Article written by Jim Clarkson for AOS 'Orchids' June 2006

Tampa Orchid Club

Tampa Orchid Club was established in June 1957 and will celebrate its 50^th anniversary next year. It has been affiliated with the American Orchid Society for as long as any current member can remember. It is one of the offshoots of Florida West Coast Orchid Society which was the first orchid society on the west coast of Florida. One of the unusual features of Tampa Orchid Club is that it meets during the day during the week, serving those orchid enthusiasts that, for a myriad of reasons, do not want to meet at night. When it was established it catered mainly to retired couples and individuals as well as housewives in the Tampa Bay Area. To a great extent, this is still the general demographic makeup of the membership. As a "day club," membership is restricted to those with free time during the day, thus providing a higher percentage of members with time to actively work in the club. Tampa Orchid Club has been an active organization, holding shows in the Tampa Bay Area almost every year and was one of the host societies for the AOS Trustees Meeting in Clearwater in April 2000.

Things have changed over the past 49 years. Initially, dues were established at twenty-five cents per month and there was some degree of exclusivity to membership. The membership committee would visit prospective members to inspect their house, greenhouse and orchid collection. Sometime later, this was replaced with a system requiring sponsorship by an existing member and acceptance by the board of directors. Today, anyone with an interest in orchids is welcome.

The club has always had a community project. When flower arranging was more popular than it is today, arrangements were taken to a local church to support one of their fund raisers. A few years ago the Tampa Orchid Club took on a much more aggressive and comprehensive community project – support, care and maintenance of the orchid collection at the University of South Florida Botanical Gardens. The USF Botanical Gardens are funded by donations, fundraising events, rents for weddings, parties etc. and by profits from sale of plants at the plant shop. In 2000, the botanical gardens accepted an orchid collection of about 700 plants donated by Charlie and Mary Lou Miller. The majority of the orchids were vandaceous with many of the specimens about 40 years old, and up to 15 feet tall with multiple keikis. The collection also included many cattleyas, phalaenopsis, dendrobiums, oncidiiniae, paphiopedilums and many other genera. The Millers also provide a donation each year to support the collection. The collection is housed in a 30 foot by 48 foot hoop house that was initially covered by one layer of 60% shade cloth. In the winter the ends of the hoop house and the top were covered by a single layer of plastic sheeting that was held down by ropes and staples. Heat was provided by a combination of portable kerosene and propane heaters. Maintenance of the collection was performed by volunteers who usually had little or no knowledge of orchids. Under these conditions, the collection survived but did not thrive. Even with these circumstances, blooming orchids became the major attraction in the conservatory. In 2003, some members of Tampa Orchid Club starting volunteering their time to help water, fertilize and repot the collection. This brought the needs of the botanical gardens to the attention of Tampa Orchid Club and led to the club taking on the collection as their community project. Initial support from Tampa Orchid Club was financial. The next year it was officially recognized by the club as its community project and a committee now chaired by Laurie Nissen was formed to schedule watering, fertilizing, and maintenance of the collection. One member, Sue Barnum, volunteers every Monday morning to fertilize the plants. Additional funds were given to the gardens to purchase a Dosmatic injector to help with fertilizer and chemical applications. With Tampa Orchid Club now providing both financial and personnel support for the collection, the plants have responded to the much improved care. Members who are expert growers of specific genera are asked to oversee the care of these plants. As an example, Alice Wiley led the group repotting the Cymbidium collection.

As a result of the care now being provided to the plants, other collections have been donated to the gardens. Of note are the paphiopedilum and bulbophyllum collections donated by Doris Dukes and Bill Thoms; the catteyas from John Naugle; the vanda collection from Elizabeth Hansen, and the diversified collections from Bertha Stanfield and Ryan Kowalczyk. Their generosity, as well as the generosity of many others, has resulted in the orchid house bursting at the seams.

Although the support from Tampa Orchid Club resulted in much healthier plants, one significant cultural problem still remained – the orchid house itself. Tampa has a semi-tropical climate, but temperatures do drop below freezing every year. Keeping the collection warm during the winter without excessive fumes from multiple portable heaters became problematic. Additionally, the summer rains caused problems. The daily thunderstorms resulted in over-watering of many plants. This past year, Tampa Orchid Club dug into its reserves to help remedy these problems. The orchid house now has a permanent double poly covering and Aluminet shade cloth, and a permanent 125,000 BTU vented heater hangs from the top of the structure. Even in the very short period since the orchid house has been upgraded, the benefits to the collection are obvious. This spring the gardens were rewarded with twice the number of blooming plants and the conservatory is constantly filled with blooming orchids.

Although no classes are taught at the botanical gardens, workshops are conducted for the public on many different types of plants. Members of Tampa Orchid Club conduct the Orchid Growing Workshops and use the collection to show both the diversity of the family and the diverse culture requirements.

Tampa Orchid Club also benefits from the support given the botanical gardens. Volunteers dedicate Thursday mornings for maintenance of the collection. Repotting, dividing, inspections for pests and diseases, movement of plants to and from the conservatory for public display and changes of growing conditions are performed by the volunteers with guidance from the more advanced growers. This is an opportunity for members of the club and other volunteers to learn to care for their own plants and to socialize with others infected with the orchid passion.

Tampa Orchid Club‘s relationship with the University of South Florida Botanical Gardens started three years ago and continues to strengthen. The gardens are open to the public and the orchid collection has become a highlight. The Tampa Orchid Club and USF Botanical Gardens are working together to show the public the beauty and diversity of orchids.

Jim Clarkson

Orchid Curator

USF Botanical Gardens