Get ready for a great OSSC tradition: our mouth-watering picnic set amongst thousands of orchids. Make sure you get your reservation in for this fun event. All of the details can be found on the OSSC Annual Picnic page.

Click to see more information on OSSC's regular monthly meetings.

• 2010 ROSTER AVAILABLE: [Submitted by OSSC Webmaster Ted Augustyn on May 4, 2010] The 2010 OSSC Roster has been distributed, first sent to all members with email addresses, and then finally in printed form to all other members beginning at the May meeting. Members who need a printed roster can get one from Membership Chair Larry Freeman.
• IN MEMORIAM: [Submitted by OSSC Member Norito Hasegawa on March 22, 2010]  Lloyd DeGarmo passed away on Feb. 22, 2010.  He was 86.  He served as an Orchid Digest Judge (no longer a judging system), a Cymbidium Society of America Judge, and an American Orchid Society Judge becoming an Emeritus Judge in the latter two judging systems which only very few judges ever attain in their lifetime! Lloyd was a retired librarian at the Compton Community College before retiring to Hawaii.  An avid reader, he amassed a large orchid library which was eventually donated to the AOS.  He was instrumental in editing the voluminous Proceedings of the World Orchid Conference held in Long Beach in 1966 sponsored by the Orchid Society. of Southern California, introduced Cymbidium Peter Pan 'Greensleeves' when converted to a tetraploid became a very famous breeder of miniatures and novelties.  Probably his most lasting fame will be the registration of the trigeneric Oncidium alliance hybrid genus Degarmoara in 1967 combining Brassia, Odontoglossom and Miltonia. OSSC can be proud to claim him as one of our own.
• OSSC NEEDS A RECORDING SECRETARY: [Submitted by OSSC Webmaster Ted Augustyn on June 19, 2009] Our new Recording Secretary, Shawn Maestretti, has decided to go back to school, and selling his orchid collection was part of that plan. As a result, Shawn has resigned as our Recording Secretary, and the position is once again open. Any OSSC member interested in giving a little back to the society is encouraged to contact our President about assuming this position. The task of taking minutes at board meetings, the main responsibility of this office, is made much easier by the use of the society's digital voice recorder, and all responsibilities are documented in detail. For a copy of this document, contact this site's Webmaster.

(Most recent articles listed first.)

• A simple way to water orchids
• Breeding orchid species creates a new perfume
• One Nation Under Arrest: The Unlikely Orchid Smuggler
• New orchid species is discovered in the UC Botanical Garden collection
• Cricket Pollination Discovered for the First Time
• World's Smallest Orchid Discovered (By Accident)
• Study reveals the reason why orchids use sexual trickery to lure insect pollinators
• Foodie Freak: Vanilla, the x-rated information
• Orchid named UK's most popular houseplant
• Wayanad, hot spot of rare flora, shows up 3 new species
• Houseplants in the Home
• American Orchid Society west of Delray says 'we're open, come visit'
• Unique orchids discovered in Vietnam
• National Geographic Feature Article: Orchids: Love and Lies
• Heard on NPR: Orchids: 'Inflatable Love Dolls Of The Floral Kingdom'
• Rare orchid find sets off frenzy
• Orchid growers hope for technological boost
• Sneaky Orchid Drives Wasps Wild
• Snow white orchid among 353 new species discovered in Eastern Himalayas, WWF report
• Phragmipedium manzurii, a.k.a. the discovery orchid
• American Orchid Society closes doors to public
• Burma’s Vanishing Orchids
• Orchids Through Darwin's Eyes
• December floods cost orchid farm millions of dollars
• Taranaki couple to play part in Obama's big day
• It’s a Corsage Nightmare: An Orchid as Big as a Car
• Orchids: nature's sexy sirens
• A few words about Coelogyne by past OSSC speaker David Banks
• Sexually deceived by orchids? Well I never!
• Hoosier Orchid Co. closing in August
• Tracing Tahitian vanilla
• Ted’s keen nose catches out rare orchid thief
• Bee Prefers Sex With Orchid Over Females
• Orchid sexual deceit has male wasps in a loved-up frenzy
• Orchid Species Now Extinct in Burma