misting plants. If I would have toldmy friends, a few years ago, that I would begently talking to one-hundred-and-twenty-seven different varieties of the most diverseplant species in the world, none of them wouldhave believed me. Yes, that's right, 127, not 126or 128, but 127. They are all cataloged, pho-tographed, labeled, hand-rubbed, disinfected,misted, inspected, fed and rotated on a regularbasis.

There are actually days when I have to takefood into her in the greenhouse to make certainshe eats something. Those are the days whenthe aphids are found under a leaf. Oh, and theweekend when the slug trail showed up onSaturday morning sliming it's way across thegreenhouse floor. I was certain I would lose herthen. She was a bundle of nerves, anxiety andenergy as she tore through each pot. I actuallyfelt sorry for the tiny slug when she finally foundit. I had no idea they were so hard to squish.

I guess I'm writing this as my own small cry forhelp. I'm hoping this makes its way into thehands of others who are living with an orchidaddict. Maybe we can form a support group ofsome kind. If you're out there, please-let meknow I'm not totally alone in my suffering.

(continued on p. 6)

The Orchid Collection is a publication of the Genesee Region OrchidSociety. It is published ten times per year for our members. Singlemembership is $20.00, family membership is $25.00 annually. Duesshould be sent to the GROS at P.O. Box 20606, Rochester, N.Y.14602

Phil Matt, Editor. P.O. Box 10406, Rochester, N.Y. 14610

(585) 288-7025. The Editor receives e-mail at newsletter@geneseeorchid.org

8

The Genesee Region Orchid Society (GROS) meets every month fromSeptember through May at the Jewish Community Center, 1200Edgewood Avenue, Rochester, NY, on the first Monday following thefirst Sunday of each month. (Dates sometimes vary due to holidays,etc.) The GROS is an Affiliate of The American Orchid Society and

of The Orchid Digest Corporation. Material in our newsletter, The Orchid Collection, maybe freely reprinted in other orchid society publications with proper attribution.Copyrighted illustrations may not be reprinted without the express written permission ofthe artist.

Genesee Region Orchid SocietyOfficers 2004-2005

Committee Chairpersons

PRESIDENTJeanne Kaeding 442-3202

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENTJim Marlow 889-7083

PROGRAM VICE-PRESIDENTJeff Snyder 377-5895

TREASURERJudy Ekberg 546-8324

SECRETARYKim Hober 383-1994

MEMBER AT LARGEJoe Kunisch 381-4206

AOS Representative Randy Humphries 229-5836Auction Jeff Snyder 377-5895Beginners' Meeting Marilyn Menegus 271-8867Community Outreach Cathy Buggie 244-1534Librarian Carolyn Edwards 865-2081Membership Bob Wyman 872-3323Monroe County Liaison Steve McCarroll 334-3673Newsletter Phil Matt 288-7025Nominating Joe Kunisch 381-4206ODC Representative (open)Property (Exec. VP) 425-1934Raffle Dwaine Levy, Anna Green, 271-0201

Barbara Green, Lory HedgesShow Ron and Sandi Uhlig 387-9940Social Lorri Bayer 288-5014Sonnenberg Liaison Chris Goverts 394-7081Website Ron Uhlig 387-9940

FIRST� CLASS MAILU.S. POSTAGE

PAIDROCHESTER, NYPERMIT NO. 930

That’s right! If your mailing label on this

newsletter says “Dues 2004-2005” to the right

of your name, it means that you’ve forgotten to renew your

GROS membership! To avoid being dropped from our mailing

list, please pay your dues now. Only paid-up members will

receive the October newsletter with the membership roster!

your time is

running out!

Cut out your mailing label, make any necessary changes, and enclose

your check made out to the GROS. Mail to:

GROS, P.O. Box 20606, Rochester, NY 14602

$20 single membership I $25 family membership