Next Meeting is on Thursday, June 18^th, 7:30 pm -10:00pm

Pleasant Hill Community Center
 320 Civic Drive - in the McHale Room

Steve Beckendorf 
Orchids of Peru from his recent trip

    Steve started growing orchids in the early 1980s and quickly became fascinated by Odontoglossums and their close relatives because of their beauty and variety. They had a glamorous past as the most sought after plants in the orchid frenzy that gripped Europe in the 19th century.  In addition excellent hybrids were available from growers and hybridizers on the West Coast.

    He soon realized that, in contrast to the hybrids, few of the species in this group were readily available and began collecting them for propagation and use in hybridizing. His attempt to find unusual or lost species has led to many trips to the cloud forests of Mexico & South America.

    Steve is passionately involved in orchid conservation and is director of the Orchid Conservation Alliance (OCA) and a member of the Conservation and Research Committee of the American Orchid Society.

Plant Table will be provided by Steve Beckendorf 
A plant donation from the estate of Fred Schull will be available to purchase. 

Speaker’s Dinner before our next meeting is at 5:30 pm at the Sichuan Fortune House, 41 Woodsworth Lane, Pleasant Hill. Everyone is welcome to attend and meet our speaker before the meeting. If you can join us, please contact Yunor Peralta at (510) 304-6206 or mmmper@yahoo.com to be included in the reservation.