Speaking of which - I haven't been to our society meetings for a few months and didn't renew my membership - no job at the time. Last I knew, "we" had 300+ members and were looking for a larger meeting space. The age spread is weighted toward 40+, but there are a couple of teens and some members in their 20s & 30s. We meet on the 3rd Sat. from 1-3 with an hour of business, including results of the judging, a break with coffee and non-homemade cookies, then often a speaker from the outside who's usually selling their own plants, then plant raffle results. There's no meeting during one of the summer months - forget which. Most members are local, but one hobby Paph breeder and his wife drive 6 hours round trip to be there. Another active member lives at least an hour away. When an outside speaker isn't selling plants, members can sell theirs. Some people join just for inexpensive plants. Dues are about $25. Visitors and new members are introduced during the business part and receive a free copy of AOS's basic orchid handbook. Our current space is the community room in the main store of a local, upscale garden center chain. It has a nice deli, with the eating area out in the indoor plant section. Most people walk through the indoor plant area to get to the meeting room. Before and after the meeting, you see members having coffee in the dining area and browsing and buying indoor/outdoor garden supplies. The store sells orchids, too, although nothing exotic. It's a feast for the senses, esp. in MN winter. If we move to a library, say, it won't be the same. There are 6 main events during the year: - a holiday meal at a local restaurant, and people go home w/ a free plant. This serves as the Dec. meeting, I think. - a big display and AOS judging during the St. Paul Winter Carnival. The display is in a well-known conservatory in St. Paul, and the last few years, we've had vendors there. - an all-day, spring symposium at an arboretum. Experienced society members talk about various aspects of orchid culture. - a display during the State Fair. Society members are generous in their judging, and the numerous ribbons look impressive. Some members who are vendors have their own displays in the same room, but no sales. - the September orchid sale to the public. It's at a garden center on a Sat. Of course, society members who are selling plants get first choice before the show opens. There's a business meeting just before, and this is the Sept. meeting - I think. - the September bus tour during the Chicagoland orchid festival, or whatever it's called. There are a couple of commercial growers between Minneapolis and Chicago, and all the growers roll out the red carpet and offer our members good deals. The trip goes from a Friday afternoon to the following Sunday evening, and people come back loaded with plants to replace those they just sold! I'm not aware of any specific recruiting/marketing efforts. It could be that the 1 million people in the 7-county "Metro area" kind of "yield" a society with about 300 members. But - with the economy what it is, the MN society may be having hard times, too. If there's a current MN society member here, chime in. Whitecat8

Yes! That Cymbidium has personality. I am also almost tempted to grow one. Sorry, typo, correct version of grex name is Death Wish.

Tried to grow some of those "New Guinea" Dendrobium Hybrids and failed. Have never had much success with those " thyrsiflorum type Dendrobiums" either, as for Colmanara Masai Red....a complete mystery. It is the only Colmanara left on the Hybrid register. I've seen plants with various colour variations over the years, all lovely so they are around.

Andyandy, I posted some comments about that same palm in another Gardenweb discussion (see link). I've never seen it personally but I've seen many photos and know the guy who originally planted it back in 1994 (he no longer owns the house and a new owner is taking care of it). The short answer is that nobody knows exactly what temperatures it's experienced, or for what duration. The nearest airport (Dulles) has recorded subzero temperaratures at least two or three times since the palm was planted, and I assume Sterling would have similar temperatures, but it's planted right up against a house in a very sheltered location; he told me that he doesn't remember the temperature at his house ever actually going below zero even on the coldest days, but I'm not sure if he ever took actual measurements with a reliable thermometer. Windmills palms HAVE been documented to survive below-zero temperatures in other locations, but the survivors are generally large, well-established plants, growing in climates where such temperatures are extremely rare, and always suffer extreme damage. Regarding the palms planted in front of the Air & Space Museum in Washington, DC, I was checking some old Gardenweb discussions and saw claims that they were planted in the late 1980's (in which case they would have survived the extreme 1993-1994 winter, the last time temperatures in the city went below zero). This is not accurate; they were actually planted in the early 2000's but they are still impressive and worth checking out if you ever visit. Here is a link that might be useful: Trachycarpus fortunei discussion