Seeing the snow atop the local mountains means one thing -- it's time to celebrate the holidays by meeting to enjoy the good food, camaraderie and games of our OSSC friends. Be sure to read all about this event so that you are able to participate to the max.

Click here to learn more about OSSC's regular meetings .

• NEW GOLDEN CIRCLE MEMBER [Submitted by OSSC President Ryan Langton on 12/21/2021] According to the Society's bylaws, "The purpose of the Society shall be to foster and encourage the education of its members with respect to the culture, growing, hybridization, preservation, and perpetuation of native and hybrid orchids of every variety." It also reads: “The Golden Circle membership may be granted to members who have demonstrated extraordinary dedication to the aims and success of the Society over an extended period of time.” Since the Orchid Society of Southern California’s inception in the 1940’s, there have been a small number of Golden Circle Award recipients. The level of dedication and commitment to our society required to receive this level of award has been displayed by very few and esteemed group.
  
  Since becoming a member of OSSC in 2002, Carol Beule has immersed herself into the society in so many ways -- at the monthly meetings, the annual auctions, past picnics, and in the design and construction of the society’s displays at the annual Huntington International Orchid Show for many years. She began serving in the role of First Vice President in 2013 and has continued since, scheduling speakers and arranging for plants to raffle every month. She has found some outstanding guest speakers (including herself) through the years and has even graciously hosted out of town speakers at her home. She has attended several of the World Orchid Conferences. She has become an expert on the genus Neofinetia and even uses her artistic skills as a costume designer to make ceramic pots in which to grow them. She has generously donated her pots and plants to the annual auction for many years, helping to bring in auction proceeds. Carol is a natural teacher, educating and guiding people interested in becoming better orchid growers, to which many can personally attest. To top it all off, she has done all this while managing to become a fully accredited Judge with The American Orchid Society.
  
  Consequently, for all these reasons and more, Carol Beule has been nominated by the Orchid Society of Southern California’s Board of Directors for the distinguished honor of the Golden Circle Award and her nomination was approved unanimously. We heartily congratulate her and thank her for many years of faithful contribution to the Orchid Society of Southern California.

Prior articles found in this section are archived here.

(Most recent articles listed first.)

• This rare orchid in Dudhwa found bearing seeds after a century
• Wild orchids on brink of extinction, warns expert
• Rare orchid species blooms in India after 118-year hiatus
• Polk County’s Most Wanted – Plant!
• Westerlay donates thousands of orchids to frontline works
• PSA: A New Orchid Species Was Found In Palawan, And It Is *Tiny*
• Intoxicating, Putrid And Sexy: How Orchid Pheromones Attract Pollinators
• South Bay History: Torrance flower producer once supplied gardenias and orchids nationwide
• The sex lives of Fred Clarke’s black orchids
• Growers take two approaches to raising young orchids
• US Postal Service to Issue Wild Orchids Forever Stamp Feb. 21
• Rare, endangered orchids slip across porous southern Chinese border
• Westerlay Orchids Takes the Guesswork Out of At-Home Plant Care
• Three new Taiwan orchid varieties pique interest of European, US buyers
• New species of orchid discovered in Tibet
• Molecular Mechanism of Orchids Revealed by Japanese Scientists
• Saving rare orchids that are ‘confusingly difficult’ to grow in labs: Q&A with orchid expert Marc Freestone
• Unusual orchid mimics human body odor to attract mosquitoes 
• Orchid Mimics Carrion to Attract Flies
• Orchid’s secret note
• Keith Richards's smoking habits and the death of a rare orchid
• Santa Barbara Orchids
• The easiest orchids to grow
• Homemade Orchid Fertilizers, The Smart Way of Orchid Caring
• A simple way to water orchids
• Breeding orchid species creates a new perfume
• 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
• Orchid named UK's most popular houseplant
• Wayanad, hot spot of rare flora, shows up 3 new species
• National Geographic Feature Article: Orchids: Love and Lies
• Heard on NPR: Orchids: 'Inflatable Love Dolls Of The Floral Kingdom'
• Orchid growers hope for technological boost
• Sneaky Orchid Drives Wasps Wild
• Orchids Through Darwin's Eyes
• 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
• Sexually deceived by orchids? Well I never!
• Tracing Tahitian vanilla
• Orchid sexual deceit has male wasps in a loved-up frenzy