When: Sunday, January 22, 2012 at 1:30 pm
Where: NTI 709 S. Old Missouri Rd Springdale, AR
Program: Program: Seedlings to Flowers
**Sunday, January 22, 2012**:
Program: Seedlings to Flowers
JANUARY 22
1:00 Growing Forward: Preparing plants for show. We will talk about how you can get your plants looking their best for the March show at the Botanical Gardens.
1:30 Meeting/Program: Seedlings to Flowers. This month we will talk about growing young plants from seedling to blooming size. And, you won't want to miss this meeting because we will be beginning a special contest. Each member who attends the January meeting will get a prize, with a chance to win the grand prize of a $50 gift certificate. You must attend the January meeting to enter, so be there or be square.
FEBRUARY 26
1:00 Growing Forward & Program: Final Show Prep & Organization: This meeting will be devoted to the final preparations for our show at the Botanical Gardens. The Show Chairs will finalize assignments and volunteers. Members are welcome (and encouraged) to bring a list of plants they may enter in the show, and to use the meeting time to prepare their show tags. Additionally, there will be one-on-one assistance with exhibits and questions.
MARCH 2-4: 2nd Orchids in The Garden Show at the Botanical Gardens of the Ozarks. Please volun-teer yourself and your orchids. We need you!
March 25
1:00 Growing Forward: Orchid Bark & Mixes—which potting media should be used for growing differ-ent kinds of orchids. Of course, questions are always welcome.
1:30 Meeting/ Program: Repotting Orchids & Growing Orchids on Plaques. We will have some hands on demonstrations of repotting orchids, dividing orchids and mounting orchids onto bark or plaques.
April 29
1:00 Growing Forward: Preparing for Summer Heat
1:30 Meeting/ Program: Alan Koch, Gold Country Orchids, California.
There has been some confusion about the meeting time. (Several people have called or texted me.) Growing Forward begins at 1:00 p.m. Plant registration should occur prior to 1pm. The business meeting and pro-gram will begin at 1:30. So that those travelling long distances can get home at a reasonable hour, meetings will be finished by 4:00 p.m. (Help is always needed after the meeting to clean up.)
May 27
Growing Forward: To be announced
Program: Peter T. Lin, Diamond Orchids, California.
Should you have any questions regarding these programs or if you would like to suggest a program, please contact Sarah Waddoups at orchids.ozark@gmail.com or 479-659-3420
Please note our website now has a slide show / photo section devoted to the SWROGA 2008 we hosted in Rogers, Arkansas. Scroll down to take a look.
For people interested in becoming members of the OSO, please feel free to contact Suzanne Hobbs, our Membership Committee Chair. You can reach her at: 479.236.0760 or email suzannehobbs@swbell.net
OSO SWROGA 08 Exhibit During Setup on Friday, May 1.
With the proliferation of orchid related websites, you can now purchase just about any orchid you want from the convenience of your own home. But how do you know what you're getting? Will the plant's quality and size measure up to your expectations? The Orchid Society of the Ozarks puts on several mini-auctions over the course of the year where only plants of the highest quality, donated by our supporting vendors, are offered for sale. By purchasing at one of our mini-auction events, you not only see exactly what you're buying, you can come across grexes to which you may never have been exposed--plants with which you may just fall in love!
Look for updates here regarding the next of these mini auctions for 2008! These auctions are the society's primary means of raising money to fund speaking engagements and shows, so besides the chance of acquiring orchid plants at incredibly reasonable prices, you will be helping the Orchid Society of the Ozarks continue its mission and work.
See you all at the meeting! Come early and if you have the chance, bring a guest! See you there!
‘Twas an event the OSO can be most proud of! (text by T. Larkin)
One Hundred and Fifty-Three Registrants and hundreds of showgoers showed immensely favorable interest in the OSO
SWROGA Show and all the events staged in the 3-day time period at the Embassy in Rogers. This, our second SWROGA,set many records over our last effort in 2005. The show itself was quite a bit larger, contained more exhibits, moreplants, more exhibitors. There were a total of 829 entries for ribbon judging. Many more plants were in exhibits and not entered. AOS judges pulled 32 plants for AOS consideration and gave 12 ards.
The auction and breakfast raffle netted $4,817.00 for the SWROGA which included the jewelry/digital library ticket sales. The Affiliated Societies Breakfast, the NWA luncheon and the Banquet were all well attended with 36/114/116 respectively. The Banquet highlights included our own Jamie Holden on the piano, with some classical umbers he composed himself. Following dinner a Fayetteville-based band ‘Crossfire’ entertained us with their bluegrass style favorites. Special recognition was given by Dr. Ron McHatton, Director of Education & Research for the AOS, at the banquet for the four Educational exhibits that were at the show, saying they were among the finest he had ever seen. Two of the exhibits were from our own members Olin Karch and Doug & Beth Martin. Many accolades from many corners of the country have been bestowed on our group and folks look forward to us doing it again.
Several OSO winners included Suzanne Hobbs, Sarah Waddoups, Doug & Beth Martin,Bruce Brown and Tom & Barbara Larkin (winnings defined later in this article). Of course, a really big winner, was Nellie Yount, winner of the Jewelry Raffle. The AOS Show trophy and The Orchid Digest Trophy went to the exhibit staged by the Orchid Society of Greater Kansas City. The Slipper Alliance Trophy went to Paph. St. Low ‘Windy Hill’, HCC, Windy Hill Gardens, The IPA trophy to Dtps. Musick Surprise, Bryon Rinke. The John Fugedy Trophy for Best in Show went to Max Thompson & Bryon Rinke for their magnificent Angraecum Lemforde White Beauty 'Max' AM/AOS.
Photos in this slide show were provide by Art Evans
Since its inception in 1996, the OSO has aimed to generate excitement and enjoyment over a fascinating endeavor, orchids and orchid culture, and the OSO membership has acted as a resource of orchid knowledge and camaraderie for any interested individuals and groups who have chosen to take part. We have accomplished our aims and so much more, but those plateaus have allowed us to see even farther--have opened even more possibilities for us which can only be realized through the help of a strong and active membership!

I invite you to spend a few moments here and explore what we have to offer.
We have grown quite a bit over the years, and our growth has enabled
us to pursue directions we would never have thought possible in our
infancy. Some of those directions can be followed through the links
above, on your right. Yet, no matter what numbers our membership may
have attained, (and, perhaps we have Providence to thank), we have remained
a group of fun, caring, and just downright uncommon folk who share
a passion for the natural beauty found in the world of orchids.
Enjoy your visits on our website, and, if you haven't already done so, I certainly hope you'll join us and become part of the OSO buzz!
Barbara Larkin